Rens Feenstra Leads After Day 1a of the 2015 Master Classics of Poker
For the first time ever, the Main Event of the Master Classics of Poker provided two starting days. On the first, 100 players ponied up the €4,250 buy-in, either via direct entry, reentry, or after winning their seat in one of the satellites at the Holland Casino in Amsterdam. After nine levels of 60 minutes each, the field was whittled down to 44 survivors and it was a tight race for the overnight lead.
Ultimately, it was 2013 MCOP €1,500 Reentry and 2012 MCOP High Roller champion Rens Feenstra who claimed the top spot with 149,100 in chips. He was closely followed by EPT11 Malta Main Event winner Jean Montury (145,000), Wouter Beltz (144,800), Georgios Zisimopoulos (141,800), and Sampo Ryynanen (133,900).
Other notables going through to Day 2 included Govert Metaal (128,200), Przemyslaw Piotrowski (102,200), 2011 MCOP Main Event champion David Boyaciyan (100,200), Thomas Muehloecker (95,200), Daniel Dvoress (73,900), David "MissOracle" Yan (60,100), Pascal Hartmann (57,900), Jason Wheeler (55,800), defending champion Ruben Visser (50,900), 2013 MCOP Main Event winner Noah Boeken (48,500), Juha Helppi (41,600), and Clyde Tjauw Foe (30,800).
Among those that will have to return for Day 1b after busting in their first attempt(s) were familiar faces such as Vlado Banicevic, Nikolaus Teichert, Richard Milne, Senh Ung, Mateusz Moolhuizen, Tom Hall, Marcel Vonk, Raoul Refos, Hossein Ensan, Martin Finger, Faraz Jaka, Matthias de Meulder, former November Niner Jorryt van Hoof, Surinder Sunar, and Dominic van Embden.
Two more side events determined winners today; Tobias Peters won the €500 Speed Event after coming second to van Embden last night in the €1,500 Reentry Event, and Kuljinder Sidhu took down the €10,000 High Roller for a payday of €161,172. The duo is expected in the starting field for Tuesday's Day 1b at 14:00 local time and the overall field size will be boosted significantly.
Make sure to tune back in when the PokerNews Live Reporting team brings further updates from the event up until a winner is crowned on Friday.