Corneliu Cretu Leads Day 1a of €560 EAPT Main Event
A few minutes after 4 a.m., the bubble finally burst on Day 1a of the 2023 Eurasian Poker Tour €560 EAPT Main Event at 888poker Room in Bucharest.
After 16 levels, only 15 players out of a field of 97 entrants still had chips and have qualified for Day 2. And as good things come in pairs, they are also in the money, in this €200,000 guaranteed event.
The key was to be discreet to get a big stack today. Corneliu Cretu perfectly got it as, slowly but surely, he managed to end the day as the chip leader with 521,000 chips. His closest competitor wasn't more talkative but was equally efficient, finishing the day with 480,000 chips.
Day 1a Top 10
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corneliu Cretu | Romania | 521,000 | 65 |
| 2 | John One | Romania | 480,000 | 60 |
| 3 | Aristeidis Ktenioudakis | Greece | 398,000 | 50 |
| 4 | Bogdan Trifanescu | Romania | 361,000 | 45 |
| 5 | Cristian Rajala | Romania | 311,000 | 39 |
| 6 | John Two | Romania | 308,000 | 39 |
| 7 | Gheorghe Bilea | Romania | 263,000 | 33 |
| 8 | Stefan Hurjui | Romania | 250,000 | 31 |
| 9 | Cosmin Lupu | Romania | 227,000 | 28 |
| 10 | Adrian Constantin | Romania | 197,000 | 25 |
Greece's Aristeidis Ktenioudakis completed the podium with 398,000 chips, slightly more than the pot he won in the last levels of the day with a flopped flush against a set. Bogdan Trifanescu bagged almost the same stack (361,000), while Cristian Rajala, thanks to whom the bubble burst, filled his bag with 311,000 chips.
Gheorghe Bilea and Mihai Tabac seemed to have a lot of fun when they found themselves at the same table, as they kept laughing together. Both of them will be back on Day 2, with 131,000 chips for Bilea and 131,000 for Tabac. In between those two are Stefan Hurjui (250,000), Cosmin Lupu (227,000) and Adrian Constantin, who held the chip lead for a long moment today, before his stack decreased to 197,000.
Finally, Iulian Tataru (115,000) and Alexandru Ersen (88,000) ended the day with the smallest stacks, but secured the min-cash.
Tomorrow, Thursday, November 10, the second of four starting flights will begins at 5 p.m. time and will again play on 40-minute levels down to the final 15 percent of the field.
There will also be a Day 1c flight on Friday, November 11 at 2 p.m. and a turbo Day 1d on the same day at 8 p.m. with 20-minute levels. The surviving players from each starting flight will then combine for Day 2 on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Stay tuned as PokerNews follows all the action the rest of the way until a champion is crowned.