Main Event Day 1a | 2017 PokerStars Festival Hamburg

Player	Chips	Progress
Rudolf Koster	258,000

Michael Ratkowski	189,400
Francois Mittertreiner	188,900 18,900	18,900
Oliver Niemann	185,500
Kyriakos Mitsopoulos	176,800 36,800	36,800
Levan Rcheulishvili	168,100 92,100	92,100
Anders Bisgard	155,500 107,500	107,500
Miroslav Malic	155,400
Igor Rybak	130,700 11,700	11,700
Juergen Boehm	128,100 85,100	85,100
Leonida Mewes	116,200
Claus Carstensen	111,700
Jens Rinke	111,200
Angelo Benedetto	104,800 3,800	3,800
Norbert Seefeldt	101,800 23,800	23,800
Fabian Demand	90,400 18,400	18,400
Peter Jaksland	82,400 49,400	49,400
Rainer Ziermann	77,400 33,400	33,400
Davor Bendin	73,400
Kai Munster	73,100 41,900	41,900
Daniel Peche	72,500 10,500	10,500
Joachim Karstens	67,800
Rizkallah Kocheiche	65,700 74,300	74,300
Andreas Giedt	64,600 34,600	34,600
Peyman Lueth	63,300

Player

Chips

Progress

Rudolf Koster

258,000

Michael Ratkowski

189,400

Francois Mittertreiner

188,900

18,900

Oliver Niemann

185,500

Kyriakos Mitsopoulos

176,800

36,800

Levan Rcheulishvili

168,100

92,100

Anders Bisgard

155,500

107,500

Miroslav Malic

155,400

Igor Rybak

130,700

11,700

Juergen Boehm

128,100

85,100

Leonida Mewes

116,200

Claus Carstensen

111,700

Jens Rinke

111,200

Angelo Benedetto

104,800

3,800

Norbert Seefeldt

101,800

23,800

Fabian Demand

90,400

18,400

Peter Jaksland

82,400

49,400

Rainer Ziermann

77,400

33,400

Davor Bendin

73,400

Kai Munster

73,100

41,900

Daniel Peche

72,500

10,500

Joachim Karstens

67,800

Rizkallah Kocheiche

65,700

74,300

Andreas Giedt

64,600

34,600

Peyman Lueth

63,300

Today Day 1a of the 2017 PokerStars Festival Hamburg Main Event started at 1 p.m. local time. The excitement could be felt here in Casino Schenefeld by the players that paid €1,100 each to have a shot of leaving Hamburg on Sunday as the winner. In total 118 players coughed up that buy-in today and Rudolf Koster was the one to end on top of the chip counts with 258,000 chips.

After 12 levels of 45 minutes had been played, 37 players were allowed to bag up their chips and have some days of rest before returning on Saturday for Day 2. Second in the chip counts is fellow German, Michael Ratkowski (189,400) who had hoped he would end the day as the chip leader to then find out that Koster had beat him to that post. The Dutchman with the German name, Francois Mittertreiner bagged 188,900 which puts him in third place for now.

Other notables that have made it through to Day 2 are Kyriakos Mitsopoulos (176,800), Anders Bisgard (155,500), Igor Rybak (130,700), Angelo Benedetto (104,800), Peter Jaksland (82,400), Kai Munster (73,100), and Phong Thanh Pham (49,100) after wielding a pretty short stack all day.

As you might expect, the field mainly consisted of German players with some other nationalities mixed in. Unfortunately, not everyone could make it to the bagging stage of the tournament, some of the players that fell today include [Removed:19], Sergej Barbarez, Pavel Sytau, Tomislav Mandic, Andrey Andreev, Salvatore Camarda, Hannes Neurauter, and Said Hossein Madani. They might be back to play in Day 1d, the only flight where players who have failed to make it through Day 1a, 1b or 1c can reenter.

The 37 remaining players will return to Casino Schenefeld on November 25th 2017 at 1 p.m. local time. They will start on Level 13 which has a small blind of 1,200, a big blind of 2,400, and a running ante of 400. Tomorrow Day 1b will start at 1 p.m local time and follow the exact same structure for the day as today.

Come back to PokerNews tomorrow for all the action of another starting day.

Tags: Anders Bisgard Andrey Andreev Angelo Benedetto Francois Mittertreiner Hannes Neurauter Igor Rybak Kai Munster Kyriakos Mitsopoulos Pavel Sytau Phong Thanh Pham Rudolf Koster Salvatore Camarda Sergej Barbarez Tomislav Mandic