Another action-packed day at the Merit Poker Dolce Vita Series saw 369 entrants take their shot at building a stack in the $2,200 La Notte Degli Assi. Day 1b of the event filled the poker room at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino for most of the day, leaving just 137 players bagging for Day 2 on Thursday, August 1.
Leading the way after the second flight is Symeon Alexandridis, a well-travelled poker pro from Athens, Greece. Alexandridis boasts career earnings of more than $1.2 million, and he’s already well-positioned for another deep run here in Cyprus bagging a massive stack of 917,500 chips. France's Gregory Luttke finished up close behind, the only other player to collect more than 300 big blinds on the day.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Symeon Alexandridis | Greece | 917,500 | 367 |
| 2 | Gregory Luttke | France | 897,000 | 359 |
| 3 | Yassin Mahmoud | Jordan | 747,000 | 299 |
| 4 | Zvezdan Tadic | Serbia | 694,000 | 278 |
| 5 | Caner Gunes | Turkey | 671,500 | 269 |
| 6 | Maroun Jazzar | Lebanon | 664,000 | 266 |
| 7 | Dashinka | Israel | 650,000 | 260 |
| 8 | Daniyar Aubakirov | Kazakhstan | 639,000 | 256 |
| 9 | Hamza Ali | Tunisia | 590,500 | 236 |
| 10 | Matteo Zanardi | Italy | 588,000 | 235 |
The event features a guaranteed prize pool of $1,500,000, which is clearly on track to be exceeded after two starting flights. Monday’s Day 1a saw 237 entries, which was surpassed today by the end of the third level of play. The total field has now climbed to 606 entries, with two more flights to come on Wednesday, July 31.
To this point, 224 players have qualified for Day 2, with Alexandridis in the driver’s seat. He was able to build a big stack early in the day thanks to a double knockout with pocket kings, continuing to add chips from there and finish with 367 big blinds.
Other notable names to collect a big stack on Day 1b include Shalev Halfa (540,500) Maher Achour (527,500), Viktor Yugay (449,000), Slaven Popov (431,000) and Jeremie Zouari (410,000).
The list of other players to bag more than a starting stack of 100,000 includes Nikolay Fal (145,500), Claudiu Burlacu (137,000), Simone Andrian (117,500) and Fabio Peluso (114,000).
$2,200 La Notte Degli Assi Remaining Schedule
| Date | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Wed. July 31 | Day 1c | 12:00 p.m. |
| Wed. July 31 | Day 1d | 7:00 p.m. |
| Thu. August 1 | Day 2 | 12:00 p.m. |
| Fri. August 2 | Day 3 | 12:00 p.m. |
| Sat. August 3 | Day 4 | 12:00 p.m. |
| Sun. August 4 | Final Day | 12:00 p.m. |
Action continues on Day 1c at 12:00 p.m. local time, where players will navigate through 40-minute levels. That will be followed by the turbo Day 1d flight, which features 25-minute levels. All surviving players will then join together for Day 2 and battle towards the money.
The event features unlimited reentries, and late registration remains available until the end of Level 14 on Day 2.
Don’t miss any of the action, as the PokerNews live reporting team continues to provide full coverage until a champion is crowned on Sunday night.
