Philip Joyce opened under the gun to 700, only to be faced with a three-bet to 2,100 by Simon Wiciak in middle position. Action folded back to Joyce, who pumped it up further to 5,500, with Wiciak making the call.
On the 7?4?3? flop, Joyce continued with a bet of 3,000, receiving a call from Wiciak.
The 9? turn caused Joyce to slow down, but he check-called a bet of 5,000 from Wiciak.
The 2? river was checked through. Joyce tabled A?K? for ace-high, while Wiciak took the pot with J?J? for a pair of jacks.
Andrei Kaigorodtsev opened the action with a raise to 400 from early position, with Ivan Bryksin calling from middle position. Bogdan Ionescu, on the button, decided to three-bet to 1,800, prompting a four-bet from Samuel Mullur in the big blind to 5,300. Only Ionescu made the call.
On the J?3?7? flop, Mullur continued his aggression with a 7,200 bet, and Ionescu called.
The action slowed on the 3? turn when Mullur checked. Ionescu bet 6,000, and after some thought, Mullur called.
On the 5? river, Mullur checked once again. Ionescu grabbed a stack of chips and pushed them into the middle, effectively putting Mullur all-in. Mullur took a moment, then made the call, risking his tournament life. Mullur revealed A?K? for the nut flush, but Ionescu showed J?J? for a full house, sending Mullur packing to the registration desk for another shot.
Around 6,200 was in the middle on a completed board of K?4?5?6?10?, in a hand between Giorgiy Skhulukhiya on the button and Naor Slobodskoy in the big blind.
Slobodskoy checked and Skhulukhiya fired out a bet of 7,000. Slobodskoy responded with a check-jam to 25,900, and after a significant period of time thinking, Skhulukhiya open-folded 7?4? for the rivered seven-high flush.
Slobodskoy smiled and flashed the A? as he raked in the pot.
Rikiya Jinbo opened to 300 from the cutoff, and was faced with a three-bet to 900 by Panagiotis Oikonomidis on the button. Action folded back to Jinbo, who called.
On the K?10?4? flop, Jinbo check-called a bet of 700 from Oikonomidis.
The 5? rolled off on the turn, and Jinbo again check-called, this time in respect of a 2,300 bet from his opponent.
The 10? completed the board, and Jinbo checked for a third time. Oikonomidis took some time to think before firing out a bet of 11,000, and Jinbo made the relatively quick call.
Jinbo was shown the bad news when Oikonomidis turned over 10?10? for quad tens, sending him a chunky early pot.
Michael Wang opened to 300 from the cutoff, and Philippe Souki defended in the big blind.
On the J?9?7? flop, Souki check-called a bet of 500 from Wang.
The Q? turn followed the same pattern, this time in respect of a bet of 1,200 from Wang.
The 10? river was checked through, no doubt much to Souki's disappointment, as he tabled K?Q? for the rivered king-high straight flush. Needless to say Wang could not beat that and mucked his hand.
Souki quipped "Feels a bit wasted in Level 1, but I'll take it."
It's time for Day 1b of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus $5,300 Main Event, running at the opulent Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa.
Day 1a saw 474 players enter the fray, and 106 made it through to Day 2. Kirill Shcherbakov bagged the chip lead with 264,500, closely followed by Ren Lin (264,500), while 2024 EPT Barcelona champ Stephen Song rounded out the top three, sitting comfortably with 261,500 in chips.
Top Ten Day 1a Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Kirill Shcherbakov
Russia
284,000
2
Ren Lin
USA
264,500
3
Stephen Song
USA
261,500
4
Yevhen Pavlenko
Ukraine
253,000
5
Ahmed Abdellatif
Australia
249,000
6
Sergei Varnaev
Russia
248,500
7
Ivan Zabiiakin
Russia
233,000
8
Fahredin Mustafov
Bulgaria
222,000
9
Rongshan Li
China
215,000
10
Artsiom Lasouski
Belarus
210,000
Some of the game's biggest names also advanced, including world's number one online player Niklas Astedt (186,000), Felix Schneiders (172,000), PokerStars ambassadors Sam Grafton (106,000), Barny Boatman (48,000), Kenny Hallaert (26,000), and Elias Gutierrez (23,000).
Gilles Simon
Day 1b is expected to draw even more players, with defending 2023 EPT Cyprus champ Gilles Simon likely to take another shot after falling short in yesterday’s flight.
The schedule for today includes ten one-hour levels, starting with blinds at 100/100 and a 100 ante. Players begin with 30,000 chips, and they’ll enjoy a 20-minute break every two levels, along with a 75-minute dinner break after Level 6. A single reentry is allowed across both starting flights, with late registration open until the beginning of Day 2.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates straight from the tournament floor throughout the day!
