The pot had already grown to 20,000 preflop when Laszlo Papai made a bet of 10,000 on the K♥A♦2♥ flop from the big blind. His opponent was Umberto Ruggeri, who made a small raise to 23,000.
Papai responded with an all-in three-bet to 48,300. Ruggeri asked for a count and made the call soon after he heard the correct number.
Laszlo Papai: K♠K♣
Umberto Ruggeri: A♥Q♣
Ruggeri was in bad shape against the set of Papai. The 9♠ turn provided no help, locking up the pot for Papai and rendering the 6♥ river meaningless.
Arriving on a completed board of A♥Q♣6♦9♣K♣, Xavier Gour made a bet of 10,000 into the pot of 25,000 from the small blind. Conor Bergin then moved all in for 47,600 in middle position, sending Gour into the tank.
After apologizing for taking his time, Gour reluctantly tossed in a call. Bergin tabled A♣7♣ for the nut flush, besting the A♦Q♥ of Gour and raking in a full double-up.
Egidio Aragno and Gabi Livshitz had collected 12,500 chips in the middle when they went to a flop of 3♣10♥J♦. Aragno checked from early position to Livshitz in the seat next over, who made a bet of 5,000.
Aragno tossed in a quick call, after which the 9♥ turn went check-check. The 3♥ fell on the river and saw Aragno fire a bet of 15,000.
Livshitz quickly threw in a calling chip but mucked his cards once Aragno tabled Q♥J♥ for a flush.
Andro Scarpa and Eduard Anufriiev each put in 17,000 preflop when a flop of 7♣2♥7♠ was dealt. Anufriiev then bet 16,000 under the gun, which Scarpa called in middle position.
The 2♣ turn was checked through to the K♣ river. Anufriiev checked once more, after which Scarpa put him all-in for 50,000.
Anufriiev spent a few minutes thinking before the clock was called. During his 30-second countdown, he decided to fold and the pot was shipped to Scarpa.
The first two starting flights of the PokerStars Open (PSO) Campione €1,100 Main Event provided a busy day at Casino di Campione. The start of Day 1a was delayed by 30 minutes as dozens of people were still in line at registration, eager to jump in from the very start. Due to the huge interest, an extra level was added to the starting days as well, resulting in a later-night finish at 3 a.m. local time.
At the end of the day, Day 1a reached a tally of 644 entries, covering well over half of the €1,000,000 guarantee on its own. Evening flight Day 1b added another 163 entries, bringing the total to 807 with two more flights remaining.
Topping 184 surviving players of Day 1a when play concluded after 11 levels of play was Darius Neagoe. Neagoe started to appear among the leaders halfway through the day but really found his stride in the late hours and ended up with a stack of 417,000 on the hunt for his first PokerStars trophy. Neagoe's stack equals nearly 14 starting stacks and a massive 348 big blinds at the start of Day 2.
Following Neagoe in close proximity is Terrance Reid. Reid told PokerNews that he made a last-minute decision to book a transatlantic flight and play PSO Campione. His impulse rewarded him with a stack of 413,500 as he is looking for his first cash on European soil. Meanwhile, Polish player Sebastian Kotowicz sits in third with 398,600, while regular Pascal Pflock also found his way in the top ten with a stack of 218,100.
Sebastian Kotowicz
End of Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Day 2 Big Blinds
1
Darius Neagoe
Romania
417,000
348
2
Terrance Reid
United States
413,500
345
3
Sebastian Kotowicz
Poland
398,600
332
4
Ioannis Salonikis
Greece
295,900
247
5
Ettore Cuzzone
Italy
251,600
210
6
Alice Sicconi
Italy
249,200
208
7
Benyamin Canatan
Denmark
230,600
192
8
Pascal Pflock
Germany
218,100
182
9
Luigi Guida
Italy
217,700
181
10
Marcin Kacprzak
Poland
213,900
178
Other notables to make it through on Day 1a include Gabi Livshitz (170,000), Alexandre Reard (168,000), Alessandro Pichierri (130,800), Fabio Peluso (126,200), Arsenii Karmatckii (109,500), and Ivan Banic (67,200).
PokerStars AmbassadorBarny Boatman was one of the players who sat down at the start of the day, but he was eliminated halfway through and opted to enter Day 1b instead. He ended among the 66 players left at the end of that day, with David Nir obtaining a huge chip lead with 347,400, bagging nearly twice as much as anyone else.
Barny Boatman
End of Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Day 2 Big Blinds
1
David Nir
Israel
347,400
290
2
Antonio Bernaudo
Italy
176,100
147
3
Paola Cibelli
Italy
154,300
129
4
Alex Ferragina
Italy
148,200
124
5
Francesco Delfoco
Italy
144,000
120
6
Xia Lin
China
139,800
117
7
Balazs Ujvari
Hungary
133,400
111
8
Igor Ripamoti
Italy
129,800
108
9
George Iota
Italy
128,400
107
10
Thomas Hofmann
Switzerland
121,700
101
Other players making it through the evening flight include Slovenian superstar Blaz Zerjav (46,400) and Boatman's fellow Red Spade Julien Brecard (25,500).
The likes of Vivian Saliba, Vanessa Kade, and Team GRND streamer Felix Schneiders did not make it through to Day 2, but they can try again tomorrow, as the last two starting flights are scheduled to take place.
Day 1c will commence at 1 p.m. with 60-minute levels, while Day 1d kicks off at 8 p.m. and has levels of 20 minutes. Both days will play 11 levels, at the end of which the survivors will bag up for Day 2, which will take place Friday, March 14. Both days have the option for unlimited reentries, while the late registration will close after the first level of Day 2.
Check back in with PokerNews tomorrow for the final two starting flights as the turnout for PSO Campione continues to surpass all expectations.
