Pavel Pavlov was eliminated as time was ticking down for the opening blind level of Day 2. He three-bet jammed about 30 big blinds with 
and was called by Vasileios Gkogkas with 
Pavlov was ahead but the 
board gave his opponent the nut flush and he was eliminated in 23rd place for €1,080.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
240,000 | 80,000 |
|
Busted |
Loukas Kioutsoukis opened to 9,000 from the hijack. Vasileios Gkogkas raised to 24,000 from the cutoff and got calls from Rosen Simeonov in the big blind and Kioutsoukis.
Kioutsoukis and Gkogkas checked after the 
came on the flop. Simeonov bet 46,000. Kioutsoukis folded and Gkogkas tanked for a couple of minutes before he called.
Both players checked after the 
came on the turn and checked again after the 
completed the board on the river.
Gkogkas turned over 
and the pot went over to Simeonov after he had better kicker than his opponent with 
.
Meanwhile, on another table Christos Kechagias got his short stack in unsuccessfully and was the first casualty of the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
740,000 | 100,000 |
|
|
160,000 | -69,000 |
|
126,000 |
The winner of the 2019 PokerNews Cup Kulata Main Event is slated to be awarded a healthy top prize of €25,080. All players bagging chips on the opening flights to start Day 2 are already guaranteed a €1,080 payout no matter how today ends.
| Place | Payout |
|---|---|
| 1 | €25,080 |
| 2 | €14,140 |
| 3 | €8,250 |
| 4 | €6,440 |
| 5 | €5,250 |
| 6 | €4,170 |
| 7 | €3,180 |
| 8 | €2,350 |
| 9-10 | €2,000 |
| 11-12 | €1,710 |
| 13-14 | €1,520 |
| 15-16 | €1,340 |
| 17-20 | €1,170 |
| 21-24 | €1,080 |
Damyan Botsev three-bet jammed from the big blind for 113,000 and got a call from Panagiotis Panagiotidis in the small blind.
Damyan Botsev: 
Panagiotis Panagiotidis: 
The 
ran out on the board to give Botsev a broadway straight and the hand.
"Give me the money!" said Botsev after the hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
520,000 | -5,000 |
|
229,000 | 112,000 |
Christina Orfanidou check-called a bet of 87,500 with the on the board with about 100,000 in the pot from Dimitrios Michailidis.
Orfanidou checked again after the completed the board on the river and Michailidis bet 95,000. Orfanidou tanked for a minute before she made the call and got the bad news that Michailidis had 
for a set to win the hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
780,000 | 270,000 |
|
185,000 | -139,000 |
Panagiotis Panagiotidis is back in action after speaking with Tournament Director Thomas Lamatsch and accepting the TDA rules.
Tournament Director Thomas Lamatsch has announced the start of play for Day 2.
Panagiotis Panagiotidis will be sitting out the first round of Day 2. He slowed down the beginning of the day not happy that brothers Spyridon Michailidis and Dimitrios Michailidis are seated side by side at his table despite the explanation about it was a random draw and it can't be changed per TDA rules.
Welcome to Day 2 of the PokerNews Cup Kulata €550 Main Event at Finix Casino.
The first four opening flights attracted a field of 141 entrants. The field has been trimmed down to just 24 hopefuls battling it to become the 13th Main Event champion in PokerNews Cup history.
The remaining two dozen, who are all from Bulgaria and Greece, will begin the day armed with the knowledge they are already in the money. The payouts and of course the big top prize will be announced at the beginning part of the day.
Day 1b chip leader Rosen Simeonov with 640,000 and Day 1c chip leader Panagiotis Panagiotidis with 636,000 head into Day 2 neck and neck in the lead. Other players with big stacks include Day 1a chip leader Marian Ivanov with 580,000, Day 1d and PokerNews Cup High Roller winner Dimitrios Michailidis with 510,000 and his brother Spyridon Michailidis with 474,000.
As an interesting twist, the Michailidis brothers are sitting side by side at Table 3 after the random seat draw took place at the end of the final opening flight last night.
| Player | County | Day Qualified | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosen Simeonov | Bulgaria | Day 1b | 640,000 | 160 |
| Panagiotis Panagiotidis | Greece | Day 1c | 636,000 | 159 |
| Marian Ivanov | Bulgaria | Day 1a | 580,000 | 145 |
| Dimitrios Michailidis | Greece | Day 1d | 510,000 | 128 |
| Spyridon Michailidis | Greece | Day 1c | 474,000 | 119 |
It is anyone's game with blind rolled back to 2,000/4,000 with a big blind ante of 4,000 and an average stack to start the day more than 73 big blinds deep. The structure is also deeper than the opening days with longer 40-minute blind levels.
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Big Blind Ante |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| 16 | 2,500 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 17 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| 18 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 |
| 19 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 20 | 6,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 |
| 21 | 8,000 | 16,000 | 16,000 |
| 22 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 |
| 23 | 10,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
| 24 | 15,000 | 30,000 | 30,000 |
| 25 | 20,000 | 40,000 | 40,000 |
| 26 | 25,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 |
The action kicks off at 1 p.m. EEST and will continue until the field is trimmed down to a final table. Stay tuned at PokerNews as we bring you all the highlights of the PokerNews Cup Kulata €550 Main Event.
Images courtesy of Katerina Lukina.
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Hristo Bogdanov | Bulgaria | 124,000 | 31 |
| 1 | 2 | Blago Alexandrov | Bulgaria | 265,000 | 66 |
| 1 | 3 | Eduart Eranosyan | Bulgaria | 200,000 | 50 |
| 1 | 4 | Alexander Milanov | Bulgaria | 487,000 | 122 |
| 1 | 5 | Pavel Pavlov | Bulgaria | 132,000 | 33 |
| 1 | 6 | Loukas Kioutsoukis | Greece | 260,000 | 65 |
| 1 | 7 | Vasileios Gkogkas | Greece | 229,000 | 57 |
| 1 | 8 | Rosen Simeonov | Bulgaria | 640,000 | 160 |
| 2 | 1 | Marian Ivanov | Bulgaria | 580,000 | 145 |
| 2 | 2 | Konstantin Aykov | Bulgaria | 340,000 | 85 |
| 2 | 3 | Antonios Kandilas | Greece | 171,000 | 43 |
| 2 | 4 | Dimitrios Barmpathanasis | Greece | 278,000 | 70 |
| 2 | 5 | Symeon Alexandridis | Greece | 188,000 | 47 |
| 2 | 6 | Christos Kechagias | Greece | 126,000 | 32 |
| 2 | 7 | Achilleas Nomidis | Greece | 315,000 | 79 |
| 2 | 8 | Symeon Marvakis | Greece | 148,000 | 37 |
| 3 | 1 | Christina Orfanidou | Greece | 324,000 | 81 |
| 3 | 2 | Panagiotis Panagiotidis | Greece | 636,000 | 159 |
| 3 | 3 | Damyan Botsev | Bulgaria | 117,000 | 29 |
| 3 | 4 | Savvas Baltiras | Greece | 132,000 | 33 |
| 3 | 5 | Andreas Chalkiadakis | Greece | 204,000 | 51 |
| 3 | 6 | Spyridon Michailidis | Greece | 474,000 | 119 |
| 3 | 7 | Dimitrios Michailidis | Greece | 510,000 | 128 |
| 3 | 8 | Ivan Ivanov | Bulgaria | 153,000 | 38 |
