The field on Day 1a has grown to 262 players so far through the first 20 minutes of the day. New arrivals include defending champion Omar Eljach, Viktor Blom, Daniel Rezaei, and Event #1 champion Lukas Pazma.
Stefano Aprile opened to 800 from early position and was called by Giuseppe Zarbo in the cutoff and Omar Eljach in the big blind.
Action checked through on the 8♥Q♦6♠ flop and K♥ turn; however, Eljach fired a hefty 6,000 into the middle after the A♣ completed the board. Both of his opponents quickly folded and Eljach collected the pot.
Around 8,000 was already in the middle as Dino Volkholz and Oender Yildirim went heads-up to a flop of 9♥10♥4♠.
Volkholz then bet 5,000 from the button before Yildirim raised to 10,000 in middle position. Volkholz tossed in another yellow 5,000 chip to call.
The turn came the 9♦ and Yildirim went into his blue 25,000 chips to bet 30,000. Volkholz again stuck around to see the K♦ river.
Yildirim spent a minute shuffling his chips before flinging in 35,000 so aggressively the chips went into the middle of the table along with the pot and had to be retrieved by the dealer. Volkholz then went into the tank for several minutes before tapping the felt and mucking A♦A♥.
"Yes," Yildirim yelled out, turning over 8♠7♥ for a missed straight draw as he took down the massive early pot.
Arturo Paduano and Dennis Magro had already got into a preflop-raising war, with Paduano having a raise to 30,000 in front of him from the cutoff. Magro called from the small blind.
Magro check-called an 18,000 bet from Paduano on the Q♣K♥7♦ flop and checked once more on the 6♥ turn. Paduano announced he was all in for his remaining 50,800 — sending Magro deep into the tank.
Magro then folded what he declared to be ace-king and Paduano graciously tabled Q♠Q♦ for a set of queens as he collected the pot.
Three-handed on a flop of 9♠3♠2♦, Michael Armstrong bet 2,000 from the button before Stepan Budac raised to 5,400 in the big blind. Merab Meladze folded in the hijack, but Armstrong called.
The turn came the Q♦ and Budac bet 16,000. Armstrong again called and the K♥ fell on the river.
Budac checked this time, and Armstrong checked back. Budac showed 4♣4♥ and Armstrong turned over J♥J♣ to take the pot.
Meladze is currently sitting on a stack of 170,000, most of which came in a big encounter against Cristi Grecu. "Five-bet pot, aces versus ace-queen. Ace-queen made a flush," tablemate Alex Peffly said.
Stanislav Litovtchenko opened to 800 from the hijack and was three-bet to 2,500 by Kalle Persson in the cutoff. Action folded back around to Litovtchenko, who made it 7,500 to go. Persson called.
Both players checked on the J♠9♠7♠ flop and then Litovtchenko bet 4,000 on the A♠ turn. Persson tossed his hand into the muck after a bit of thought and Litovtchenko added to his stack.
Most tables in the tournament area are filled with qualifiers and hopefuls taking their big shot at poker stardom. Table #130 isn't one of them, for around this table are Viktor Blom (Seat 1), Ole Schemion (Seat 4), and defending champion Omar Eljach (Seat 8).
In the last hand at this table, Eljach was in the big blind and called a raise of 1,000 from Stefano Aprile in the cutoff. Both players checked the A♥7♠9♦ flop.
Eljach led out for 2,500 on the J♥ turn and Aprile called. The river came the 5♦ and Eljach fired out another 14,000. Aprile this time snap-folded.
Bastian Gallitzendoerfer opened to 800 from under the gun and was called by Theodor Biert in the hijack, Michail Jekimov in the small blind, and Nikolai Ogoltsov in the big blind.
Action checked to Biert on the 2♣7♣2♥ flop and he bet 1,500. Only Gallitzendoerfer called.
Both players checked on the 9♠ turn and then Gallitzendoerfer led out for 3,500 after the 5♦ completed the board. Biert raised to 7,000 and Gallitzendoerfer looked him up.
Biert tabled 5♥5♣ for a rivered full house and Gallitzendoerfer mucked — conceding the pot to Biert.