The Winamax Poker Open (WPO) at Banco Casino in Bratislava kicked off today with its first Day 1 flight of the €500 Main Event; 239 entries amassed over the 13 levels of registration, giving hope for a big prize pool to form in the coming days. At the end of the night, 41 players bagged and tagged and will be returning for Day 2 after the completion of the other four starting fights in the coming days.
The bursting of the bubble marked the end of this Day 1 flight, ensuring all players who managed to secure a stack for Day 2 have also secured a minimum cash of €1,000.
As the dust settled, Dominykas Ruskys bagged the overall chip lead, taking through a total of 856,000 for the Day 2 restart. Ruskys wasn't alone in accumulating a plentiful stack as Tom Niveaud also amassed over 100 big blinds as he will take through 822,000 on Saturday, September 23.
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dominykas Ruskys | Lithuania | 856 000 | 107 |
| 2 | Tom Niveaud | France | 822 000 | 103 |
| 3 | Nicolas Casal | Portugal | 700 000 | 88 |
| 4 | Michel Colombero | France | 635 000 | 79 |
| 5 | Pierre Calamusa | France | 630 000 | 79 |
| 6 | Abel Pruchon | France | 513 000 | 64 |
| 7 | Clément Bonnant | France | 463 000 | 58 |
| 8 | Aliosha Staes | Belgium | 419 000 | 52 |
| 9 | Sasa Kalac | Croatia | 415 000 | 52 |
| 10 | Dario Berisa | Serbia | 390 000 | 49 |
Winamax Team Pro had an impressive showing as Maxime Manzone and Pierre Calamusa both progressed to Day 2, taking through 210,000 and 630,000 chips respectively.
More notable deep runs included Winamax Team Pro member Mehdi Chaoui who was eliminated just shy of the money bubble..
In addition, Vincent Malet, who is a member of Winamax WIP, also made his way to the rail late into Day 1a.
Both Chaoui and Malet are expected to be seen again in one of the many Day 1 flights still to come.
Players yet to progress to Day 2 can try their luck again tomorrow, Thursday, September 21, for Day 1b which starts at 12 p.m. or Day 1c, a turbo flight, which starts at 7 p.m. In addition, Friday, September 22, boasts two more flights, Day 1d and e, of the same format.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back tomorrow to bring you more coverage of the Winamax Poker Open here at Banco Casino in Bratislava, so stay tuned.
