David Kaufmann Bags Chip Lead on Day 1b of the Inaugural EPT Cyprus Main Event
Day 2 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus Main Event at Merit Royal Diamond Hotel and Spa has concluded after ten levels of play, with 275 players advancing out of 819 entrants. Currently, the prize pool sits at a whopping $6,251,650 with 408 runners coming back to play on Day 2. However, registration remains open and the players who were not able to enter on one of the Day 1 flights will be able to register up until the start of Day 2.
After the play concluded and the chips went into the bags, David Kaufmann bagged the chip lead with an impressive 299,000 stack. Close behind him were Andrei Vavilonskii (274,500) and Kayhan Mokri (258,000) who completed the top three and will look to continue the success when Day 2 resumes tomorrow at 12:00 EET.
Kaufmann finished 160th in the $2,200 Eureka High Roller yesterday and decided to attempt a trade-up to a big score today in the main event. He may not have the Hendon Mob of some of his counterparts in the top ten, but he will work to change that as the first EPT played on the island of Cyprus will have a massive first-place prize when the final numbers are out at the beginning of the day tomorrow.
Day 1b Top Ten Stacks
| Place | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Kaufmann | Germany | 299,000 | 249 |
| 2 | Andrei Vavilonskii | Russia | 274,500 | 229 |
| 3 | Kayhan Mokri | Norway | 258,000 | 215 |
| 4 | Teun Mulder | Netherlands | 252,000 | 210 |
| 5 | Atanas Malinov | Bulgaria | 251,500 | 210 |
| 6 | Marc Foggin | United Kingdom | 250,000 | 208 |
| 7 | Aleksandr Faterin | Russia | 249,000 | 208 |
| 8 | Ivan Tukmachev | Russia | 238,500 | 199 |
| 9 | Yannick Schumacher | Germany | 217,500 | 181 |
| 10 | Aleksandr Pak | Uzbekistan | 216,500 | 180 |
Multiple former EPT champions and many notable names were able to find a bag on Day 1b including 2013 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event Champion Steve O'Dwyer (163,500), 2019 EPT Sochi Main Event Champion Uri Gilboa (43,000), and 2010 EPT Copenhagen Main Event Champion Anton Wigg (175,000). PokerStars ambassadors Alejandro Lococo (191,000) and Jen Shahade (76,500) kept themselves in the mix and found a bag as well. Alex Kulev (190,500) cashed the Super High Roller last night and was able to accumulate a big stack today in the main after a nasty hand where he got the chips in on the flop and rivered a straight.
Unfortunately, some players had a rough day at the EPT main event. Former champion Ian Hamilton got knocked out before the end of the day. Popular streamer and PokerStars ambassador Ben "Spraggy" Spragg couldn't avoid hitting the rail early on after running into aces however his wife Marle Spragg did find a bag and will hope to bring the trophy home. Leon Sturm, who also cashed in the Super High Roller just last night, also hit the rail early.
The first EPT Cyprus has already been a huge success with the venue and staff being the perfect jumping-off point for such a huge event. Day 2 will begin the feature table live stream that will start a half hour after play resumes at about 12:30 EET. Make sure to not miss any of the action as the players look to make a move into a dominating position on the leaderboard.
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