Dmitry Yurasov Leads; Faraz Jaka, Phillip Nagy Bag Big on Day 1b of the MPP Main Event
Another 232 players took their shot at the $5,300 Luxon Pay Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event on Day 1b, and after eight hour-long levels, it was Russia’s Dmitry Yurasov who bagged the overall tournament chip lead.
Yurasov picked up aces in a three-way all in during the last level of the night and finished with 543,500, narrowly eclipsing the total of Day 1a chip leader Denis Vitchenko. He is followed on the chip leaderboard by Yulian Bogdanov (511,500) and Phillip Nagy (457,000), who finished in third place in the One Drop earlier in the MPP.
A total of 123 players survived the day. Faraz Jaka arrived at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel and jumped into the action today, but wouldn’t last long on his first bullet. His second entry, though, would go much better. Jaka was involved in a three-way all in against Simon Trumper and Onur Ozgur, winning a coin flip with ace-queen against Ozgul’s pocket jacks to eliminate both players and climb up to around 360,000. He ended the night as one of the largest stacks with 393,500. Other big stacks include Steven Warburton (354,500), Melika Razavi (335,500), and Freddy Deeb (328,000).
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dmitry Yurasov | Russia | 543,500 | 272 |
| 2 | Yulian Bogdanov | Bulgaria | 511,500 | 256 |
| 3 | Phillip Nagy | United States | 457,000 | 229 |
| 4 | Dragos Trofimov | Moldova | 437,000 | 219 |
| 5 | Irina Zheleznyak | Russia | 412,500 | 206 |
| 6 | Faraz Jaka | United States | 393,500 | 197 |
| 7 | Antonio Maresca | Italy | 393,500 | 197 |
| 8 | Zolbayar Batbold | Mongolia | 365,500 | 183 |
| 9 | Steven Warburton | United Kingdom | 354,500 | 177 |
| 10 | Milen Stefanov | Bulgaria | 345,500 | 173 |
Among the players who failed to make it through the day are Niall Farrell, who used two bullets but will have to try again tomorrow on Day 1c, Steve O'Dwyer, Sofia Lovgren, and Timur Margolin.
A total of 364 players have entered the Main Event through the first two starting flights. Day 1c tomorrow at noon local time is expected to be the largest of the three as the field surges toward the $5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool. The surviving players from the three flights will return on September 1 for Day 2.
The PokerNews live reporting team will also return tomorrow for all the action from Day 1c as another crop of players attempts to catch up to Yurasov and his chip lead.