$5,300 EPT Main Event
Day 1b Completed
2024 PokerStars EPT Cyprus
$5,300 EPT Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1b
2024 PokerStars EPT Cyprus
Buy-in
$5,300
Prize Pool
$6,227,400
Entries
1,284
Level
36
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Entries
755
Players Left
260
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Another action-packed day inside the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa saw an additional 755 entrants join the fray for Day 1b of the European Poker Tour Cyprus Main Event — bringing the total up to 1,229 with more to come as late registration will remain open until the start of Day 2.
By the time the final hand was dealt, Viktor Ustimov emerged as the overall chip leader of the 260 players remaining after running his starting stack up to 379,000 through ten levels of play.
Ustimov is no stranger to success on the felt as he has racked up over $2 million in live-tournament earnings; however, he has yet to claim an EPT title. Ustimov picked off a bluff in a huge pot on the last level of the day to help solidify his chip lead and will enter Day 2 with over 30 big blinds more than his next-closest competitor.
End of Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Viktor Ustimov | Russia | 379,000 | 253 |
| 2 | Salvatore Camarda | Italy | 325,000 | 217 |
| 3 | Ali Al-Kubasi | Iraq | 301,000 | 201 |
| 4 | Darius Gadeikis | Lithuania | 266,000 | 177 |
| 5 | James Crawley | United Kingdom | 261,000 | 174 |
| 6 | Radoslav Stoyanov | Bulgaria | 250,000 | 167 |
| 7 | Anton Wigg | Sweden | 235,000 | 157 |
| 8 | Aliaksei Boika | Belarus | 220,000 | 147 |
| 9 | Yassin Mahmoud | Jordan | 220,000 | 147 |
| 10 | Chakib Mhiri | Tunisia | 208,000 | 139 |
Day 1b Action
There was no shortage of big hands to get Day 1b off to a lively start, with Philippe Souki making a straight flush and Panagiotis Oikonomidis making quads within the first few hands of play. Neither player let their early good fortune go to waste as Souki ended with 87,000 while Oikonomidis bagged up 191,000.
Another unlikely hand saw four players get all in preflop in what turned out to be kings versus queens versus jacks versus tens. Tomas Vaskunas held the best of it with his cowboys, which held up to give Vaskunas an enormous boost to his stack en route to bagging up 189,000.
The competition remained fierce as plenty of poker crushers battled their way to a Day-2 berth. A few among them include Sebastian Malec (85,000), Artur Martirosian (95,000), Michael Wang (103,000), Lucien Cohen (138,000), Andras Nemeth (163,500), and Anton Wigg — who bagged up a top-ten stack worth 235,000 and will be looking to add a second EPT Main Event title to his poker resume.
The defending champion, Gilles Simon, took his seat early but was unable to gain any momentum. Gilles chipped down and nursed a short stack for quite some time before committing his stack with pocket tens in what ended up being a three-way all in. Simon was a favorite to triple up against two hands containing an ace, but Chase Wilson ended up pairing his queen to end Simon's main event run.
Other notables who fell short include Parker Talbot, Tom Middleton, Leonard Maue, Marle Spragg, Benjamin Spragg, and Daniel Rezaei — who busted on the last level of the day after getting coolered by Adrien Quetelart in a set versus two pair confrontation.
Day 2 will get underway at 12 p.m. local time on Wednesday, October 16. Play resumes on Level 11, which features 1,000/1,500 blinds with a 1,500 big-blind ante. Levels will be extended from 60 minutes to 90 minutes and breaks will take place after each level. Late registration will remain open until the start of play for anyone who has yet to enter or has only entered once from previous flight.
There is still plenty of action to come, so be sure to check back with PokerNews for ongoing coverage as the EPT Cyprus Main Event is just getting warmed up!
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
379,000
59,000
|
59,000 |
|
||
|
325,000
239,700
|
239,700 |
|
301,000
141,000
|
141,000 |
|
266,000
-4,200
|
-4,200 |
|
261,000
201,000
|
201,000 |
|
250,000
98,400
|
98,400 |
|
235,000
12,000
|
12,000 |
|
||
|
220,000
177,000
|
177,000 |
|
|
||
|
220,000
-80,000
|
-80,000 |
|
208,000
-37,000
|
-37,000 |
|
205,500
143,000
|
143,000 |
|
200,000
128,000
|
128,000 |
|
191,000
115,300
|
115,300 |
|
190,000
95,000
|
95,000 |
|
189,000
5,600
|
5,600 |
|
188,000
188,000
|
188,000 |
|
187,000
106,000
|
106,000 |
|
186,500
154,000
|
154,000 |
|
183,000
43,000
|
43,000 |
|
176,000
61,000
|
61,000 |
|
173,000
60,500
|
60,500 |
|
170,500
170,500
|
170,500 |
|
165,000
88,000
|
88,000 |
|
163,500
-3,500
|
-3,500 |
|
163,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Play has now concluded in Day 1b, stay tuned for updated chip counts and a recap of the day.
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Action folded to Endrit Geci on the button, who opened to 1,200, and received calls from Mohamed Hammi and Hannes Jeschka in the blinds.
The A♠7♦2♠ flop was checked through. On the 5♠ turn, Jeschka led out with a bet of 1,200, which only Geci called.
The 5♥ river completed the board, and Jeschka check-folded versus a bet of 2,600 from Geci.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
98,000
-7,000
|
-7,000 |
|
69,000
-14,000
|
-14,000 |
|
|
30,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
PokerNews caught up with the action as the pot stood at around 100,000 with the board reading 3♣J♥6♥5♥. Andras Nemeth was all in for about 67,000, leaving Georgios Tsouloftas with a tough decision to make.
Tsouloftas took his time, visibly weighing his options. After about five minutes, another player called the clock, and the floor staff arrived, giving Tsouloftas 30 seconds to act. As the countdown hit zero, he reluctantly folded, conceding the massive pot.
After the hand, Nemeth claimed he had pocket queens, confident they were good enough, and Tsouloftas gave a slight nod in agreement.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
167,000
131,000
|
131,000 |
|
44,000
-21,000
|
-21,000 |
|
||
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Alexander Zubov was already all in for his remaining stack from the big blind against Mihai Niste, who had Zubov covered from early position.
Alexander Zubov: Q♣J♣
Mihai Niste: K♣K♠
The 10♥8♦K♥ flop kept Zubov drawing live with an open-ended straight draw, but the K♦ turn upgraded Niste to quad kings to leave Zubov drawing dead.
An irrelevant 10♣ completed the board and Niste collected the rest of Zubov's chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
128,000
59,000
|
59,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Darius Gadeikis had raised under the gun and Saar Wilf had called in middle position. Tudor Zapsa then three-bet to 12,500 in the cutoff. Gadeikis called but Wilf jammed all in for 27,200.
Zapsa put in a four-bet to 55,000 to isolate but Gadeikis called undeterredly. The pair went on to check through the J♦8♦3♦ flop and 5♦ turn before Gadeikis bet 35,000 on the 4♦ river.
Zapsa spent some minutes in the tank but ultimately opted to fold. Gadeikis showed down K♦K♣ for the nut flush, besting the 9♥9♦ of Wilf and sending him to the rail with just a few hands left in the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
270,200
116,200
|
116,200 |
|
130,000
-80,600
|
-80,600 |
|
Busted |
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
The clock has been paused and it has been announced three more hands will be played before Day 1b concludes.
Level 10
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Action folded to Gerard Carbo in the small blind, who raised to 2,500. Emil Gramatikov produced a three-bet to around 23,000 from the big blind, leaving only around 2,000 behind, and Carbo moved all in, with Emil Gramatikov quickly getting the rest of his chips into the middle.
Emil Gramatikov: A♠3♣
Gerard Carbo: K♥J♦
Emil Gramatikov was ahead and his double-up was confirmed by the Q♦7♦7♠4♥6♠ runout, Gramatikov's ace-high with a pair of sevens sending him the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
52,000 | |
|
31,000
1,000
|
1,000 |