Tom-Aksell Bedell Goes on Late-Night Heater to Secure Day 1a Chiplead in €5,200 PLO Grand Slam Opener
Day 1a of the €5,200 PLO Grand Slam Opener hosted by Diamond Poker Series was a roaring success. Throughout the day, 95 entries were made at Arena Casino Tirana, nearly half of what is needed to reach the ambitious €1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool. However, after 11 levels only 19 of them would survive the day and bag their chips for Day 2.
Topping the charts is Norwegian high roller Tom-Aksel Bedell. Bedell had a rocky start to his day, being down to just 45,000 chips from the 200,000 he started with at one point. However, he hit his stride after the final break and ended up needing only one bullet to end the day with 2,165,000, good for 144 blinds when Day 2 resumes.
Second in chips is Spanish player Sergio Martinez Gonzalez. Martinez Gonzalez won a five-way all-in for 400 big blinds midway through the day. He stabilized from there on out and ended up with 2,010,000 as the only other player to bag up more than two million. As promised, the organization awarded Bedell and Martinez Gonzalez a ticket to the €10,300 PLO Championship later on in the series for placing number one and two on Day 1a.
Meanwhile, anonymous player "Tony" grabbed the bronze medal with a stack of 1,780,000, while Omaha specialists Pavel Izotov and Grzegorz Derkowski, and retired soccer pro turned bracelet winner Max Kruse also bagged seven-figure stacks.
End of Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom-Aksel Bedell | Norway | 2,165,000 | 144 |
| 2 | Sergio Martinez Gonzalez | Spain | 2,010,000 | 134 |
| 3 | "Tony" | 1,780,000 | 119 | |
| 4 | Pavel Izotov | Belarus | 1,575,000 | 105 |
| 5 | Christoforos Chrysochoidis | Greece | 1,195,000 | 80 |
| 6 | Max Kruse | Germany | 1,170,000 | 78 |
| 7 | Dima | 1,090,000 | 73 | |
| 8 | Ggerga | 1,075,000 | 72 | |
| 9 | Lautaro Guerra | Spain | 940,000 | 63 |
| 10 | Borislav Bogdanov | Bulgaria | 810,000 | 54 |
Number eight on Scotland's all-time money list Andrew Leathem also found a bag, ending up with 625,000. Meanwhile, bracelet winner Cesar Garcia ended at the bottom with 290,000, but will still have more than those who will register on Day 2.
In contrast, the player who goes by "Jay" was the unluckiest on Day 1a, firing no less than eight bullets before calling it quits without finding a bag. Other notable players who showed up to the Albanian capital but did not make it through include Nikolaos Lampropoulos, Oleksii Kovalchuk, Vasili Firsau, Amir Mozaffarian, Francisco Perez, and Sonny Franco.
They will have another shot at glory tomorrow, November 5, when Day 1b, the second and final flight, gets underway at 3 p.m. local time. The same 11 levels will be played, and even if they remain unsuccessful then, late registration will not close until the shuffle up and deal on Day 2.
So tune back in to PokerNews tomorrow for more high-stakes four-card action from the PLO Grand Slam tournament floor.