Main Event Day 1a | bwin WPT Merit Cyprus Classic

08-17-2013 11:14 UTC+3

Day 1A Chip Counts (full)

Level 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexey Rybin	216,500

Artem Vezhnekov	168,300 58,300	58,300
Mikhail Shevchuk	145,100
Ercan Olgun	145,000
Rami Shouman	144,800
Kayhan Tugrul	144,400 600	600
Sari Haddad	125,800 125,800	125,800
Marko Neumann	116,900
Mihail Morozov	116,200 116,200	116,200
Jacoues Torbey	104,100 104,100	104,100
Jamila Von Perger	102,900
Alexander Gofman	96,100 96,100	96,100
Erwan Pecheux	93,100 93,100	93,100
Konstantin Anokhin	92,300 92,300	92,300
Anton Astapau	89,100 4,100	4,100
Sven Abelsson	87,600 87,600	87,600
Marat Begenov	85,000 85,000	85,000
Peter Darren Ockende	83,700 83,700	83,700
Bassel Moussa	81,900 31,900	31,900
Andrei Nikonov	78,500 78,500	78,500
Koray Aldemir	78,100 78,100	78,100
Samuel Trickett (Sam Trickett)	78,000 78,000	78,000
Vyacheslav Igin	75,700 75,700	75,700
Andrey Kazankov	73,500 16,500	16,500
Alexander Sidorin	72,200 72,200	72,200

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08-17-2013 01:24 UTC+3

Alexey Rybin Leads Day 1A of bwin WPT Merit Cyprus Classic

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Level 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

Season XII of the World Poker Tour kicked off Friday with Day 1a of the bwin WPT Merit Cyprus Classic. Set in the poker tournament room of the spectacular five-star Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, the event promises to be six days of intriguing and gruelling poker. There are two starting days of the five-day tournament, and each player is allowed a single re-entry. The buy-in is $4,400 with a $1,000,000 guarantee on the event, making things extra exciting.

Russia's Alexey Rybin topped the leader board at the end of the day with a stack of 216,500. Ryben busted Sergey Rybachenko on the last hand of the day for a monster 70,00-chip pot. The three closest players behind Rybin are Mikhael Shevchuk with 145,000, Ercan Olgun with 145,000 and Rami Shouman with 144,800. England’s Sam Trickett also made it through to Day 2 with 77,400 in chips.

Day 1a saw a total of 137 entries by the end of registration. Dominated by Turkish and Russian players, as well as a good turn out from the Lebanese, the field would go on to play 10 one-hour levels.

Some players started the day fairly cautiously with their starting stack of 30,000, but others were looking to play big early. There were a flurry of preflop three- and four-bets as many looked to exploit that early caution, and we expect to see a mixture of styles and violent clashes over the next several days of the event.

The aggressive play of Rami Shouman from Lebanon, for example, certainly paid dividends early on. He was the chip leader with over 100,000 in chips when an ill-timed river bluff against Roger Hairabedian, who had been leading the action all the way in this particular hand, saw him fall back amongst the pack, and give Hairabedian in turn the chip lead. That didn’t seem to deter Shouman’s playing style, though, as he continued to play a lot of pots and put his opponents to the test. He ended the day with 144,800.

Dominik Nitsche certainly enjoyed the day, as he was very chatty and chipper in his interview with PokerNews' Laura Cornelius. The always-smiling German pro chipped up early in the day, but slipped back towards the end before exiting the tournament with half an hour left in the last level.

Kelly Kim, a 2008 World Series of Poker November Niner, just didn't seem to find his footing all day. All in for his last 5,000 in chips, Kelly ran pocket tens into the pocket kings of Igor Dorozhkin and made an early exit.

The bigger stars in the field seemed to hold off on their entries to make a late arrival. First, Trickett joined the action a couple of levels before the end of registration after playing the PartyPoker Big Game last night. He described the cash game to one of our reporters as, "One of the worst of my life."

It didn’t seem to be going Trickett’s way in the tournament either, but then a timely double up all in with the against Bernard Latouf’s on a flop of . The turn was the and the river the to give Trickett the win.

After Trickett entered Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, a regular to many events in Cyprus. In typical Mizrachi fashion, he began tormenting the table with pressure moments after taking his seat. He eventually lost a big flip with the against an all-in player’s to knock him down to a meager 14,000-chip stack. The Grinder was eliminated shortly thereafter, but we're sure he'll be back for Day 1b to fire a second bullet.

Just before the close of play for the day, last year’s winner Marvin Rettenmaier joined those eliminated on the rail. Rettenmaier maneuvered his way through most of the day, but fell towards the end at the hands of Jacques Torbey.

Day 1b kicks off at 1 p.m. local time on Saturday, and rumor has it Daniel "Jungleman" Cates will be joining the action while Rettenmaier, Nitsche, Mizrachi, and others are expected to re-enter. The Pokernews Live Reporting Team will be back for more live reporting action, so be sure to stay tuned right here to these pages.

Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

08-17-2013 00:56 UTC+3

Play Has Ended

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Level 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

Recap to follow shortly.

08-17-2013 00:56 UTC+3

End of Day Selected Counts

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Level 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

We lost Marvin Rettenmaier just before the end with against and Sergey Rybachenko who ran into Alexey Rybin's nut flush.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexey Rybin	216,500 216,500	216,500

Mikhail Shevchuk	145,100 145,100	145,100
Ercan Olgun	145,000 23,000	23,000
Rami Shouman	144,800 25,200	25,200
Marko Neumann	116,900 34,100	34,100
Jamila Von Perger	102,900 47,900	47,900
Sam Trickett	77,400 4,600	4,600
Manig Loeser	69,900 7,100	7,100
Steve Billirakis	65,500 30,500	30,500

08-17-2013 00:45 UTC+3

Last Two Hands

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Level 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

We're playing the last two hands of the night.

08-17-2013 00:45 UTC+3

Isakav Flushed Away

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Level 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

With the board reading Artem Vezhnekov fired out a bet of 6,100. Gavriel Isakav made the call behind him, as did Marat Begenov. The came on the turn and Vezhnekov cautiously checked, Isakav moved all in for 9,700 and Begenov called, Vezhnekov quickly folded.

Isakav:
Begenov:

Isakav had run the second nuts into the nuts and was drawing dead on the river while Begenov moved up to 90,000.

08-17-2013 00:33 UTC+3

Rettenmaier Doubles Back

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Level 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

Samy Zakhary limped preflop for 1,000 and it was passed to Marvin Rettenmaier on the button who moved all in for 15,600. It was folded back to Zakhary.

Zakhary, "I'll call, I've only looked at one..."

Rettenmaier protested, "Wait, wait, wait. Don't call, I have a bad hand...Just don't have a jack or a nine or any other card..."

Zakhary flipped and Rettenmaier winced turning over . The board however had other ideas, coming and Rettenmaier was back from the brink once more.

Player	Chips	Progress
Marvin Rettenmaier	34,000 24,000	24,000

08-17-2013 00:16 UTC+3

"This is Really Bad..."

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Level 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

With the flop reading the board had been checked to Marvin Rettenmaier who had bet 2,700.

Then Andrey Kazankov had check-raised all in for 32,100.

Then Alexander Dovzhenko also moved in, albeit for 23,900.

The onus was back on Rettenmaier who sat calculating the pot and then the inner 'madness' took hold.

"I want to gamble so bad," Rettenmaier stated.

A pause, the German WPT winner thought again.

"This is really bad," he declared as if absolving himself from his sins, his hand hovering above the felt with calling chips.

A moment's doubt, he pulled the chips back before saying with more conviction this time, " I want to gamble..."

The chips were flung into the middle and again Rettenmaier used a disclaimer, "This is so terrible," he giggled.

Kazankov:
Dovzhenko:
Rettenmaier:

The turn changed nothing, Rettenmaier needed a spade or at least a five, Dovzhenko needed the board to pair, Kazakov needed anything else. The river was the and Kazankov virtually tripled up, Rettenmaier was left with fumes while Dovzhenko was eliminated.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrey Kazankov	90,000 90,000	90,000
Marvin Rettenmaier	10,000 53,000	53,000

Alexander Dovzhenko	Busted

08-17-2013 00:02 UTC+3

Happy Like Nitsche

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Level 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

Despite rocking the smallest stack at the table, Dominik Nitsche seems to be the happiest of the nine. Perhaps it is the music coming through his headphones putting a smile on his face or maybe it’s the lack of complicated decisions he is liable to face over the next hour, but he’s in no rush to bleed off his last 12,000 chips.

Actually make that 14,000. He flicked his paltry stack into the middle, everyone folded and the precious blinds and antes were slid over to him. That brought another smile to his face.

Level: 10

Blinds: 500/1,000

Ante: 100