Players are back from break after many hit the free buffet at King's Casino. However, action is slightly delayed for a ring ceremony. Blinds when play resumes in a couple of minutes will be at 200/400 with a 25 ante. There are six more levels scheduled today with one more break after Level 9 in about 2 hours.
Germany's Steven Stephan is among the chip leaders with a stack of 130,000. In a recent hand, Stephan found himself in a big pot after his opponent continuation bet a flop of 
. More betting took place on the turn of 
before the action really heated up on the 
river. Stephan shoved his hand and showed 
after his opponent quickly called with top set with .
The total pot was for around 60,000 chips and since then Stephan has been able to use his big stack to take small pots during the last orbit to build his stack to 130,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
130,000
130,000
|
130,000 |
We are now down to 200 players in Day 1a, however, that number can go up and down as the entrant figure continues to rise and is now at 244 players. One of the latest casualties is Atik Miah who was playing aggressively most of the day building his stack north of 60,000 chips at one point.
In a recent hand, Miah raised under the gun with a couple of callers before Emil Lukac raised the action to bring it heads-up to the flop.
On a 
flop, Miac checked, and then called a bet from Lukac for 7,000. Things got more interesting when an hit the turn. Miac once again checked and Lukac once again fired a bet for 7,000. Miac then declared he was all in, which Lukac called with 
. Miac showed 
and was unable to pick up his four-outer for a gut-shot straight and exited the tournament. Meanwhile, Lukac is now among the chip leaders with a 105,000 chip stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
105,000 | |
|
Busted |
Level: 8
Blinds: 250/500
Ante: 50
On the table closest to the coffee bar, under the gun min-bet to 1,000. Romania's Dan Hila 3-bet the action to 2,700 and both the player under the gun and the player in the big blind called.
All three players checked on a flop of 
. The 
came on the turn with the player in the big blind leading for 4,400. The player under the gun called before Hila went all in for 18,000. The big blind called with 
and was unable to improve his hand to beat Hila's straight with when a blank hit the river.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
67,000 |
Straight after the dinner break Miltiadis Kyriakides was presented with a gold ring after winning the one-day PLO8 event yesterday. Rumors are circulating that he had a prop bet which he collected on after winning the event. This hasn't stopped the Greek from building his stack today.
In a recent hand Kyriakides raised from the hijack to 1,000 and was three-bet by Claus Carlsen to 3,500. Carlson bet 3,500 on the flop of 
, which Kyriakides called. Both players checked when the 
came on the turn.
The action became more serious on when a hit the river with Carlsen leading out for 7,500, which Kyriakides raised to 32,000. Carlsen called and showed 
for top set, however, the chips were slid over the Kyriakides when he turned over 
for the flush.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
120,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
65,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
Level: 9
Blinds: 300/600
Ante: 75
We have now reached Level 9 with action concluding on the day at Level 12. We now have exceeded the 250 entrants the tournament director was predicting for the day with 251 players paying the €1,650 to get in on the action in hopes of claiming the at least €1 million prize pool.
Currently there are 175 players left according to the board, with some of those players already reentering.
Steven Stephan keeps piling up the chips winning small pot after small pot. In a recent bigger hand, Stephan found himself in a three-way limped pot pre-flop from the big blind.
All three players checked a flop of . The action heated up on the turn when Stephan led out with a small bet and called a three bet of 6,000 chips from the player on the button. Another came on the river and Stephan three-bet his opponent for about 30,000. Players showed down, and Stephan scooped a pot of around 80,000 when he turned over for a full-house to beat the of his opponent.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
205,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
Hila raises the action to 1,600, and almost the entire table comes along with six players calling to the flop.
Flop: 
The player in the big blind leads out on the flop for 5,000, which Hila raises to 12,000. The action folds back to the big blind who goes all-in for about 30,000 chips. Hila calls with 
and his hand holds against his opponent's when two blanks hit the turn and the river.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
134,000
67,000
|
67,000 |
