Alexandra Botez Headlines 161 Survivors on Day 1 of the €1,100 Mystery Bounty
Alexandra Botez made her name in the chess world, building a streaming empire that has seen her amass more than one million followers on both Twitch and YouTube. Her first step in conquering the world of poker began with making it through Day 1 of the €1,100 Mystery Bounty at the World Series of Poker Europe.
Botez was one of 161 players who bagged chips at the end of the night, finishing with 168,000. She had her first taste of WSOP success when she cashed in the Main Event this summer and will have her sights set on her second cash when Day 2 resumes at 2 p.m. local time tomorrow inside King’s Resort in Rozvadov.
Jacob Amsellem holds the chip lead with 440,000, followed by Samuel Ju (412,000), Demetrio Caminita (385,000), Anestis Anagnostidis (354,000), and Marco Poccia (341,000). Nicola Karl built up his massive stack when he rivered a set of aces after Michael Rodrigues turned a set of fours, busting the WSOP bracelet winner in a nearly 300,000 chip pot. Karl later made quad sevens and got paid on the river on his way to bagging up 337,000.
Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob Amsellem | Israel | 440,000 | 147 |
| 2 | Samuel Ju | Germany | 412,000 | 137 |
| 3 | Demetrio Caminita | Italy | 385,000 | 128 |
| 4 | Anestis Anagnostidis | Germany | 354,000 | 118 |
| 5 | Marco Poccia | Italy | 341,000 | 114 |
| 6 | Till Templin | Germany | 336,000 | 112 |
| 7 | Nicola Karl | Germany | 331,000 | 110 |
| 8 | Vladas Tamasauskas | Lithuania | 326,000 | 109 |
| 9 | Jan Wieckenberg | Germany | 323,500 | 108 |
| 10 | Fausto Tantillo | Italy | 323,000 | 108 |
Other top stacks include Vladas Tamasauskas (326,000) and Fausto Tantillo (323,000), while Manig Loeser (175,500), Nacho Barbero (142,500), Andrea Dato (122,500), and Ana Marquez (108,000) headline the notables progressing to Day 2. Near the bottom of the leaderboard is Ermanno Di Nicola (89,000), who jumped into this event after winning his first WSOP bracelet in the Colossus last night, as well as online legend Viktor Blom (74,000) and French bracelet winner Alexandre Reard (78,000).
A total of 803 players packed into the tournament room on Day 1 to chase the bracelet and mystery bounty prizes. Not everyone was fortunate enough to make it through, and over the course of nearly 15 levels the likes of Felipe Ramos, Alex Keating, Ren Lin, Ole Schemion, and Jessica Teusl all hit the rail. Wooram Cho, who’s already cashed five times so far at the WSOPE, fired nine bullets trying to claim another prize but came up empty each time.
More than the WSOPE gold bracelet will be at stake tomorrow. The mystery bounty prizes kick in, with players hoping to pull one of the top €30,000 prizes. The exact distribution of the mystery bounty envelopes, as well as the total prize pool, will be announced shortly after play resumes. There will be 26 minutes left on Level 15 with blinds of 1,500-3,000 and a 3,000 big blind ante.
The plan is to play down from 161 all the way to a winner, so Day 2 should be an incredibly long, arduous journey for someone hoping to achieve WSOP glory. PokerNews will be back following the journey and providing live updates as the field plays on toward the final table and the crowning of a champion.