The pinnacle event of the WSOP International Circuit in Rozvadov is set to get underway today at 2:00 PM local time. Players will gather inside the Poker Arena at King's Casino for the €1,650 Main Event Day 1A.
In what will be a four-day event, today is the first of two starting flights. Day 1B will commence on Saturday at 2:00 PM and players will be granted one re-entry on each starting day. Those that are fortunate enough to find a bag at the conclusion of 12 levels, will advance to Day 2 on Sunday, October 15.
The action will begin with the blinds at 25/50 with a 30,000 chip starting stack. The blinds will be 45-minute levels with a 15-minute break after every three levels. Late registration will close at the start of Day 2 with a maximum of four entries per player.
Follow with the PokerNews live reporting team for all of the up to date action throughout the event.
Hossein Barati lost most of his stack early in level two when his king-queen for top pair was no good against the ace-queen of Fabrice Soulier. Berata's remaining chips vanished soon after while Soulier became the early chip leader. The Frenchman sits near the entrance of the poker arena with headphones on, jamming to the tunes on his iPad.
Rakesh Lalwani was spotted on his way out of the tournament area while former EPT Prague 4th place finisher Sergei Petrushevskii claimed the pot with for trips queens on a board of .
Another Russian could be heard screaming, and it was not of joy as Anatoly Korochenskiy lost a big pot to table neighbor Jesper Hansen. Both had previously clashed a few times already and this time it happened in a battle under the gun versus big blind.
Hansen defended his big blind and bet a flop of , Korochenskiy raised and Hansen called. On the turn, Hansen check-raised all in for 20,500 over the top of a bet of 6,000 by Korochenskiy and the latter called the shove for most of his stack with for two pair. Hansen had flopped a flush with and the river was a blank. "I gave you a flush draw," the Russian added in table chat.
Ben Bensimhon is on his second bullet of the day but is making full use of it at the moment. Bensimhon has brought his stack up to nearly 75,000 after busting his first entry early on in the day.
Tom Holke is also on his second entry of the day and it's not going as well for him. Holke called off an all-in bet on the turn, drawing dead with just king-high and no draw. Holke is down to around 4,000 chips and would need nothing short of a miracle to spin it back up today.
Fabrice Soulier has seen is stack slowly being chipped away at, and finally said enough was enough. Soulier got his last 12,500 in the middle with and found himself in a dominating position up against the .
The board ran out and Soulier found a key double up. Still sitting under starting stack, Soulier has plenty of work to do with only a few levels remaining in the day.
There was a raise to 2,000 from middle position and the button called. Fabrice Soulier was in the big blind and also tagged along to see the flop of . Soulier checked and the player in middle position continued for 2,500. Both the button and Soulier called.
The turn was the and the action was checked to the button who bet 21,000. Soulier thought for a moment and then called for his remaining 19,400. The player in middle position laid his hand down and the remaining two hands were tabled.
Soulier immediately turned over for a full house on the flop, while his opponent was drawing dead with the , only good enough for a straight. The insignificant completed the board and Soulier more than doubled up his short stack.
Just moments after being a special guest in the WSOP Circuit ring ceremony, Phil Hellmuth made his appearance right on "Hellmuth Time" in the Main Event. Hellmuth, who considers himself the best player in the world, will be competing with some of the best players in Europe when the WSOP Europe gets underway next week.
He made the trek to Rozvadov a week early to find himself sitting among those competing for a WSOP Circuit ring. Unfortunately, he came up just short in the PLO High Roller event, finishing in 8th place yesterday.
Maxim Lykov raised to 2,000 from under the gun and was called by a player in the cutoff, the small blind, and Ben Bensimhon in the big blind. The flop came and the action was checked to Lykov who continued for 3,200. Bensimhon was the only player to make the call and the rolled off on the turn.
Both players checked to the on the river and Bensimhon fired an even 10,000. As Lykov was thinking, Bensimhon blurted out, "You have two tens, or jacks." Lykov immediately called and Bensimhon turned over . Lykov sent his cards to the muck and another pot was shipped to Bensimhon.
Day 1A of the €1,650 Main Event at the King's Casino in Rozvadov has come to an end. Petr Setka, from the Czech Republic, bagged the chip lead as one of just two players over 200,000 chips.
Setka went about his business quietly throughout the day and emerged as the leader in the last level of play. He was on his second bullet of the day after losing a devastating pot earlier on with against his opponent's .
There were a total of 198 entries to take to the felt today, in what was an action-packed day inside the Poker Arena. After a long 12 levels of play, only 72 players survived to advance to Day 2 on Sunday. Ben Bensimhon (169,200) held the chip lead for the majority of the day, also on his second bullet after being eliminated in the early stages. However, he ran a triple barrel bluff in the last few hands of the night that didn't pan out for him.
There were many notables fortunate to find a bag at the end of the day, including Phil Hellmuth (35,500) who only entered with a couple of hours remaining in the evening. Other notables to advance to Day 2 include Piotr Zawadzki (201,600), Laszlo Toth (186,100), Catalin Pop (165,500), Brandon Cantu (141,500), Fabrice Soulier (117,100), Daniele Primerano (52,000), Vitaly Lunkin (51,100), and Markus Kuhnen (47,000).
A few of those that were eliminated throughout the course of the day were Jeff Lisandro, Erez Hamerov, and Tom Holke.
A full list of those moving on to Day 2 will be posted when it becomes available. The action will resume on Saturday at 2:00 PM with Day 1B of the WSOP Circuit Main Event in Rozvadov.