The action continues this evening at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus with Day 1b of the $1,100 Eureka Main Event beginning at 7 p.m. local time at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. This is the second of four starting flights, with two more taking place tomorrow, October 13th, at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. local time.
Players begin with 30,000 chips and blinds at 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante. Levels will be 30 minutes in length with 15-minute breaks after Levels 4, 7 and 10. One reentry is permitted for each Day 1 flight and each one will play until only 15% of the field remains, at which point all remaining players will advance to Day 2 and will be guaranteed at least a min-cash. Late registration will be available until the start of Level 10 (approximately 12:30 a.m. local time). Prize pool information will be available at the start of Day 2.
$1,100 Eureka Main Event Remaining Schedule
Date
Event Day
Local Time
Thu. Oct. 12
1b
7:00 p.m.
Fri. Oct. 13
1c
11:00 a.m.
Fri. Oct. 13
1d
6:00 p.m.
Sat. Oct. 14
2
12:00 p.m.
Sun. Oct. 15
3
12:00 p.m.
Mon. Oct. 16
4
12:00 p.m.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all your live coverage needs for this event from the moment cards are in the air until a winner is crowned on October 16th.
With players heads up on a board reading 3♣7♥K♥10♥ and a sizable pot already brewing, Nihat Karyagdi checked and Khatanbaataqr Khandsuren bet 3,500. Karyagdi moved all in for approximately 30,000 and Khandsuren called, covering his opponent just slightly.
Both players had caught a big piece of the board, with Khandsuren having flopped a set while Karyagdi had turned the nut-flush. The board failed to pair on the J♣ river and Karyagdi secured a full early double up while Khandsuren was left with just over ten big blinds.
With three players (one of whom, Stefan Lehner, was already all in) seeing a board of 3♣A♥5♥A♠4♠ and about 30,000 already in the middle (roughly 2,000 of which was in the side pot), Marcin Kreft checked and Nicolay Langfeldt bet 20,000. Kreft made the call and immediately picked up his cards as if he were ready to muck them.
Lehner revealed 10♠10♦, Kreft had A♣8♥ for trip aces and Langfeldt tabled 5♠5♦ for fives full of aces to eliminate Lehner and take down a colossal pot.
With players heads up on a board reading J♦6♥6♦7♣ and about 5,500 in the middle, Alejandro Lococo bet 7,000 from out of position and John Nahum moved all in, covering Lococo who had just bought in for 30,000 chips.
"Nice hand," Lococo said, showing 5♥4♥ before making the fold. Nahum flashed the 8♣ and scooped the pot.
Stefan Lehner moved all in for 31,000 from the hijack and was called by Carl Shaw who had a covering stack.
Stefan Lehner: A♦J♥
Carl Shaw: K♣Q♣
Lehner was ahead with an ace and remained so on the 7♦2♣10♦ flop and 9♥ turn. Shaw spiked a pair on the Q♦ river to send Lehner to the rail and add even more chips to his stack, which is one of the biggest in the room and is currently approaching 400,000.
After nearly ten hours of play, the second of four starting flights has reached a conclusion for Day 1b of the $1,100 buy-in Eureka Main Event, part of the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Cyprus at the luxurious Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. Carl Shaw of the United Kingdom ended the night with the chip lead, bagging 703,000 to end the night. He is most closely followed by Eros Calderone of Italy (604,000). Azizjon Rakhimov of Uzbekistan (521,000) and Steve O'Dwyer of Ireland (487,000).
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Carl Shaw
United Kingdom
703,000
117
2
Eros Calderone
Italy
604,000
101
3
Azizjon Rakhimov
Uzbekistan
521,000
87
4
Steve O'Dwyer
Ireland
487,000
81
5
Stanislav Tishkevich
Israel
428,000
71
6
Andreas Christoforou
Cyprus
365,000
61
7
Jorg Schneegass
Germany
338,000
56
8
Ankit Ahuja
India
334,000
56
9
Nils Pudel
Germany
328,000
55
10
Roman Gadzhiev
Russia
289,000
48
Day 1b Action
Day 1b of the main event attracted a total field of 366 entrants, 55 of whom bagged a stack for Day 2 and subsequently made the money. There was no shortage of big names playing in today's evening flight, with Ankit Ahuja (334,000) and Jessica Teusl (22,000) being among the notables to advance to Day 2, while notables who fell short of making the money included PokerStars Team Pros Alejandro Lococo, Lasse Jagd Lauritsen and Benjamin Spragg as well as Ren Lin, Leon Sturm, Antoine Labat and Olga Iermolcheva.
The action in today's flight was fast-paced from the get-go, with several coolers happening in the early levels. Nihat Karyagdi chipped up early after cracking his opponent's flopped set with a turned flush while Nicolay Langfeldt made a full house to best his opponent's trip-aces. Both players were able to ride the momentum from these early wins to end up bagging chips for Day 2.
Shaw began emerging as one of the main chip leaders of the day as early as Level 6, and never looked back from there. He sent player after player to the rail and for most of the night it seemed he could do no wrong. Sometimes he would get the money in bad, sometimes he would get it in good, but he almost always came out on top by the river. He began to really pick up steam towards the later stages of the night, including a hand where he rivered a full house against the flopped two-pair of Alex Peffly to further extend his lead over the rest of the field.
Aren Bezhanyan had a strong start to the day but ultimately found himself short-stacked near the bubble. He would end up shoving with queen-jack offsuit only for Nemanja Lukovic to call with king-ten offsuit. Bezhanyan failed to improve and would be eliminated on the stone bubble while the 55 remaining players bagged their chips having made the money and advanecd to Day 2.
There are still two more flights to play in the Eureka Main Event before the Day 1a and Day 1b survivors return for Day 2 on October 14. Day 1c and 1d will take place on Oct. 13 and will follow similar structures as the previous two flights.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is on-site here in North Cyprus to provide updates throughout the remaining tournament and the rest of the inaugural EPT Cyprus stop.