Vasile Zagon, Gregory Telman Finish Atop the Counts on Day 1a of the 888poker LIVE Bucharest Main Event
One hand can change the fortunes of a day, and that’s what happened to Gregory Telman on Day 1a of the €888 888poker LIVE Bucharest Main Event.
Telman picked up aces early in the day. His opponent had two kings. The massive cooler propelled Telman near the top of the chip leaderboard where he would stay most of the day, finishing with 410,000 and the second-biggest stack of the surviving 23 players.
He’s chasing only Vasile Zagon, who ended up bagging the chip lead with 427,500. Konstantinos Vatseris knocked out two players with a set of jacks on his way to finishing with 260,500. Other big stacks include Viorel Gavrila (337,500) and EPT champion Razvan Belea (291,000).
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vasile Zagon | Romania | 427,500 | 107 |
| 2 | Gregory Telman | Israel | 410,000 | 103 |
| 3 | Viorel Gavrila | Romania | 337,500 | 84 |
| 4 | Razvan Belea | Romania | 291,000 | 73 |
| 5 | Andrei Ciuca | Romania | 280,500 | 70 |
| 6 | Konstantinos Vatseris | Greece | 260,500 | 65 |
| 7 | Rares Cosmin Popa | Romania | 258,000 | 65 |
| 8 | Toni Ravnak | Serbia | 256,000 | 64 |
| 9 | Timothy Friese | United States | 232,500 | 58 |
| 10 | Gani Weiss | Israel | 225,000 | 56 |
Alexandru Budai (105,000) and Alexandru Stoian (76,500) are further down the leaderboard. Those who will have to try again on another flight include Gabriel Penescu, who took an early chip lead but failed to survive the day.
A total of 52 players entered Day 1a. Those who didn’t survive the 11 45-minute levels and any new hopefuls still have three more starting flights to jump into the event. Day 1b begins tomorrow at 5 p.m. local time, with Day 1c on August 12. There is also a turbo Day 1d flight that will feature 20-minute levels. The remaining players from the four starting flights then combine for Day 2 on August 13.
There was plenty of action on the opening flight here in the Romanian capital. There is still more to come, and PokerNews will return tomorrow providing all the live updates as the field of pros and online qualifiers only grows larger.