Alina Kiryna Picks Off Stephen Song En Route to Bagging Day 1a Chip Lead
The first of four starting flights has come to a close for the Eurasion Poker Tour (EAPT) $2,200 Grand Final here at the Royal Diamond Hotel and Spa. Day 1a attracted a total of 380 entrants and by the end of the night just 59 players managed to put chips in a bag and advance to Day 2.
Ukraine's Alina Kiryna finished the night with the overall chip lead, bagging 3,530,000 chips for Day 2 which will be worth 88 big blinds at the start of the day. Kiryna soared to the top of the counts in the last level of the night after picking off a massive bluff that saw bracelet winner Stephen Song hit the rail. Kiryna is most closely followed by Russia's Evgenii Ushakov (3,255,000) and Aliaksei Shchurevich of Belarus (3,110,000).
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alina Kiryna | Ukraine | 3,530,000 | 88 |
| 2 | Evgenii Ushakov | Russian Federation | 3,255,000 | 81 |
| 3 | Aliaksei Shchurevich | Belarus | 3,110,000 | 78 |
| 4 | Aleksandr Kirichenko | Russian Federation | 2,850,000 | 71 |
| 5 | Cooper Feltham | Australia | 2,825,000 | 71 |
| 6 | Aleksei Istomin | Russian Federation | 2,370,000 | 59 |
| 7 | Walid Bou Habib | Lebanon | 2,260,000 | 57 |
| 8 | Bernard Larabi | Hungary | 2,190,000 | 55 |
| 9 | Ionut Voinea | Romania | 2,170,000 | 54 |
| 10 | Andrey Pateychuk | Russian Federation | 2,075,000 | 52 |
Not far behind Kiryna is Russian crusher Aleksandr Kirichenko, who has had an incredible start to the series. Kirichenko registered the tournament late in the day after busting the $1,100 Luxon Pay Mystery Bounty. Although Kirichenko was knocked out in 84th place for a cash of $1,060, he did manage to snag the top bounty of $70,000 before his elimination. Kirichenko wasted no time building a monster stack in this event, ending the night with the fourth-largest stack at 2,850,000. Kirichenko has racked up several five-figure scores here in Cyprus and will be a force to be reckoned with going into Day 2.
Australia's Cooper Feltham may have had the most consistent day out of any player left in the field. Feltham found himself among the chip leaders early in the day and was near the top of the pack all the way until the end of the night, enjoying the chip lead on several occasions. Feltham flopped a straight late in the night and got max value from his opponent's two pair to take a commanding lead over the rest of the field at that time and ultimately finished the night with the fifth-largest stack in the room at 2,825,000.
Some notable players to enter Day 1a who fell before the end of the night include Jessica Teusl, Dmitry Gromov, and Tobias Peters.
The Grand Final picks up again tomorrow, May 05 with Day 1b starting at noon local time. Stay tuned for more coverage as PokerNews brings you all the action from the remainder of the festival along the shores of the Mediterranean in North Cyprus.