Day 1b of Event #17: $2,200 High Roller at the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus attracted 433 runners, which along with Day 1a’s 1,011 brought the total field up to 1,444 players that made their way to the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. This generated a massive prize pool of $2,772,480.
After 20 levels of play, 64 players remained in the second flight of the day. PokerStars ambassador Alejandro Lococo (665,000) is no stranger to bagging a big stack and today was no different. He may have started off quietly but when the bubble began to approach, he could be seen pushing the action and going for all of his opponent's chips on a regular basis. He will enter Day 2 as the chip leader of this flight and be in the mix for the overall spot.
There were however multiple players to bag big stacks. Pascal Hartmann (610,000) of Germany, Sarkis Wael (484,000) of Lebanon, Henok Tekle (466,000) of the Netherlands and Ran Shahar (444,000) of Isreal will all be on Lococo's radar as Day 2 begins.
| Place | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alejandro Lococo | Argentina | 665000 | 111 |
| 2 | Pascal Hartmann | Germany | 610000 | 102 |
| 3 | Sarkis Wael | Lebanon | 484000 | 81 |
| 4 | Henok Tekle | Netherlands | 466000 | 78 |
| 5 | Ran Shahar | Israel | 444000 | 74 |
| 6 | Oleg Furman | Israel | 415000 | 69 |
| 7 | Osman Aksu | Turkey | 330000 | 55 |
| 8 | Nicanor Sula | Moldova | 327000 | 55 |
| 9 | Andreas Tomazou | Cyprus | 315000 | 53 |
| 10 | Ravil Khamatgareev | Russia | 310000 | 52 |
Some other notable names to bag chips and move on to Day 2 were PSPC Champion Aliaksandr Shylko (96,000) of Belarus, 2018 EPT Barcelona Main Event Champion Piotr Nurzynski (99,000) of Poland, and 2013 EPT Barcelona Main Event Champion Tom Middleton.
Unfortunately, not everyone was so fortunate. Among those to bust on Day 1b were PokerStars Ambassadors Ben “Spraggy” Spragg and Parker “Tonkaaaa” Talbot. Plus, WSOP Bracelet winner Pete Chen to name just a few.
Day 2 will kick off Monday October 16th at 12:00 p.m. EET and will see a total of 216 players returning when the flights are combined. Play will begin with 5:12 left on the clock in level 17, 3,000/6,000/6,000 blinds, where Flight 1a left off. The seat draw and prize breakdown will be announced before play begins in the morning.
Although Lococo holds the chip lead there are multiple players from both flights on his heals and as always, it is anyone’s tournament to win.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates straight from the tournament floor of Event #17: $2,200 High Roller.
