The first day of the €5,300 King's High Roller is on the books! The priciest event of the PokerStars Festival Rozvadov in the popular King's Casino attracted a total of 33 players (including reentries), of which 15 survived the first day. Vladimir Troyanovskiy ended the day with 203,300 in chips and was the one to top them all.
The most expensive event of the PokerStars Festival in 'RozVegas' started off at 6 p.m. with 10 runners but quickly saw more players pony up €5,300 to play. Unlimited reentries were allowed, but with the hefty price tag in mind, no player fired more than two bullets. Viliyan Petleshkov and Albert Daher were among those to try their luck two times, but they failed to end the day with chips in the bag. They were joined on the rail by [Removed:197], Mantas Bagocius, Jonas Lauck and David Urban.
Eyecatcher on Day 1 was, as he often is, Martin Kabrhel. The enigmatic Czech pro, who'd give Will Kassouf a run for his money when it comes to speech play, shot around the leaderboard like a pinball. Chipleader, short stack, reentry, down again and eventually back up summed up Kabrhel's day. He ended his rollercoaster on a high note by putting 148,300 chips in the bag, enough for fourth place.
Martin Staszko finished Day 1 with 187,300 in chips and sits in second. Staszko scored a near full double-up during the twilight hours of the day when his pair of kings outkicked JL's pair of kings in a massive pot. But one man topped them all at the end of the day: Vladimir Troyanovskiy. The Russian won a huge hand with a flopped straight against Kabrhel's middle set to claim the chip lead, then busted Viliyan Petleshkov to solidify his lead. Other notables to survive Day 1 were Eugene Katchalov (111,000), Pierre Neuville (50,400) and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (21,500).
| Player | Country | Chip Count | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vladimir Troyanovskiy | Russia | 203,300 |
| 2 | Martin Staszko | Czech Republic | 187,300 |
| 3 | Aviv Meiri | Israel | 173,200 |
| 4 | Martin Kabrhel | Czech Republic | 148,300 |
| 5 | Tomas Soderstrom | Sweden | 148,200 |
Day 2 will commence on Thursday at 5 p.m. local time. Blinds will start at 1,000/2,000 with a running ante of 300 and levels will be 40 minutes. Reentries are allowed up until the start of Day 2 and those ultra late registrants will receive 25 big blinds to play with. The winner will be crowned on the same day.
The first starting day of the €1,100 Main Event will also be played on Thursday and will start at 4 p.m. The Main Event features a staggering guarantee of €500,000 and will be one to watch. Follow PokerNews throughout the week for updates on all the major events of the PokerStars Festival as the tension rises in King's Casino.
, Troyanovskiy held 
and spiked a nine on the flop to bust the Bulgarian.
flop brought the fireworks and ended with both player's stacks in the middle.
turn and 
failed to pair the board and kept Troyanovskiy in the lead. Kabrhel had to pay exactly 99,900 to his left-hand neighbour and gave 100,000 to the dealer.
and the pot was already up to over 50,000. After Staszko checked, JL shoved all in for 60,000, slightly more than a pot-sized bet.
outkicked JL's 
for a better pair of kings to send the German to the rail.
on an 
board. Vladimir Troyanovskiy called with 
and held up after the 
on the turn and 
on the river.
, the Czech saw a flop of 
flop, Neuville bet 2,100, Bagocius called and Staszko folded.
and Neuville checked. Bagocius bet 3,200 and received a call. On the 
. A composed Bagocius showed his 
for the lower full house and was forced to the rail after the massive setup.
and Meiri checked. Jozonis bet 8,500 and got a call from the Israelian. The dealer burned and turned the 
and Meiri checked again. This time, Jozonis simply moved all in for 20,925.
