Aaron Duczak, Levan Rcheulishvili, and Mats Nylander went to the flop of 10♦3♠8♦ where Duczak, in the hijack, got his last 85,000, Rcheulishvili shoved for 175,000, and Nylander called having both players covered.
Rcheulishvili was ahead with two pair along with holding the nut flush draw as Duczak witnessed the tough shape he was in and stood up from his seat prepared to make his exit.
The turn came the 4♣, but the 6♣ fell on the river and Duczak hit a miracle straight to triple up. Rcheulishvili took the side pot off Nylander to double up.
Wing Po Liu was down to around 40,000 and moved all in from the cutoff. Quirin Zech in the big blind called to put him at risk.
Wing Po Liu: K♥J♣10♥10♣
Quirin Zech: A♦Q♥J♦9♦
The flop came Q♣7♠6♥ and Zech took the lead with a pair of queens. The board ran out 8♦J♠ and Liu was left with just a pair of jacks on the river as he headed off to the exit.
Heads-up on a board of J♠5♦6♥J♦, Farid Jattin led out for 42,000 in the big blind and Salih Atac called in the cutoff.
The river came the 2♣ and Jattin slid forward another bet of 100,000. Atac again quickly called and Jattin turned over Q♦10♣4♣3♣ for a rivered straight.
Atac mucked as Jattin took the pot, climbing close to 1,000,000.
More than 100,000 was already in the middle as Pascal Foged and Namhyung Kim went heads-up to the turn on a board of 2♦3♦3♣7♦.
Kim, in the hijack, then bet 70,000 and Foged called under the gun. The river came the 3♥ and Foged checked over to Kim again.
Kim this time slid forward two towers of blue 5,000 chips for a bet of 200,000. Foged ripped off his earbuds and began shaking his head as he considered the decision.
"I cannot fold," Foged finally said after several minutes as he called. Kim instantly turned over A♠A♦9♦3♠ for quad threes.
Foged flashed 7♣7♠ as a round of "wows" went up from the other players on the table and the massive pile of chips was pushed to Kim.
Alfredo Vega Meister raised and earned two callers in Farid Jattin as well as Patrik Jaros. On the A♣6♣3♣ flop, Jattin and Jaros checked and Vega Meister bet 15,000 to earn a call from Jaros only.
The same action repeated on the 10♠ turn for 42,000 and Jaros also checked the 9♥ river. Vega Meister then pushed all-in and Jaros went into a brief tank before he called.
Vega Meister flashed a KxQ♥J♥9x for a bluff gone wrong and Jaros took it down with the 7♣6♠5♠4♣ for a flush. Both stacks were counted and the 89,000 of Jaros covered.
Gab Yong Kim bet 16,000 on a flop of 9♣4♦5♠ before Marcel Grubinger raised to 80,000 on the button. Kim, in the cutoff, then moved all in and Grubinger called off his last 20,000.
Marcel Grubinger: 9♥9♠6♥5♦
Gab Yong Kim: 10♠10♥6♠3♥
Grubinger had flopped top set and needed to hold on against Kim's straight draw. The turn didn't complete Kim's straight, but it did come 10♣ as Kim spiked a higher set.
"That's the worst one," a tablemate said, and Grubinger couldn't find any miracles on the 8♦ river before heading off to the rail.
The official name of this tournament on the 2023 World Series of Poker Europe schedule is Event #4: €2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, but it might as well be known as the “Anson Tsang Invitational.”
Not only has the Hong Kong native won this event twice since 2018, including capturing his third WSOP bracelet last year, but he also finished sixth in 2019. Tsang was back in King’s Resort in Rozvadov yesterday, fresh off yet another final-table run in the €550 Pot-Limit Omaha event, and only 45 players separate him from a repeat performance when Day 2 begins at 3 p.m. local time.
Tsang, though, will have his work cut out for him as he’s one of the shorter stacks with 67,000. So is Omar Eljach, who is also chasing his own back-to-back run. Eljach won his second bracelet yesterday, jumped straight into this event, and ended up with 64,000 entering Day 2. The reigning WSOP Europe Main Event champion has won two of the last three bracelets handed out here in Rozvadov, and if he manages to build up a stack today he can do something no one has done since Phil Hellmuth three decades ago: win a WSOP bracelet on consecutive days.
Omar Eljach
Eljach and Tsang, as well as the rest of the 46 surviving players from a starting field of 206, are looking up at Farid Jattin. The Colombia-born, Miami-based pro ended up as the first-day chip leader in this event for the second year in a row and looks to better his seventh-place finish from 2022. Jattin has 37 WSOP cashes and four final tables in his career but is still looking for his first bracelet as he takes a stack of 734,000 chips into the event’s final day.
Farid Jattin
Zhengfa Ye (617,000), Salih Atac (571,000), Gab Yong Kim (560,000), and Pascal Foged (458,000) are his closest challengers on the leaderboard. In addition to Tsang and Eljach, several bracelet winners can add another to their collection today including Barny Boatman (157,000), Dario Alioto (145,000), and Renji Mao (89,000). Other players still in the hunt include Dorel Eldabach (352,000) and Patrik Jaros (201,000).
Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Farid Jattin
Colombia
734,000
147
2
Zhengfa Ye
Austria
617,000
123
3
Salih Atac
Czech Republic
571,000
114
4
Gab Yong Kim
South Korea
560,000
112
5
Pascal Foged
Germany
458,000
92
6
Mats Nylander
Sweden
392,000
78
7
Namhyung Kim
South Korea
356,000
71
8
Dorel Eldabach
Israel
352,000
70
9
Pavel Izotov
Belarus
324,000
65
10
Hokyiu Lee
Hong Kong
308,000
62
The action on Day 2 picks up on Level 15 with blinds of 3,000-5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante. Levels are once again 40-minutes long. The plan is to play down to a winner, but first they must burst the money bubble. Only the top 31 finishers will guarantee themselves a payday, with the champion earning €91,183 and the prestigious WSOP gold bracelet. The final table will be streamed on an hour delay on the King’s official YouTube channel.
A bracelet awaits one lucky player by the end of today, and PokerNews will follow the journey the entire way and provide live updates until a champion is crowned.
