With three players seeing a board of 2♥3♠Q♥J♦ and 12,300 already in the middle, Harun Ertural bet 10,000 from the small blind. Jean Gessis folded from the hijack before Stephen Chidwick raised to 35,000. Ertural made the call.
Chidwick checked the Q♦ river and Ertural bet 30,000. Chidwick put in a check-raise to 150,000, sending Ertural, who had less behind, deep into the tank.
After several minutes Ertural opted to fold and Chidwick took down a sizable pot without showdown.
Chris Brewer raised to 2,600 in the hijack before Dumitru Pora three-bet to 10,000 on the button.
Brewer called and they went heads-up to the J♦5♠10♠ flop. Action was checked to the 7♠ turn, where Brewer led out for 15,000.
Pora called and the 3♦ fell on the river. Brewer then bet another 35,000 and Pora gave up his hand.
The next hand, Brewer again raised to 2,600 and Pora just called this time. The flop came 6♦3♣3♠ and Brewer continued for 6,000.
Pora called and the 5♣ fell on the turn. Brewer checked over to Pora, who bet 5,500.
Brewer called to the K♠ river, where both players quickly checked. Brewer showed A♠9♣, but Pora had A♦10♦ and his ten-kicker was enough to win the pot.
Martin Kabrhel was in the big blind and was determined to defend no matter what cost putting 30,000 worth of chips on each of his cards to ward off any other players.
It worked until Hacine Chatteur on the button raised to 5,500. Stoyan Madanzhiev in the small blind moved all in for 42,000 and Kabrhel looked at the Bulgarian with disdain for the audacity to shove on his big blind. Kabrhel reluctantly folded and Chatteur called.
Stoyan Madanzhiev: A♠Q♥
Hacine Chatteur: A♦K♦
"Bad play!" shouted Kabrhel when Madanzhiev turned his hand over. The dealer fanned 7♠4♠3♠ and Kabrhel quipped "Great Play!" as the Bulgarian picked up a flush draw. But the board ran out 9♣2♦ and Kabrhel flipped again saying "Terrible play, goodbye, seat open!" and picked Madanzhiev's hand and threw it into the muck. Chatteur took in the pot.
Mohamed El Bakkali moved all in for around 25,000 under the gun before Frederik Thiemer reshoved for 37,100 in the hijack. Wladimir Gerner called on the button to put both players at risk.
Mohamed El Bakkali: A♥K♣
Frederik Thiemer: A♣A♠
Wladimir Gerner: K♥Q♦
Thiemer was ahead with his aces as the flop came [Qc10c10s, giving El Bakkali a straight draw. The 5♣ turn was no threat to Thiemer's aces, while the 8♦ fell on the river and Thiemer busted El Bakkali while doubling up off Gerner.
With two players seeing a board of A♣Q♦8♠9♥ and roughly 80,000 in the middle, Arturo Paduano moved all in from middle position, covering Kamal Bejjani in the cutoff who had just under 80,000 behind.
Bejjani went into the tank for a few minutes before finding the call to put himself at risk.
Kamal Bejjani: A♦5♣
Arturo Paduano: Q♠4♠
Despite the weak kicker Bejjani was ahead with top pair and remained ahead on the 9♦ river to secure an important double up in the final few hands of the night.
The 2023 World Series of Poker Europe at King's Resort in Rozvadov saw its flagship event get off to a roaring start with 557 entrants participating in Day 1a of Event #13: €10,350 Main Event NLH European Championship. After seven levels of play, it was Dumitru Pora who lead the 360 remaining players after bagging an impressive 729,700.
The Romanian poker pro has had plenty of deep runs, including a runner-up finish in a GGPoker online bracelet event back in 2021. Pora, who bagged well over 100,000 more than his next closest opponent, is well and away best positioned to make a run at his first gold bracelet.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Dumitru Pora
Romania
729,700
456
2
Axel Hallay
France
577,000
361
3
Keneshka Kabir
Germany
509,000
318
4
Eusebiu Jalba
Romania
430,000
269
5
Francisco Benitez
Italy
429,900
269
6
Leon Sturm
Germany
429,700
269
7
Fabian Gumz
Germany
402,600
252
8
Martin Ilavsky
Slovakia
383,300
240
9
Stephen Chidwick
United Kingdom
378,900
237
10
Danilo Velasevic
Serbia
363,000
227
Dario Sammartino
Day 1a Action
Day 1a started off strong with 192 players taking their seats before the clock had begun. Plenty of notables filled the field in the early going, including Daniel Rezaei (303,800), Dario Sammartino (246,600), Ole Schemion (232,700), Viktor Blom (228,200), and Barny Boatman (56,900), to name a few.
Arturo Paduano had a stellar showing and secured 302,000 for Day 2 by the end of play. Paduano remained active and aggressive throughout the day, including a hand where Paduano claimed to bluffJames Chen out of a large pot.
Other less fortunate players who were eliminated include Roland Israelashvili, Jerry Odeen, Jonathan Pastore, Nacho Barbero, and Ben Heath. All players who were knocked out can still reenter a single time should they choose.
Day 1b is scheduled to begin on November 11 at 12 p.m. local time. Fewer players are expected to enter compared to Day 1a, but a new record of at least 764 entries is within striking distance. The guaranteed prize pool of €5,000,000 has already risen to €5,291,500 and will continue to grow through the late-registration period, which doesn't end until the start of Level 13 on Day 2.
Be sure to stick with PokerNews as we continue to bring you all the Main Event action leading to the next World Series of Poker Europe champion right here at King's Resort in Rozvadov.
