Azizjon Rakhimov Earns the Top Spot in Day 1e of Eureka Main Event
Another action-packed day the PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus saw an additional 772 entrants make their way to the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa for the penultimate flight of the Eureka Main Event. When combined with the previous four starting flights, the event has drawn total of 2,216 entrants with the final flight due to wrap up later tonight.
Azizjon Rakhimov emerged as the Day 1e chip leader after bagging up a stack worth 589,000. Hot on his heels, however, is Murat Taysi with 583,000 and Viet Van Vo, who ended with 574,000 for the third spot overall.
Day 1e Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Azizjon Rakhimov | Uzbekistan | 589,000 |
| 2 | Murat Taysi | Turkey | 583,000 |
| 3 | Viet Van Vo | United States | 574,000 |
| 4 | Mehmet Deniz | Turkey | 543,000 |
| 5 | Andrey Litvinov | Russia | 537,000 |
| 6 | Haiyang Yang | China | 528,000 |
| 7 | Fadil Isufi | United Kingdom | 515,000 |
| 8 | Riccardo Trevisani | Italy | 477,000 |
| 9 | Julien Arethuse | France | 405,000 |
| 10 | Archibald Seaton | United Kingdom | 400,000 |
Team PokerStars ambassadors were in full force today, with Fintan Hand, Barny Boatman, Benjamin Bruneteaux, Parker Talbot, Simon Wiciak, Julien Brecard, Kenny Hallaert, and Lasse Jagd Lauritsen all joining the field in hopes of making a deep run.
Of those, Brecard had the best showing after ending with 149,000, while Hand bagged up 142,000 and Bruneteaux, 109,000. Boatman came in "last place" of the four PokerStars pros who made it through after ending with a below-average stack of 100,000. However, the grizzled veteran will still have plenty of room to maneuver during Day 2 in his hunt to add a second EPT Main Event title to his poker resume.
Other notables who earned a Day 2 berth include Aliaksei Boika (61,000), Andrey Pateychuk (95,000), Alexandre Reard (162,000), Marle Spragg (217,000), and Nick Palma (284,000) — who won a flip late in the day en route to securing his healthy bag.
Less fortunate were Felix Schneiders, Jorge Ufano, Jason Wheeler and Lily Kiletto, all of whom were eliminated. Kiletto actually held the chip lead at one point about halfway through the day, but her early fortunes ended in frustration after both Parahat Nurmuhammedov and Jedrzej Aleksander Smaruj doubled through her during Level 17. Kiletto was left with a short stack and ended up shoving into Mathias Moutaoukil's pocket tens with king-eight suited to be eliminated.
Not long after, the Day 2 bubble arrived and ended almost as soon as it began. On the very first round of hand-for-hand play, Boris Angelov ran pocket tens into Riccardo Trevisani's pocket kings to end play for the day and guarantee everyone remaining a spot in the money.
The players who bagged across all starting flights will reconvene on Saturday, October 12 at 12 p.m. local time for Day 2. Prize pool details will be released shortly after play gets underway.
There is still plenty of action yet to come as players set their sights on making a deep run into Day 2 and beyond. Be sure to stick with PokerNews as we continue providing coverage leading to final table and eventual next EPT Main Event champion!