2024 PLO Grand Slam

€5,200 PLO Opener
Day: 1b
Event Info

2024 PLO Grand Slam

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
q10105
Prize
€176,100
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,200
Prize Pool
€1,000,000
Entries
210
Level Info
Level
27
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Players Info - Day 1b
Entries
91
Players Left
29

Giorgos Tsoupras Leads 29 Survivors After Day 1b of €5,200 PLO Grand Slam Opener

Level 11 : Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Giorgos Tsoupras
Giorgos Tsoupras

Another 11 riveting levels of poker were played on Day 1b of the €5,200 PLO Grand Slam Opener, hosted by Diamond Poker Series at Arena Casino Tirana. The 91 entries on the second and last starting flight came close to the 95 of Day 1a, and at the end of it all, Greek player Giorgos Tsoupras captured the chip lead by gathering 1,780,000 chips.

Tsoupras has only appeared on the live poker scene this year, with his three cashes coming from deep runs in pot-limit Omaha events, which seems to be his game of choice. With 119 blinds to start Day 2, he has made good strides to go deep again and add to his total live earnings. Ali Abdalla sits in second with 1,350,000, most of which he earned by winning two huge all-ins near the end of the night.

Ali Abdalla
Ali Abdalla

Ukraine's Daniel Zaremba's rise to third place was a more steady one, highlighted by an early elimination with quads, while Tsoupras' fellow countryman Dimitrios Amoiridis and high stakes PLO expert Gergo Nagy also clinched spots in the top ten.

End of Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountDay 2 Big Blinds
1Giorgos TsouprasGreece1,780,000119
2Ali AbdallaGermany1,350,00090
3Daniel ZarembaUkraine1,270,00085
4"Diego Armando" 1,055,00070
5"FunnyGuy123" 900,00060
6Dimitrios AmoiridisGreece825,00055
7"Jay" 752,00050
8Stanislau MelhuiMexico735,00049
9Gergo NagyHungary666,00044
10Pedjman HamieGermany660,00044

Others who are among the 29 to make it to Day 2 include bracelet winners Simeon Naydenov (645,000), Ka Kwan Lau (645,000), and Hok Lee (270,000), as well as Sonny Franco (655,000), Francisco Perez (500,000), and Thomas Hueber (355,000).

Simeon Naydenov
Simeon Naydenov

Plenty of international powerhouses came through on Day 1b, but the likes of Chris Dowling, Oleksii Kovalchuk, Roman Verenko, Amir Mozaffarian, and Alex Livingston were not among the survivors at the end of the night.

Most, if not all of them, are expected to late register tomorrow as the possibility to do so will remain open until the start of Day 2 tomorrow, November 6, at 1 p.m. local time. The €1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool has not been met yet, giving the players extra incentive to fire one last shot at victory and get a piece of the possible overlay.

Day 2 will restart in Level 12: 10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 big blind ante. The levels will remain 45 minutes in length, with breaks after every three of them, and play will not stop before a winner is crowned.

Check back in to PokerNews tomorrow as the thrilling conclusion of the €5,200 PLO Grand Slam Opener promises to provide explosive Omaha action.

Tags: Alex LivingstonAli AbdallaAmir MozaffarianChris DowlingDaniel ZarembaDimitrios AmoiridisFrancisco PerezGergo NagyGiorgos TsouprasHok LeeKa Kwan LauOleksii KovalchukPedjman HamieRoman VerenkoSimeon NaydenovSonny FrancoStanislau MelhuiThomas Hueber