Fahredin Mustafov Tops Last 13 After Day 1a of PLO Event #2
The first of two starting days of the 2017 World Series of Poker Europe �550 Pot-Limit Omaha Event #2 at the King's Casino in Rozvadov exceeded the expectations in Europe's biggest poker arena and a total of 217 entries emerged. After 18 levels of 30 minutes each, only 13 hopefuls bagged up chips and advanced to Day 2 on Wednesday October 24th as of 1 p.m. local time while all others can take another shot on Day 1b as of 2 p.m. local time the day prior.
Leading the field of 13 Day 1a survivors is Fahredin Mustafov, who already made the headlines a few days ago at King's Casino after winning a WSOP circuit ring for his victory in the �5,300 High Roller. Mustafov bagged up 490,000 after a massive clash with Brazilian Omaha cash game specialist Vivian Saliba, who will return for Day 2 with just 21,000 as a result. Nico Ehlers follows in second place with 272,000 followed by Marek Tatar (241,000) and Krzysztof Magott (226,000).
Other notables through to Day 2 include Ivo Donev (179,000), James Akenhead (129,000), 2017 WSOP Bracelet winner Joseph Di Rosa Rojas (81,000), Sander van Wesemael (68,000) and two-time WSOP bracelet winner Brandon Cantu (51,500).
Defending champion Barny Boatman (16th, for �1,032), Felipe Ramos (15th, for �1,032) and Pierre Neuville (14th, for �1,221) reached the last two tables, but were eliminated before bagging and tagging. Out of the collected prize pool of �104,105, 20 players were already paid for a total of �17,653 while �86,452 will go towards a separate prize pool for all players that reach Day 2.
Payouts of Day 1a
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Pierre Neuville | Belgium | 1,221 |
| 15 | Felipe Ramos | Brazil | 1,032 |
| 16 | Barny Boatman | United Kingdom | 1,032 |
| 17 | Jose Obadia | Spain | 896 |
| 18 | Vlado Sevo | Austria | 896 |
| 19 | Michal Mrakes | Czech Republic | 896 |
| 20 | Dario Alioto | Italy | 896 |
| 21 | Christian Arstad | Norway | 896 |
| 22 | Aaron Duczak | Canada | 896 |
| 23 | Roman Cieslik | Germany | 896 |
| 24 | Petr Vlcek | Czech Republic | 896 |
| 25 | Alexander Lakhov | Russia | 800 |
| 26 | Theodoros Aidonopoulos | Greece | 800 |
| 27 | Thomas Pettersson | Sweden | 800 |
| 28 | Konstantinos Alexiou | Greece | 800 |
| 29 | Oskar Wolski | Germany | 800 |
| 30 | Alex Foxen | USA | 800 |
| 31 | Chris Ferguson | USA | 800 |
| 32 | Ivaylo Sivinov | Bulgaria | 800 |
| 33 | Georgios Zisimopoulos | Greece | 800 |
The first eight levels allowed for unlimited re-entries and many of the participants took advantage of that with 90 stacks fired before everyone headed into the dinner break. Once play resumed, the likes of Mike Leah, Phil Hellmuth, John Racener, Roberto Romanello, Jeff Lisandro, and Ryan Hughes were sent to the rail before the payouts were reached. Nico Ehlers let the bubble burst after putting a short stack at risk with second pair and straight draw, and he was called by top pair and a gutshot. Ehlers rivered two pair and everyone had at least �800 locked up.
Alex Foxen and Chris Ferguson survived the bubble with very few chips and secured the min cash and important points towards the 2017 WSOP Player of the Year race. Alexander Lakhov went through a roller coaster ride throughout the day and his run came to an end in 25th place after a three-way all in with Krzysztof Magott and Aaron Duczak. Maggott's pocket kings dodged plenty of outs and Duczak was eliminated soon after. Maggott was also involved in yet another three-way all in soon after, and his bottom set improved to a full house against the straight and flush draw of Michal Mrakes as well as the flopped straight of Marek Tatar.
WSOP bracelet winner Dario Alioto and Jose Obadia, who finished 4th in this very event two years ago at the Spielbank Berlin, missed out on the last two tables before the last three casualties of the night included three big names of the international poker circuit. Defending champion Barny Boatman stood no chance against the full house of Rene Berube and Felipe Ramos shoved with pocket kings for an overpair into the flopped two pair of Marek Tatar. Another four on the turn gave Tatar a full house and Ramos couldn't find a king.
Pierre Neuville played in his first Omaha tournament and cashed right away, but his preflop all in with a short stack saw the Belgian flop two pair while Nico Ehlers flopped the nut flush. In the very last hand of the night, two of the biggest stacks clashed in Vivian Saliba and Fahredin Mustafov. Before the registration closed, Saliba's quads crushed the full house of Mustafov for a massive pot. The revenge of the Bulgarian came with a gutshot on the turn, while Saliba's aces and two pair with her other hole cards were downed by the straight on the river.
Only 13 players bagged up for Day 2 thus far and all others can enter again throughout the first eight levels of Day 1b, and the PokerNews live reporting team will be back to provide all the action from the tables.