Panagiotidis Heads into the Final Day of the PokerNews Cup Kulata Main Event in the Lead
The penultimate day of the 2019 PokerNews Cup Kulata €550 Main Event witnessed a field of two dozen players whittled down to a final table of eight players at Finix Casino.
The day began with the 24 players all guaranteed a payout of €1,080 with their eyes on making it to the final day for a chance at the €25,080 top prize. Despite the average stack of 73 big blinds and long 40-minute blind levels, the second day lasted just 5 1/2 hours.
Day 1c chip leader Panagiotis Panagiotidis, who began Day 2 just one big blind behind the overall starting day chip leader, Rosen Simeonov, will enter the final day with the chip lead with a big stack of 1,586,000. His stack was closer to 2 million in chips after his ace-king held strong against the ace-queen held by Symeon Alexandridis in one of the biggest pots of the day. That hand meant the end of Alexanandridis in tenth place and also kicked off the start of the unofficial final table of nine.
It didn't take long for an elimination to happen thanks to some fireworks that led to Simeonov tripling up with jacks against the eights held by Savvas Baltiras and the ace-queen held by Panagiotis. Afterward, Baltiras was left with crumbs and dusted off the rest when his ace-three couldn't get there against the ace-nine held by PokerNews Cup Kulata High Roller winner Dimitrios Michailidis.
In addition to Panagiotidis, the other three opening flight chip leaders also managed to parlay their big stacks into a final table appearance with Day 1d chip leader Michailidis with a second-place stack of 1,247,000, the Day 1b chip leader Simeonov bagging a fourth-place stack of 952,000, and Day 1a chip leader Marian Ivanov entering the final day with a seventh-place stack of 331,000.
The brother of Michailidis, Spyridon Michailidis, began Day 2 on the same table as his brother and the same will take place tomorrow at the final table. Spyridon Michailidis has the most work cut out for him as he enters the day with the smallest stack of 277,000.
Other players advancing to the final table included Konstantin Aykov (third - 1,067,000), Achilleas Nomidis (fifth - 910,000), and Loukas Kioutsoukis (sixth - 679,000).
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marian | Ivanov | Bulgaria | 331,000 |
| 2 | Rosen | Simeonov | Bulgaria | 952,000 |
| 3 | Loukas | Kioutsoukis | Greece | 679,000 |
| 4 | Konstantin | Aykov | Bulgaria | 1,067,000 |
| 5 | Spyridon | Michailidis | Greece | 277,000 |
| 6 | Panagiotis | Panagiotidis | Bulgaria | 1,586,000 |
| 7 | Dimitrios | Michailidis | Greece | 1,247,000 |
| 8 | Achilleas | Nomidis | Greece | 910,000 |
The action resumes on Sunday, May 19 at 2 p.m. EEST with the last six minutes of Level 21 with blinds at 8,000/16,000 and a big blind ante of 16,000 before moving up to 10,000/20,000 and a big blind ante of 20,000.
Sarah Herring gives some insight on the Final 8 players.
Stay tuned to PokerNews to find out who will become the thirteenth winner of the PokerNews Cup Main Event.
*Images courtesy of Katerina Lukina.