2014 PokerStars King's Cup Rozvadov Day 1a: Action Kicks Off and Roman Mikus Leads
The 2014 PokerStars King's Cup in Rozvadov got underway Thursday with a total of 117 entries in the form of 108 unique entries and nine reentries. With an after-dinner start time of 7 p.m., the players were treated to 10 40-minute levels of action with late entries and reentries allowed for the first four levels.
At the end of the day, it was Roman Mikus who finished with the largest stack, amassing a whopping 190,500 in chips to lead the 39 players who finished the day. Mikus, from the Czech Republic, had been chip leader earlier on, but dropped back down behind compatriot Ian Uppaluri. It wasn't until the last two levels that Mikus regained the lead, and Uppaluri (157,200) was forced to settle for second place.
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roman Mikus | 190,500 |
| 2 | Ian Uppaluri | 157,200 |
| 3 | Recep Sen | 106,600 |
| 4 | Achim Prinzing | 104,500 |
| 5 | Arne Marinus | 97,800 |
| 6 | Fahredin Mustafov | 95,300 |
| 7 | Karim Chahbani | 90,000 |
| 8 | Thomas Traboulsi | 89,400 |
| 9 | Thomas Leidecker | 89,100 |
| 10 | Sadri Mokni | 83,800 |
Elsewhere, former European Poker Tour Baden finalist Manfred Hammer, who finished sixth for €105,000 back in Season 4, also made it through the day, albeit on his second bullet. He ended the day with 63,500.
Team PokerStars Pro was represented by the solitary presence of Christophe De Meulder. He had come as part of a Belgian group which also included Bart Lybaert — winner of Eureka Rozvadov in 2013 for €115,000. Alas, things did not turn out well for either player and both were eliminated without ever having a chance of accumulating a decent stack. However, with the reentry system in place, it's like they'll each take another crack once again on Friday.
Day 1a wasn't without it's shares of ups and downs, either, as evidenced by Shengchao Zhu. He managed to make a straight flush against a nut flush to win a nice pot, but it was unfortunately only to be the highlight of the Vietnamese player's day. Later on, Zhu's hand would be unbelievably upstaged as Petr Blaha, who managed to hit a one-outer royal flush.
Days 1b and 1c will be played out consecutively on Friday, giving players a brand new experience for this event. Day 1b will begin at 4 p.m. CET with the same structure as Day 1a, but Day 1c offers something completely different. It will begin at midnight with a similar structure and the same starting stack, but there's a twist — the levels will be only 15 minutes long as opposed to 40, effectively making it a turbo starting flight, with no reentry. It'll certainly be interesting to see how successful this is as it will offer the last chance for many players to make it through to Saturday's Day 2.
The PokerNews Live Reporting team will be back from 4 p.m. CET tomorrow to cover the second starting day of 2014 PokerStars King's Cup Rozvadov and as soon as that's over then we'll be jumping straight in Day 1c's turbo structure where we'll fight to fit posts in between the rapid level increases. To follow along with our live coverage, please click here.
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