Vaitiekunas Bags Slight Lead After Day 2 of Event #14: €10,350 Main Event
After another six levels of poker, Day 2 of Event #14: €10,350 Main Event has drawn to a close at the World Series of Poker Europe. It was a packed room at King's Resort in Rozvadov, Czech Republic when the day began with 279 players returning to their seats. That number filtered down to just 129 by the end of the day and Paulius Vaitiekunas bagged the largest stack with 1,221,000 chips.
Vaitiekunas came into the day as a top-ten stack and really got his momentum rolling when he turned a pair of kings in a four-bet pot into a bluff. He got his opponent to fold middle set on the river on a relatively dry board and from there Vaitiekunas continued to accumulate chips. It was mostly "small ballin'" poker as Vaitiekunas called it that earned him the chip lead after two days.
The Lithuanian poker pro came close to his first gold bracelet when he finished in fifth place at the Global Casino Championship earlier this year. Vaitiekunas claimed his first WSOP Circuit ring in March, topping the field in the €777 Lucky 7s Event. Over the course of his short two-year reign at the live felt, Vaitiekunas has racked up over $170,000 in tournament winnings and is looking to add to that number in a big way this week.
Heading into Day 3, he will be closely followed by Ahmad Achegsei who finished strong with 1,213,000 chips. Daan Mulders held the lead in the last few minutes but lost a pot in one of the final hands to wind up with 1,191,000. Alexandros Kolonias was the only other player to finish in the seven-figure club as he busted Freek Scholten in one of the last hands. Kolonias wound up bagging up a stack of 1,115,000 chips.
Day 2 Action
The action kicked off at 12 p.m. local time and empty seats were quickly filled with late entries. A starting stack of 100,000 chips was still worth over 60 big blinds at the start of the day and players took full advantage. There were nearly 100 entries on Day 2 that brought the total to 541, setting a new record for the WSOP Europe held at King's Resort. The €5,000,000 guaranteed prizepool was reached early on as players were re-entering faster as fast as they were being eliminated.
It was a rough day for one of the chip leaders Kahle Burns who was up and down throughout but eventually was sent to the rail. Burns hit a couple of rough patches in the middle levels and eventually found himself on a stack of 20 big blinds. He got his chips in the middle with top pair against a straight draw and his opponent rivered a straight to eliminate the 2x bracelet winner at the 2019 WSOP Europe.
Many other big names took to the felt in search of making a deep run in the Main Event but things didn't go their way either. Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, WSOP Main Event champion Hossein Ensan, Dominik Nitsche, Ole Schemion, Christoph Vogelsang, William Kassouf, Sam Grafton, Phil Hui, Ryan Riess, and Alex Livingston all failed to find a bag. That left Shaun Deeb as one of the only players in the field still in contention for the Player of the Year race, bagging up a stack of 118,000 chips.
Alex Foxen came into the day as the overall chipleader and rode a wavy rollercoaster through each and every level. Things got sour in a hurry but Foxen recovered his entire stack and then some by the time dinner break rolled around. However, a couple of double ups to his neighbor Adi Rajkovic left Foxen with 200,000. In the last level of the night, Foxen spun it up once more, with a large portion coming when he flopped set over set to score an elimination. He finished the day with 813,000, more than what he started with which is the goal every time.
A few other big names to make it through the day include Jan-Peter Jachtmann (851,000), Martin Kabrhel (793,000), Joao Vieira (715,000), Dario Sammartino (687,000), Anton Morgenstern (600,000), Jeff Madsen (404,000), Benjamin Pollak (350,000), and defending champion Jack Sinclair (272,000).
When the players return to the felt on Day 3, they will have their sights set on the money bubble. With 129 players remaining and only 82 making the money, the bubble could come faster than players expect. A min-cash will be worth €15,089 all the way up to the winner receiving €1,133,678.
Another six levels are on the schedule for Day 3 and the action will get underway at 12 p.m. local time. There will be a 15-minute break after every level and a 60-minute dinner break after the fourth level. The PokerNews team will be back on the tournament floor to bring you all of the big pots and all of the action throughout the day.
2019 WSOPE Main Event Day 3 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 1 | Pierre Mothes | Germany | 475,000 | 79 |
| 80 | 2 | Artur Jarek | Poland | 292,000 | 49 |
| 80 | 3 | Dennis Wilke | Germany | 368,000 | 61 |
| 80 | 4 | Duco Ten Haven | Netherlands | 880,000 | 147 |
| 80 | 5 | Michal Lubas | Poland | 646,000 | 108 |
| 80 | 6 | Sergio Ruiz | Spain | 163,000 | 27 |
| 80 | 7 | Gergely Voeroes | Hungary | 348,000 | 58 |
| 80 | 8 | Tobias Peters | Netherlands | 241,000 | 40 |
| 81 | 1 | Alessandro Laubinger | Germany | 279,000 | 47 |
| 81 | 2 | Davidi Kitai | Belgium | 218,000 | 36 |
| 81 | 4 | Michael Sklenicka | Czech Republic | 386,000 | 64 |
| 81 | 5 | Charbel Salloum | Lebanon | 532,000 | 89 |
| 81 | 6 | Per Reevcrona | Sweden | 107,000 | 18 |
| 81 | 7 | Georgios Vrakas | Greece | 362,000 | 60 |
| 81 | 8 | Dario Sammartino | Italy | 687,000 | 115 |
| 82 | 1 | Markus Dürnegger | Austria | 874,000 | 146 |
| 82 | 2 | Anatoly Filatov | Russia | 200,000 | 33 |
| 82 | 3 | Quan Zhou | China | 501,000 | 84 |
| 82 | 4 | Jorma Nuutinen | Finland | 293,000 | 49 |
| 82 | 5 | Karol Konopka | Poland | 445,000 | 74 |
| 82 | 6 | Francesco Delfoco | Italy | 360,000 | 60 |
| 82 | 7 | Adrian Galipienso | Spain | 737,000 | 123 |
| 82 | 8 | Tomas Knespl | Czech Republic | 164,000 | 27 |
| 83 | 1 | Marek Blasko | Slovakia | 273,000 | 46 |
| 83 | 2 | Yake Wu | China | 125,000 | 21 |
| 83 | 3 | Abdelhakim Zoufri | Netherlands | 436,000 | 73 |
| 83 | 4 | Alex Foxen | United States | 813,000 | 136 |
| 83 | 5 | Bertrand Grospellier | France | 323,000 | 54 |
| 83 | 7 | Viktor Walter | Germany | 201,000 | 34 |
| 83 | 8 | Philipp Zukernik | Israel | 484,000 | 81 |
| 84 | 1 | Mehrzad Moadeli | Denmark | 449,000 | 75 |
| 84 | 2 | Raz Alon | Israel | 152,000 | 25 |
| 84 | 3 | Setki Ajruli | Macedonia | 390,000 | 65 |
| 84 | 4 | Gianluca Speranza | Italy | 273,000 | 46 |
| 84 | 5 | Martin Kabrhel | Czech Republic | 793,000 | 132 |
| 84 | 6 | Paulius Vaitiekunas | Lithuania | 1,221,000 | 204 |
| 84 | 7 | Aymon Hata | United Kingdom | 362,000 | 60 |
| 84 | 8 | Fernando Habegger | Switzerland | 212,000 | 35 |
| 85 | 1 | David “ODB” Baker | United States | 720,000 | 120 |
| 85 | 2 | Zhong Chen | Netherlands | 236,000 | 39 |
| 85 | 3 | Saar Wilf | Israel | 449,000 | 75 |
| 85 | 4 | Michael Duerk | Germany | 413,000 | 69 |
| 85 | 5 | Didier Rabl | Switzerland | 92,000 | 15 |
| 85 | 6 | Ahmad Achegsei | Germany | 1,213,000 | 202 |
| 85 | 7 | Enrico Campanile | Italy | 283,000 | 47 |
| 85 | 8 | Jakob Madsen | Denmark | 352,000 | 59 |
| 94 | 1 | Bleron Maliqi | RKS | 292,000 | 49 |
| 94 | 2 | Vlada Stojanovic | Serbia | 486,000 | 81 |
| 94 | 3 | Julien Martini | France | 887,000 | 148 |
| 94 | 4 | Emmanouil Fountoulakis | Greece | 362,000 | 60 |
| 94 | 5 | Orpen Kisacikoglu | Turkey | 207,000 | 35 |
| 94 | 6 | Jeff Madsen | United States | 404,000 | 67 |
| 94 | 7 | Balazs Bistei | Hungary | 102,000 | 17 |
| 94 | 8 | Mustafa Biz | Turkey | 777,000 | 130 |
| 95 | 1 | Kristoffer Rasmussen | Denmark | 491,000 | 82 |
| 95 | 2 | Joao Vieira | Portugal | 715,000 | 119 |
| 95 | 3 | Paul Theobald | Germany | 62,000 | 10 |
| 95 | 4 | Jack Sinclair | United Kingdom | 272,000 | 45 |
| 95 | 5 | Roberto Romanello | United Kingdom | 425,000 | 71 |
| 95 | 6 | Sergey Verkhoturov | Russia | 320,000 | 53 |
| 95 | 7 | Daniel Rezaei | Austria | 911,000 | 152 |
| 95 | 8 | Roman Sahin | Switzerland | 228,000 | 38 |
| 96 | 1 | Maria Lampropulos | Greece | 248,000 | 41 |
| 96 | 2 | Ghattas Kortas | Sweden | 568,000 | 95 |
| 96 | 3 | Aleksandr Merzhvinskii | Russia | 94,000 | 16 |
| 96 | 4 | Enrico Camosci | Italy | 655,000 | 109 |
| 96 | 5 | Leonard Maue | Germany | 414,000 | 69 |
| 96 | 6 | Alfred Kovezman | Israel | 329,000 | 55 |
| 96 | 8 | Oleg Pavlyuchuk | Russia | 267,000 | 45 |
| 97 | 1 | Michal Mrakes | Czech Republic | 227,000 | 38 |
| 97 | 2 | Christopher Frank | Åland Islands | 284,000 | 47 |
| 97 | 3 | Negjdet Avdylaj | RKS | 423,000 | 71 |
| 97 | 4 | Kasparas Klezys | Lithuania | 97,000 | 16 |
| 97 | 5 | Bernd Gleissner | Germany | 350,000 | 58 |
| 97 | 6 | Roberto Morra | Italy | 454,000 | 76 |
| 97 | 7 | Daan Mulders | Netherlands | 1,191,000 | 199 |
| 97 | 8 | Jan-Peter Jachtmann | Germany | 851,000 | 142 |
| 98 | 1 | Nadim El Ammar | Germany | 310,000 | 52 |
| 98 | 2 | Claas Segebrecht | Germany | 670,000 | 112 |
| 98 | 3 | Dennis Martin | Germany | 134,000 | 22 |
| 98 | 4 | Anton Morgenstern | Germany | 600,000 | 100 |
| 98 | 5 | Anders Kjellerup | Denmark | 387,000 | 65 |
| 98 | 6 | Manuel Bulut | Germany | 223,000 | 37 |
| 98 | 8 | Warwick Mirzikinian | Australia | 288,000 | 48 |
| 99 | 1 | Faramarz Safari | Austria | 639,000 | 107 |
| 99 | 2 | Alexandros Kolonias | Greece | 1,115,000 | 186 |
| 99 | 3 | Giorgiy Skhulukhiya | Russia | 190,000 | 32 |
| 99 | 4 | Ihor Yerofieiev | Ukraine | 267,000 | 45 |
| 99 | 5 | Anthony Zinno | United States | 430,000 | 72 |
| 99 | 6 | Roland Israelashvili | United States | 337,000 | 56 |
| 99 | 7 | Shaun Deeb | United States | 118,000 | 20 |
| 99 | 8 | Dash Dudley | United States | 508,000 | 85 |
| 108 | 1 | Julian Menhardt | Germany | 439,000 | 73 |
| 108 | 2 | Nicolas Sievers | Germany | 167,000 | 28 |
| 108 | 3 | Adi Rajkovic | Austria | 633,000 | 106 |
| 108 | 4 | Vadzim Lipauka | Belarus | 964,000 | 161 |
| 108 | 5 | Jozef Bartalos | Slovakia | 251,000 | 42 |
| 108 | 6 | Benjamin Pollak | France | 350,000 | 58 |
| 108 | 7 | Artur Rudenkov | Czech Republic | 550,000 | 92 |
| 108 | 8 | Rainer Kempe | Germany | 159,000 | 27 |
| 109 | 1 | Besmir Hodaj | Albania | 287,000 | 48 |
| 109 | 3 | Anas Belatik | France | 405,000 | 68 |
| 109 | 4 | Christian Rudolph | Germany | 116,000 | 19 |
| 109 | 5 | Philipp Luetkemeier | Germany | 306,000 | 51 |
| 109 | 6 | Christofor Stefanidi | Germany | 239,000 | 40 |
| 109 | 7 | Rene Mueller | Germany | 648,000 | 108 |
| 109 | 8 | Hongbin Guo | China | 507,000 | 85 |
| 110 | 1 | Bartlomiej Machon | Poland | 302,000 | 50 |
| 110 | 2 | Shahar Levi | Israel | 622,000 | 104 |
| 110 | 4 | Harry Ross | United Kingdom | 164,000 | 27 |
| 110 | 5 | Jakub Oliva | Czech Republic | 251,000 | 42 |
| 110 | 6 | Jacob Baumgartner | United States | 362,000 | 60 |
| 110 | 7 | Deniz Dogan | Germany | 445,000 | 74 |
| 110 | 8 | Dragos Trofimov | Moldova | 861,000 | 144 |
| 111 | 1 | Felix Schulze | Germany | 714,000 | 119 |
| 111 | 2 | Antonio Madreira De Andrade Dos Santos | Brazil | 447,000 | 75 |
| 111 | 3 | Mykola Kostyrko | Ukraine | 333,000 | 56 |
| 111 | 4 | Karl-Theodor Schoepf | Germany | 115,000 | 19 |
| 111 | 5 | Maxim Lykov | Russia | 196,000 | 33 |
| 111 | 6 | Martin Kristeller | Germany | 1,100,000 | 183 |
| 111 | 7 | David Gnirs | Germany | 435,000 | 73 |
| 111 | 8 | Marius Gicovanu | Romania | 277,000 | 46 |
| 112 | 1 | Anh Do | Czech Republic | 313,000 | 52 |
| 112 | 2 | Thomas Hammerl | Germany | 225,000 | 38 |
| 112 | 3 | Guillaume Diaz | France | 85,000 | 14 |
| 112 | 5 | Rifat Palevic | Sweden | 593,000 | 99 |
| 112 | 6 | Sasa Lalos | Austria | 296,000 | 49 |
| 112 | 7 | Raphael Braun | Austria | 444,000 | 74 |
| 112 | 8 | Robert Skopalik | Czech Republic | 694,000 | 116 |
for Ferguson to hit top pair but for Martini to pick up the flush draw.
which gave Martini the flush indeed and leave Ferguson drawing dead.
to seal the deal and send Ferguson on his way in the very last hand of the night.
on the river. He engaged in table chat with Kristeller and mentioned that he thinks Kristeller has pocket kings.
for a rivered set of nines and Kristeller had that beat with 
for a straight. The stacks were counted and Hasenberg was covered by a small margin as Kristeller had a stack of 406,000.
was spread across the table. Livingston checked to Morgenstern who bet 35,000 and Livingston check-raised all in for 223,000.
but was behind Livingston's 
.
turn card as Morgenstern made a straight. Livingston wasn't drawing dead yet with two pair but the 
on the river spelled an end to his WSOP Europe Main Event.
to seal the deal and send Blom to the rail in the last level of the night.
flop, the action checked to Skhulukhiya and that triggered a continuation bet of 16,000. Burns shoved for 56,000 and once Vrakas had folded, a quick call of Giorgiy Skhulukhiya followed.
and Schulze turned an eight-high straight to bust Romanello and double through Gumz.
and that spelled the end for Hui.