Most serious players lay up at night thinking about their shot at a score that can not only set up their year but rather the remainder of their career. The opportunity at the experience, a seven-figure score, and the outright glory of the title of EPT champion are what dreams are made of.
Today, 155 players return to the PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus for the third day of the $5300 EPT Main Event at Merit Royal Diamond Hotel and Spa. Although the winner will not be crowned today, the third day of most EPTs is often when players "move up or move out." The top ten players all still sit with 100+ big blinds but by days-end the top of the leaderboard will likely distance itself from the bottom and players will need to be making their move for a title or a seat on the rail.
After the completion of Day 2, Gary Miller leads the way as the only player over 700,000 chips (718,000). It's still anyone's game, but among the remaining players, there are a few with championship experience. Some notable big stacks include Anton Wigg, the 2010 EPT Copenhagen champion, with 614,000, Parker Talbot, a Team PokerStars Pro with 532,000 chips, Fabrice Bigot with 463,000 chips, Kayhan Mokri with 403,000 chips, Teun Mulder with 376,000 chips, Juan Pardo, the $50,000 Super High Roller champion with 360,000 chips, and Steve O'Dwyer, the 2013 EPT Monte Carlo champion with 304,000 chips.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary Miller | United Kingdom | 718,000 | 144 | |
| 2 | Francisco Benitez | Uruguay | 690,000 | 138 | |
| 3 | Andreas Tomazou | Cyprus | 648,000 | 130 | |
| 4 | Carl Shaw | United Kingdom | 628,000 | 126 | |
| 5 | Anton Wigg | Sweden | 614,000 | 123 | |
| 6 | Gerard Carbo | Spain | 568,000 | 114 | |
| 7 | Angelos Michael | Cyprus | 549,000 | 110 | |
| 8 | Viliyan Petleshkov | Bulgaria | 534,000 | 107 | |
| 9 | Parker Talbot | Canada | 532,000 | 106 | |
| 10 | Kenny Hallaert | Belgium | 509,000 | 102 |
Milos Skrbic, the Day 2 chip leader, fell back to the pack and ended up with 174,000 chips before the day’s end, while multiple-time WSOP bracelet winner, Joao Vieira landed with 200,000 chips. EPT Barcelona champion Simon Wiciak with 191,000 chips, and Paul Newey with 91,000 chips are also returning today on short stacks.
The action on Day 3 kicks off at noon local time on Level 16 with blinds of 2,500-5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante. The plan is to play an additional five levels as the field continues to whittle down towards the final table.
A total of 1,320 runners participated in the event, and the remaining portion of the massive prize pool worth$6,402,000 will be divided among the155 players that still hold chips. The winner will receive $1,042,000, along with the PokerStars trophy and the EPT champion title. Additionally, each of the remaining players has secured a minimum of $9,275.
This is the inaugural EPT festival on the island of Cyprus and it has already been a huge success. One player will be able to return to future events with the bragging rights of being the first-ever champion named at this already historic stop. Who will it be?
As always, stay tuned intoPokerNews so you don’t miss any of the action as the first EPT Cyprus main event champion is crowned.