Mateos and Mulder Run Hot on Day 1 of €25,000 No-Limit Hold'em III
After a quick 10 levels of play on Day 1 of the €25,000 No-Limit Hold'em III, a field of 31 entries was dwindled down to just 13 survivors. Those players will be returning for Day 2 tomorrow at 12 p.m. local time on the final day of the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris. It will be their last chance to grab a piece of the extraordinary prize pools at this EPT stop and this event has already amassed over €750,000.
Leading the way after a stellar performance on the opening day is Adrian Mateos who bagged up an impressive 757,000 chips. That's over seven starting stacks and the Spaniard will be returning with over 150 big blinds when the cards go back in the air. Most of the chips came on the heels of a fortunate river card where Mateos sent Mike Watson to the rail in one of the final levels of the night.
Mateos also made quick work of Martin Kabrhel who was only able to play a handful of hands before Mateos sent him packing as well. For the Spanish poker pro who has nearly won almost everything there is to win in his young career, Mateos will still be looking to add another EPT title to his resume along with another six-figure payout.
He will be joined at the top of the leaderboard by Teun Mulder who also got off to a hot start on Day 1. Within just the first few levels of the day, Mulder had accumulated over four starting stacks and eliminated two players in the process. It looked like there would be no stopping the Dutchman who already has one high-stakes title under his belt this week, but Mulder fizzled out in the end, still managing to bag up a stack of 477,000 chips.
The field was littered with notables, understandably, but some other big stacks heading into Day 2 to keep an eye out for include Sirzat Hissou (340,000), Thomas Muehloecker (289,000), and Steve O'Dwyer (217,000) as the only other players to more than double their starting stack.
Unfortunately for some players, they will not be returning for Day 2 of the competition after burning through both of their bullets today. Ren Lin had a tough day at the felt as he dusted off his €50,000 in just a matter of minutes at the table today. His first bullet came at the cost of his lucky orange when he ran into Jonathan Jaffe's pocket kings and his second bullet was spent to Mulder's growing stack before the first break.
Other notables that were eliminated on the opening day include Nick Petrangelo, Stephen Chidwick, Erik Seidel, and Orpen Kisacikoglu, but they will all have a chance to reenter before the start of play tomorrow. Late registration will remain open until the cards go back in the air at 12 p.m. local time for those hoping to fire one last bullet in a high-stakes tournament.
A starting stack will be worth 100,000 chips and they will be returning to blinds at 2,000/5,000 and a big blind ante of 5,000. The levels will continue to be 30 minutes in length with a 15-minute break after every three or four levels. There will be no dinner break scheduled for tomorrow in the hopes that a winner will be declared at a reasonable time.
Keep it tuned in to PokerNews for all of the latest updates and hand histories en route to crowning another high-stakes tournament champion tomorrow.
and Mateos continued with a bet of 8,000. Watson and Jaffe both called to see the 
on the turn.
and Mateos made his straight to eliminate Watson.
, Galen Hall threw in a bet of 12,000 from the hijack. Motoyoshi Okamura called on the button and Jean-Noel Thorel called from the big blind.
and Thorel checked. Hall made a small bet of 10,000 and Okamura called. Thorel jammed all in which was met by a call from Hall and Okamura quickly folded. Thorel tabled 
and Hall held 
for the same straight to chop up the pot.
and both players checked to the 
on the turn.
for the best hand.
and Jaffe is now sitting on a healthy stack of chips.
and the action checked to Chidwick who bet 2,500. Thorel check-raised to 6,500 and Watson three-bet to 18,000. Chidwick shoved all in which got Thorel to fold and Watson called off his last 48,000 chips.
runout provided no help and Watson doubled up.
