Ankit Ahuja Leads 31 Players After Day 2 of Eureka Cyprus Main Event
Day 2 of the $1,100 buy-in Eureka Main Event has wrapped up more than 10 levels of play as at the first-ever PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Cyprus stop with India's Ankit Ahuja bagging the chip lead with 10,105,000 over fellow big stacks Ali Al-Kubasi (8,125,000), Eduard Norel (6,470,000) and Luka Bojovic (4,710,000).
Only 31 players made it to the end of Day 2, less than a tenth of the number that started the day. Among those who found bags were Dutchman Tom Vogelsang, American Javier Rodriguez and Romanian Iulian-Remus Blebea.
Ahuja, who sits fourth on India's all-time money list, is no stranger to tournament success with over $1.8 million in live earnings as he chases the $362,365 up top for the eventual winner.
Eureka Main Event End Of Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Country | Chips | Big Blinds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ankit Ahuja | India | 10,105,000 | 168 | |
| 2 | Ali Al-Kubasi | Iraq | 8,125,000 | 135 | |
| 3 | Eduard Norel | Romania | 6,470,000 | 108 | |
| 4 | Luka Bojovic | Serbia | 4,710,000 | 79 | |
| 5 | David Kaufmann | Germany | 3,635,000 | 61 | |
| 6 | Tom Vogelsang | Netherlands | 3,195,000 | 53 | |
| 7 | Andreas Tomazou | Cyprus | 3,175,000 | 53 | |
| 8 | Aksel Aygun | Belgium | 3,130,000 | 52 | |
| 9 | Ramon Kropmanns | Brazil | 2,660,000 | 44 | |
| 10 | Stanislav Tishkevich | Israel | 2,485,000 | 41 |
Day 2 Action
There were 399 players who returned for action on Day 2 and, with all of them already in the money, it didn't take long for that number to drop drastically.
One of the early eliminations was Sahab Saberikakhki, who doubled up Nikolaos Lampropoulos when his king-jack was pipped by Big Slick before losing a flip with ten-eight suited against the pocket fives of Michele D'Angelo.
Other players who fell in the early hours of Day 2 include Kenny Hallaert, Tom Middleton, Francisco Benitez and Jessica Teusl.
EPT darling and high-stakes crusher Steve O'Dwyer was contending for the chip lead as Level 20 rolled around, but the Ireland transplant's luck ran out as his top pair with king-jack was no good against the overpair of Mihaita Croitoru with Cowboys.
EPT Main Event champions Ian Hamilton and Simon Wiciak were seated side-by-side for part of the day, but things took a turn for the worse for Wiciak, who just weeks ago took down the EPT Barcelona Main Event, as his pocket kings were far out-flopped but the ace-queen of David Kaufmann. Hamilton, meanwhile, fell later in the evening in 34th place for $6,800.
Some of the other players who weren't fortunate enough to survive the day include Daniel Smiljkovic (50th - $5,900), recent Poker Masters crusher Vladas Tamasauskas (55th - $5,900) and overall Day 1 chip leader Gaelle Baumann (60th - $5,125).
Action will pick back up on Oct. 15 at noon local time on Level 27 with blinds of 30,000/60,000/60,000 and levels lasting 60 minutes in duration. The plan is to play ten levels or down to six players, whichever comes first.
Don't go far as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back tomorrow as the Eureka Main Event draws closer to crowning a winner here on the North Cyprus coast.