Stepanian Blasts Out of the Gate
Wladimir Stepanian, fresh off a 134th place in the EPT Barcelona Main Event last week (�12,080), opened to 350 in early position and his left-hand neighbor called. Behind the pair, Franklin Nurmohamed three-bet to 1,100 and both players called. On a 
flop, Nurmohamed bet 1,500 and Stepanian and the second player called.
On the 
turn, after two checks, aggression was kept high with a bet of 3,500 by Nurmohamed. Stepanian check-raised to 9,300, the player to his left cold-called the raise and Nurmohamed also called.
It was a massive pot for the early stages already as the dealer burned and turned the 
on the river. Stepanian moved all in and netted two folds from his opponents, where his left-hand neighbor claimed to have folded pocket fours. He was left with 24,000 after the hand, Nurmohamed remained with 12,000 and lost those chips shortly after. He became the first player to reenter the tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
60,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
20,000
20,000
|
20,000 |