The PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa continued today with the final high-stakes event on the roster; the $10,200 No Limit Hold'em.
A total of 64 entrants tried their luck on the felt, but after ten swift levels in this fast-paced structure, just 34 progressed to Day 2. With registration still open until the start of play tomorrow, more sharks are expected to surface for their last chance to claim a trophy this series.
As the dust settled, Farid Jattin claimed the overall chip lead after accumulating a stack of 477,000. Jattin is tailed by none other than Adrian Mateos whose stack of 425,000 has once again earned him a top stop amongst the best and brightest in the game.
Top Ten Chip Counts:
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Farid Jattin | Colombia | 477,000 | 95 |
| 2 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 425,000 | 85 |
| 3 | Nikita Kuznetsov | Russia | 406,000 | 81 |
| 4 | Mikalai Vaskaboinikau | Belarus | 364,000 | 73 |
| 5 | Fahredin Mustafov | Bulgaria | 360,000 | 72 |
| 6 | Marius Kudzmanas | Lithuania | 286,000 | 57 |
| 7 | Simone Andrian | Italy | 286,000 | 57 |
| 8 | Gregoire Auzoux | France | 254,000 | 51 |
| 9 | Aren Bezhanyan | Armenia | 254,000 | 51 |
| 10 | Peng Chen | China | 250,000 | 50 |
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau is still in the mix for Day 2, with a top-ten stack of 364,000. Vaskaboinikau is already having an unbelievable run here in Northern Cyprus, having taken down the $50,000 Super High Roller for $601,397 and will be sure to have his eyes firmly set on claiming his second EPT title this week.
Rebuy Madness
Today’s fast-paced flight was no short of action, seeing a total of 14 re-entries. Both Hassan Nashar and Vladimir Korzinin proved to be two of the most active players on the felt, firing four bullets each.
Nasher and Korzinin weren’t ones to hide their gambling spirits, each tangling in sizable pots with often inferior holdings. Nasher sat down with a fresh starting stack and quickly got in the mix in an all-in confrontation; his king-six off-suit against the dominating king-jack suited of Felipe Fontoura Ketzer saw the five-card runout improve him to a flush, earning an instant double up.
However, the poker gods didn’t seem to reward Korzinin with the same fortune. Korzinin battled it out with Ren Lin in one of the largest pots of the day as the two flipped for a monster pot on the last level of play. Korzinin had the best of it preflop, but Lin flopped the nut straight to send his opponent to the payout cage once again.
The fourth time was clearly the charm for both Nasher and Korzinin, who finally bagged stacks of 249,000 and 90,000 respectively.
Play will recommence on Sunday, October 20th, at noon local time. The restart will be on Level 11 with blinds at 2,000/5,000 with a 5,000 big blind ante. The remaining players will battle it out until just one remains with scheduled breaks, including a dinner break, left to the discretion of the floor as the day progresses.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back tomorrow to bring you more coverage of the $10,200 No Limit Hold'em event here at EPT Cyprus, so stay tuned.
