The $5,300 Main Event of the first European Poker Tour (EPT) Cyprus, held at the luxurious Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa has finished its two starting flights, which means that Day 2 is next on the schedule and it set to kick off today at noon local time. Across Day 1a and Day 1b, 1,286 entries were made, of which 408 survived with chips to make it to Day 2. However, late registration is still open until the start of the day, so that number is sure to rise by a decent margin.
Among the most recognizable names in the top regions is that of Parker Talbot. The popular streamer who goes by "tonkaaaaP" on Twitch amassed 276,000 chips on Day 1a and occupies fourth place on the leaderboard with that stack. The Canadian PokerStars Ambassador is no stranger to deep runs in EPT Main Events, having finished in sixth place at EPT Prague in 2018 and in fifth place at the same stop in 2022. In addition, he comes off a recent seventh-place finish at the €1,100 Estrellas Main Event during EPT Barcelona last August. Time can only tell if he can improve his best placing, but he has made good strides to do so thus far.
Meanwhile, it was Serbia’s Milos Skrbic who managed to nab a significant chip lead on Day 1a with a stack of 402,000, more than 13 starting stacks, and good for 268 big blinds when play begins. David Kaufmann completed Day 1b with the most chips and took second place on the leaderboard, but with 299,000 chips at his disposal, he is still ways behind Skrbic. Kaufmann is relatively unknown in the live streets, but he is well-versed in the online world, having won the prestigious WCOOP Main Event on PokerStars back in 2013. Meanwhile, Italian all-time money leader Dario Sammartino sits in third place and is trailing closely behind Kaufmann with 297,000 in chips.
Sammartino is no stranger to high-stakes poker, and neither are Kayhan Mokri and Teun Mulder. In fact, the two players were battling it out in the $50,000 Super High Roller here at EPT Cyprus just two days ago. Now they find themselves closing out the top ten at the start of Day 2 of the Main Event, with 258,000 and 252,000 chips respectively.
Start of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milos Skrbic | Serbia | 402,000 | 268 |
| 2 | David Kaufmann | Germany | 299,000 | 199 |
| 3 | Dario Sammartino | Italy | 297,000 | 198 |
| 4 | Parker Talbot | Canada | 276,000 | 184 |
| 5 | Andrei Vavilonskii | Russia | 274,500 | 183 |
| 6 | Klemens Roiter | Austria | 272,000 | 181 |
| 7 | Vadym Koriagin | Ukraine | 266,000 | 177 |
| 8 | Marian Virlanuta | Romania | 264,000 | 176 |
| 9 | Kayhan Mokri | Norway | 258,000 | 172 |
| 10 | Teun Mulder | Netherlands | 252,000 | 168 |
Parker was not the only Red Spade to make Day 2, as he will be joined by his fellow Ambassadors Alejandro Lococo (191,000), Jen Shahade (76,500) and Elias Gutierrez (51,500). Meanwhile, PokerNews’ very own Lukas Robinson finds himself just outside the top ten with a healthy stack of 247,000 chips.
Other notable big stacks include Dimitar Danchev (211,000), Alex Kulev (190,500), Sergi Reixach (179,500), Conor Beresford (178,500), and Steve O’Dywer (163,500). Meanwhile, the likes of Simon Mattsson (27,500), Kenny Hallaert (27,000), Quan Zhou (26,500), and Antoine Labat (22,500) have their work cut out for them as they did not manage to climb above starting stack before the end of their Day 1 flight.
As mentioned, Day 2 kicks off at noon local time. Play will start in Level 11, which features blinds of 1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 big blind ante. Levels will be 90 minutes in length from this point forward, and a 20-minute break is scheduled after every level, with the one after Level 14 (approximately 7 p.m.) being a dinner break of 45 minutes. Play will go on for at least five levels, but if the money has not been reached by then, play will continue until that is the case. Late registration will be open until the start of the day, and all final numbers and payouts will be posted once they are announced.
Be sure to stick around as PokerNews will provide all of the exciting action throughout Day 2 of the EPT Cyprus Main Event.