Jose Gomez Casillas Chases Second Bracelet as Christopher Puetz Leads Star-Studded WSOPE Main Event Day 1a Field

Poker players from all over the world descended on King’s Resort in Rozvadov today, eager to take their shot at one of the most prestigious prizes in poker, the 2025 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event.

A total of 462 entrants were obtained in the first of two starting flights of the €10,350 buy-in, €6,000,000 guaranteed event, and the field was a mixture of famous faces, pros eager to earn their spurs, and enthusiastic semi-professionals.

Players such as Sorel Mizzi, Ren Lin, Martin Kabrhel, Shaun Deeb and Viktor Blom provided the star power, while the field was also full of players who qualified via deep runs in other festivals at King's throughout the year.

When the dust settled after seven 90-minute levels, Christopher Puetz of Germany (679,000) had risen to the top of the standings to lead 304 qualifiers, just ahead of Jose Gomez Casillas of Mexico (665,500) and Czech Michael Sklenicka (543,800).

Casillas is having quite the series, having bagged his first bracelet in the Colossus event along with €158,350, and following that up with a cash in the €1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Mystery Million event.

Puetz has come close to major titles before, having a number of deep finishes on his resume for six-figure scores, including a third-place finish for $238,204 in Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em at this year's World Series, and he will no doubt be determined to finally capture a top-tier event (All stats courtesy of The Hendon Mob).

End of Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Christopher Puetz	Germany	679,000	566
2	Jose Gomez Casillas	Mexico	665,500	555
3	Michael Sklenicka	Czechia	543,800	453
4	Yannick Schumacher	Germany	456,700	381
5	Diego Montone	Italy	455,800	380
6	Iago Savino	Brazil	431,300	359
7	Bastian Gallitzendoerfer	Germany	407,000	339
8	Dominik Panka	Poland	375,500	313
9	Cristian David	Romania	374,000	312
10	Mateusz Hajman	Poland	370,200	309

Day 1a Action

The tournament room was absolutely packed at the start of the day, and there were fireworks immediately as Juan Velasco ran ace-king into the aces of Vikrant Mangal to bust. Barak Oz followed him out the door shortly thereafter in somewhat unfortunate circumstances.

Blom chipped up early after bluff-catching versus Campbell Ashton, and would progress to Day 2 with 306,700. Deeb also got moving early, doubling via Seyed Fazeli, and he too would progress, bagging up 270,400, along with Mizzi (304,000).

Casillas was at the front of the pack by the second break, and he would remain there throughout the day. Kabrhel joined the field towards the end of the day, and was straight into the action, securing a swift double-up, but would not make the Day 2 cut. By the last break Puetz had taken over the overall chip lead, and he would increase his stack throughout the final session, including getting paid with a full house. He also busted Kabrhel, catching him bluffing in the last level of the night.

There are a remarkable 46 bracelets held overall by Day 1a qualifiers, with the likes of Axel Bayout (251,900), Jonas Lauck (241,200), Vivian Saliba (181,600) and Giuliano Bendinelli (163,500) all progressing.

Notable players who fired a bullet today without success include Ivan Banic, Ian Simpson and Lukas Pazma.

The final starting flight is Day 1b, kicking off at noon local time on October 4. Players will sit down to a 100,000 starting stack, at blind level 100/300, with a 300 big blind ante.

The clock is set to 90-minute levels, and play will conclude at the end of Level 7. A break will occur at the end of each level, with a 60-minute dinner break scheduled for the end of Level 4.

Late registration is open until the end of Level 12, five levels into Day 2.