A total of 209 entries took part on Day 1a of which currently 112 remain and the event is well on track to meet and surpass the guarantee of €5,000,000. At the end of the current level the final 15-minute break of the day takes place before three further levels of 40 minutes remain.
Martin Finger three-bet out of the big blind and continued for 200,000 on the flop to see initial raiser Jaroslaw Sikora call. On the turn both players checked and Finger bet the river for 700,000. Sikora gave it quite some thought and called to see Finger turn over the for a pair of sixes.
Sikora had that beat with and raked in a decent pot, nearing four times the starting stack after he was done stacking his freshly acquired chips.
Viktor Blom has dropped some chips but remains near the top of the leader board while Arsenii Karmatckii on his table is catching up. Leonid Logunov has a steady stack of four times the starting stack and Stoyan Obreshkov just bumped his stack in that region as well.
On the tail end of a massive pot of more than 2.4 million, Obreshkov bet the river for 1.45 million and that more than covered the remaining stack of Martin Kabrhel in the one seat. "What to do? I hit the river," Kabrhel said and eventually folded, giving his opponent as per table chat. Obreshkov didn't reply at all and dragged in the big pot without showdown.
According to the screens, there are 104 players remaining out of a field of 209 entries remain.
One table was still in action and that featured three players including Joao Simao in the cutoff and Sander van Wesemael on the button. The latter three-bet an open raise by Simao and the small blind cold-called, Simao called and the trio headed to a flop of . Action checked to van Wesemael, who bet 275,000 and was called only by Simao.
On the turn, Simao checked and van Wesemael claimed the pot with a bet of 650,000.
Down to just 380,000, Aristeidis Moschonas moved all in and was called by thhe player on the dead button. The small blind had other plans and moved all in over the top to isolate.
"Do you have ace king?" Moschonas asked and turned over his . His opponent had the and the Greek, now based in the UK, added "time to win a flip." The board came and Moschonas more than tripled up.
Artan Dedusha raised to 105,000 and Ante Varnica three-bet to 300,000 from one seat over in the cutoff. Out of the big blind, Timo Kamphues four-bet all in and Dedusha quickly folded. Varnica needed some more time and came to the same conclusion.
Anatolii Zyrin tripled up in a flip with versus after one opponent had isolated preflop. The board came and the deuce on the flop locked up the triple on the turn already for the Russian.
Koray Aldemir took a small hit to his stack after losing a flip against a short stack for 350,000 with . Not just one but two tens showed up on the board .
Sam Cohen tripled up for 650,000 with against the of Daniel Nietrzebka and the of Martin Kabrhel. The board ran out and Kabrhel was reduced to just 40,000 and forced all in from the big blind the next hand. He managed to win a flip with versus and then doubled out of the small blind for 140,000 with versus .
Stephen Ayres and Tobias Ziegler were less fortunate and busted, while partypoker sponsored pro Dzmitry Urbanovich has been reduced to just five big blinds.
Arsenii Karmatckii raised to 105,000 from early position and Abdullah Al-Emadi called out of the small blind. Dzmitry Urbanovich moved all in for 185,000 in the big blind and the Russian called, as did Al-Emadi. The two remaining active players checked down the board of and Urbanovich turned over his before grabbing his belongings right away.
Al-Emadi flipped over his for a pair of queens and Karmatckii mucked.
On the five-way flop of , the player in the big blind made it 175,000 to go and Patrick Leonard called from early position. Dominik Nitsche came along from the cutoff, while Steffen Sontheimer on the button and Fahredin Mustafov in the small blind folded.
The fell on the turn and action checked to Nitsche, who bet 325,000. The big blind check-raised all in for 655,000 and Leonard folded, Nitsche called.
Big Blind:
Dominik Nitsche:
The on the river improved Nitsche to a flush and the opponent left the table with a "good luck folks."