Trofimov Leads the Way After Day 1 of PAPC Main Event; Stacks Flying in €100/€100 PLO Cash Game
The first of four days of the Patrik Antonius Poker Challenge Main Event has wrapped up after eight levels of 60 minutes each. A total of 128 players showed up for the only starting day of the €1,500 buy-in tournament and about half the field made it through to Day 2. Leading the way is Dragos Trofimov, who became the only player to spin his 30,000 starting stack up to over 200k.
The Moldovan pro bagged 220,700 and distanced himself already from the pack, as nearest challenger Ville Jantunen will be back with 158,000. Kasper Mellanen (152,300), Hassan Sey (142,600), and Joris Ruijs (132,200) rounded out the top 5. Plenty of notables showed up, including Antonius' friends such as David "Chino" Rheem (91,300), Robert Mizrachi (83,200), and Noah Boeken (25,900).
Antonius himself was kept occupied by a sick €100/€100 PLO cash game with a €200 big blind ante that was live streamed throughout the night. It was one of those rare games that will likely have tons of crazy hands spreading across poker twitter in the upcoming days. As could be expected with a game including catalysts such as Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies, Sampo Ryynänen, and Joni Jouhkimanen, action was kicked into high gear soon enough with the alcohol flowing freely.
At the moment of writing, Dan "Jungleman" Cates is the big winner with a stack of over €150,000, coming off a €30K starting stack. On Friday, a €100/€200 No Limit Hold'em cash game will be live streamed as well from the Olympic Park Casino in Tallinn.
The second day of the Main Event will commence at noon, and players will have one more level of 60 minutes before late registration is closed. The total prize pool and payouts will be announced by then. Friday will also feature a player's party as well as the official launch of the anticipated First Land of Poker (FLOP) app. The seat draw for the second day can be found here. Keep following along with PokerNews for more exciting action out of Tallinn as the Patrik Antonius Poker Challenge rolls on.