2015 PokerNews Cup Main Event Day 1a: Lithuania's Rytas Staniukynas Leads
Nearly seven hours after the tournament director announced "shuffle up and deal" and the ninth Main Event in the history of the PokerNews Cup was official underway, 19 survivors managed to bag their chips for Sunday's Day 2.
The first of four starting flights on the schedule attracted 98 entries, with 86 brave players deciding to show up at King's Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, despite the torrential rain that hit the city almost nonstop during the whole day.
The survivors were led by Lithuania's Rytas Staniukynas, who ended the day as the chip leader with a stack of 446,000 after 14 levels of play.
The action at King's began at 19:00 CET, when the players started to take their seats and play in the hope to advance and go deep enough to bring home a share of the €200,000 guaranteed prize pool. Amongst those who decided to join the Main Event was Timothy Claude Weltner, the player from Berlin who won the PokerNews Cup Opening Event for €2,607 on Wednesday.
While the day did not start in the best possible way for Weltner — he was the first one to bust — his decision to immediately fire his second bullet paid off, as he's in the group of the players who will come back to the tournament room at King's for the Day 2 with a stack of 102,500.
"I had horrible cards for hours; I just couldn't play," Weltner told PokerNews during a break. "I managed to steal some blinds, but I couldn't do much more than that."
An experienced online player at PokerStars and Full Tilt, but a complete beginner in the live tournament scene, Welter suffered the inability to play as many hands as he would have liked to during the first levels of play.
"I just couldn't play anything, and that made the event very boring for me," he said. "While in the opening event, everything was very easy for me, and the cards played in my favor. Today it has been an entirely different story. Yet, I am having a lot of fun here."
Things didn't go the same way for Australia's Lewis Murray, a student who's trying to support a two-month trip in Europe by playing poker every time he can. While his journey across the continent is set to continue, his time in the Main Event ended shortly after the beginning of the fifth level, when he shoved the last bits of his stack with the A♠3♠ to get called by the big blind with 7x7x. A 7x on the board did the rest.
"I don't think I'll be re-entering the event," Murray shared with PokerNews. "Tomorrow is Friday, and I can hear Prague calling."
Still in the game, Russian movie producer Anna Yamshchikova and movie director Nikolay Karman both advanced to Day 2, with stacks of 90,000 and 70,000, respectively.
Fierce opponents at the table, the two are a tough poker couple to compete against, with combined live tournament winnings for more than $300,000.
"I feel like home here in Rozvadov, and I like this event a lot," Yamshchikova told PokerNews.
The 19 players who made it to Day 2 will be back in the King's tournament room at 14:00 on Sunday, Nov. 22. Play will restart with Level 15, with 3,000/6,000 blinds and a 1,000 ante.
Day 1b Begins at 17:00 CET
The action in the PokerNews Cup is set to start again at 13:00 for the penultimate Mega Satellite the Main Event, a €35 buy-in tournament where the top eight finishers are guaranteed a seat to play for a share of the €200,000 guaranteed prize pool.
Soon after, at 16:00, it will be time for thePokerNews €100 Pot-Limit Omaha event to kick off. The tournament features a €10,000 guarantee and is considered to be one of the most interesting ones in the series.
The second starting flight of the Main Event will then begin at 17:00. Soon after, King's will also welcome the start of the King's Hold'em Adventure, a €50 no-limit hold'em tournament that features a generous €10,000 guarantee.
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