The Eurasion Poker Tour (EAPT) $2,200 Grand Final begins today with the first of four starting flights set to begin at noon local time here at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel and Spa. The event features a massive $2,000,000 guarantee.
Throughout the past year the EAPT has hosted events in places such as Malta, Bratislava, Barcelona and Madrid. Those events each awarded several of the top finishers a €5,000 package to Cyprus that includes a free entry into today's event.
Players will start with 200,000 chips and the blinds at 1,000/1,000 with a 1,000 big blind ante. Levels will be 40 minutes and the plan is to play 15 levels, finishing at approximately midnight local time. The fields will combine for Day 2 on May 7.
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 the final day, May 8.
Luca Delrio opened to 6,000 from under the gun and received calls from a player in the hijack and Maksim Arshinenkov on the button.
The flop came A?8?4? and Delrio fired a 7,500 continuation bet. The player in teh hijack folded while Arshinenkov made the call.
Delrio bet again on the Q? turn, this time for 11,500. Once again Arshinenkov called.
Both players checked the K? river. Delrio tabled 8?8? for a set of eights which, despite four spades being on the board, was good enough to take the pot. Arshinenkov flashed the A? in his hand before sending it into the muck.
With the board reading 3?8?10?9?, and a massive pot of roughly 1,500,000 in the middle, Milad Talezari found himself involved all in against two opponents, one of whom he covered.
First Opponent: 8?8?
Milad Talezari: Q?J?
Second Opponent: 10?10?
Both of Talezari's opponents had flopped a set but Talezari had completed his gutshot straight draw on the turn to take the lead. The board did not pair on the 2? river and Talezari dragged in a substantial pot.
Marcin Puczylowski opened to 30,000 and received calls from a player in the small blind and Miroslav Rizov in the big blind.
The flop came 8?6?4?. The small blind checked, Rizov bet 35,000, Puczylowski called and the small blind called.
Rizov bet again when checked to on the 3? turn, this time for 65,000. Puczylowski got out of the way while the small blind once again made the call.
Both players checked the K? river. The small blind tabled 5?5? for a pair of fives and missed straight draw. Rizov showed down 8?9? for a pair of eights to take the pot and continue adding chips to his already formidable stack.
Stephen Song was recently eliminated from the tournament in the last level of the night.
According to one of his former tablemates, Alina Kiryna opened from early position and called a three-bet from Stephen Song who was in late position.
The two players saw a flop of J?8?5? and Kiryna lead out with a small bet that was called by Song.
Song then called another bet for slightly over half the pot on the A? turn. On the 3x river Kiryna checked and Song, having started the hand with a bit over 1,000,000, moved all in. Kiryna made the call.
Song had Q?10? for a massive bluff with a missed straight draw while Kiryna had A?J? for top two pair to send Song to the rail and drag in a colossal pot.
The first of four starting flights has come to a close for the Eurasion Poker Tour (EAPT) $2,200 Grand Final here at the Royal Diamond Hotel and Spa. Day 1a attracted a total of 380 entrants and by the end of the night just 59 players managed to put chips in a bag and advance to Day 2.
Ukraine's Alina Kiryna finished the night with the overall chip lead, bagging 3,530,000 chips for Day 2 which will be worth 88 big blinds at the start of the day. Kiryna soared to the top of the counts in the last level of the night after picking off a massive bluff that saw bracelet winner Stephen Song hit the rail. Kiryna is most closely followed by Russia's Evgenii Ushakov (3,255,000) and Aliaksei Shchurevich of Belarus (3,110,000).
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Alina Kiryna
Ukraine
3,530,000
88
2
Evgenii Ushakov
Russian Federation
3,255,000
81
3
Aliaksei Shchurevich
Belarus
3,110,000
78
4
Aleksandr Kirichenko
Russian Federation
2,850,000
71
5
Cooper Feltham
Australia
2,825,000
71
6
Aleksei Istomin
Russian Federation
2,370,000
59
7
Walid Bou Habib
Lebanon
2,260,000
57
8
Bernard Larabi
Hungary
2,190,000
55
9
Ionut Voinea
Romania
2,170,000
54
10
Andrey Pateychuk
Russian Federation
2,075,000
52
Not far behind Kiryna is Russian crusher Aleksandr Kirichenko, who has had an incredible start to the series. Kirichenko registered the tournament late in the day after busting the $1,100 Luxon Pay Mystery Bounty. Although Kirichenko was knocked out in 84th place for a cash of $1,060, he did manage to snag the top bounty of $70,000 before his elimination. Kirichenko wasted no time building a monster stack in this event, ending the night with the fourth-largest stack at 2,850,000. Kirichenko has racked up several five-figure scores here in Cyprus and will be a force to be reckoned with going into Day 2.
Aleksandr Kirichenko
Australia's Cooper Feltham may have had the most consistent day out of any player left in the field. Feltham found himself among the chip leaders early in the day and was near the top of the pack all the way until the end of the night, enjoying the chip lead on several occasions. Feltham flopped a straight late in the night and got max value from his opponent's two pair to take a commanding lead over the rest of the field at that time and ultimately finished the night with the fifth-largest stack in the room at 2,825,000.
Cooper Feltham
Some notable players to enter Day 1a who fell before the end of the night include Jessica Teusl, Dmitry Gromov, and Tobias Peters.
The Grand Final picks up again tomorrow, May 05 with Day 1b starting at noon local time. Stay tuned for more coverage as PokerNews brings you all the action from the remainder of the festival along the shores of the Mediterranean in North Cyprus.
