Day 1 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour $3,000 Mystery Bounty saw 779 entries. The field was whittled down to 184 here at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. Uladzimir Zhyharau sits at the top of the chip counts after the first 14 levels of play.
He amassed a stack of 368,000 and is looking to add another cash to his tally here in Cyprus, having finished 252nd in the $1,100 Eureka Main Event. Zhyharau has a total of $262,973 in live tournament earnings.
He is closely followed by Ray Qartomy who has bagged 360,000. He's earned a total of $5,258,766 from live tournaments and will be looking to take down a maiden EPT title and some big bounties.
Like Zhyharau, Karen Nazarian also cashed in the Eureka Main Event for $2,900, and he currently occupies the final podium spot having built up a stack of 349,500. Nazarian also scooped $7,600 for a 55th place finish in the $2,200 Eureka High Roller this series. In 2023 he cashed three times at EPT Cyprus, two of which were in the same tournaments previously mentioned, plus a score of $25,400 from the $10,300 EPT High Roller.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Name | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| Uladzimir Zhyharau | Belarus | 368,000 |
| Ray Qartomy | United States | 360,000 |
| Karen Nazarian | Russia | 349,500 |
| Lukas Zaskodny | Czech Republic | 321,500 |
| Morten Klein | Norway | 320,500 |
| Stoyan Obreshkov | Bulgaria | 309,500 |
| Nenad Dukic | Croatia | 303,000 |
| Georges Sultanem | Lebanon | 296,000 |
| Matthias Lipp | Austria | 290,000 |
| Aleksandr Kirichenko | Russia | 285,000 |
Day 1 Action
Morten Klein found himself rocketting up the chip counts towards the end of play today as Moussa Thibaut barreled into the high stakes regular with a busted flush draw. Klein had a full house and the pot saw his stack climb up to around the 300,000 mark, which puts him in fifth place.
Georgy Komarov was on the right side of a cooler as his pocket pair of kings cracked the pocket pair of kings which were in the hands of Aliaksandr Yarosh. Komarov bagged a stack of 256,000 and Yarosh recovered from the cooler and will return with 228,500.
Konstantin Voronin spent the day consistently chipping up and winning flips to keep in him in contention for a Spadie. He got it in with Big Slick versus Alessio Isaia's pocket nines to send the Italian to the rail. He will have 240,000 worth of chips to return to at the start of play tomorrow.
The Mystery Bounty saw a myriad of notable names fall by the wayside on Day 1, however some may feature tomorrow as registration remains open until the start of Day 2. PokerStars Ambassadors Fintan Hand and Ramon Colillas were both unsuccessful in their attempts to bag a stack. French pro Thomas Eychenne fired a few bullets but couldn't make anything stick today. Online crusher Felipe Ketzer was also unsuccessful. Newly crowned Eureka Main Event champion Leo Worthington-Leese also took to the felt today but will have to register before 12:30 p.m. if he wishes to be involved in Day 2.
Play will commence at the start of Level 15 with the blinds at 1,500/3,000 with a 3,000 big blind ante. Levels last 40 minutes and the mystery bounty tokens will be in play from the start, meaning the big stacks will get to hunt the shorter stacks from the very start in what should be an exciting day of poker.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage and to keep updated of the big bounty pulls from here in Northen Cyprus.
