The Trophy Awaits a New Champion at the Final Table of the 888poker LIVE Bucharest Main Event
A new champion will be crowned today in the Romanian capital when the final table of the 888poker LIVE Bucharest Main Event begins at 3 p.m. local time.
The man in the best position to lift the trophy at the end of the day is Admir Qinami. The Albania native has no recorded live cashes but took control of the tournament late yesterday and built up a commanding chip lead with 4,650,000 entering the final table.
The gregarious Viorel Gavrila follows behind him in second place with 2,700,000. Another native son, Marius Gicovanu, is in third place with 2,600,000. Gicovanu has more than $800,000 in career tournament earnings and will look to capture a title on his home soil today at the final table.
Final Table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Admir Qinami | Albania | 4,650,000 | 93 |
| 2 | Viorel Gavrila | Romania | 2,700,000 | 54 |
| 3 | Marius Gicovanu | Romania | 2,600,000 | 52 |
| 4 | Konstantinos Vatseris | Greece | 2,250,000 | 45 |
| 5 | Andrii Zaika | Ukraine | 1,565,000 | 31 |
| 6 | Razvan Belea | Romania | 1,510,000 | 30 |
| 7 | Gheorghe Velcea | Romania | 735,000 | 15 |
| 8 | Maksims Gorbacs | Latvia | 715,000 | 14 |
| 9 | Alexandru Marcu | Romania | 300,000 | 6 |
A victory today would be a defining career achievement for most of the players at the final table, with one exception. Back in February, Razvan Belea became a poker hero here when he won EPT Paris, the first ever EPT title won by a Romanian player. He comes into the final table in sixth place with 1,510,000 as he tries to capture a second major title to add to his already history-making year.
Konstantinos Vatseris (2,250,000) and Andrii Zaika (1,565,000) are in the middle of the pack heading into the final table, while the bottom of the leaderboard features Gheorghe Velcea (735,000), Maksims Gorbacs (715,000), and Alexandru Marcu (300,000), each of whom has less than 15 big blinds and will need to make their move early to jump into contention.
The remaining nine players are guaranteed €3,500 for navigating their way this far through a starting field of 191. The champion will earn €30,000 by the end of the night and the chance to lift the 888poker LIVE trophy.
The action picks up on level 22, with blinds of 25,000-50,000 and a 50,000 big blind ante. Levels will now be 60 minutes long. The final table will be streamed by 888poker TV on their Twitch channel.
It took four long days of action to make it this far. The wait is finally over. By today's end, only one player will be left standing here in Bucharest. Stay tuned as PokerNews provides all the coverage from the final table until a new champion hoists the trophy.