The €5,200 Opener of Diamond Poker Series’ second PLO Grand Slam is on track to reach its massive €1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool. Yesterday, Day 1a attracted 106 entries to Arena Casino Tirana, about half of what is needed to reach the guarantee.
For those not lucky enough to be among the 21 survivors of the first flight, the second and final Day 1 will begin today at 4 p.m. local time. However, with late registration not closing until the second level of Day 2, there will be nothing to worry about if Day 1b does not reach the seven-figure guarantee.
All who register today will be chasing Day 1a’s leader Youness Barakat, who led throughout nearly the entire day the day to end up with a massive pile of 3,389,000 chips, almost 17 times the starting stack. Nino Pansier followed closely with a stack of 3,281,000, while bracelet winners Ronald Keijzer and Elie Nakache also found their way into the top ten.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Youness Barakat | Italy | 3,389,000 | 282 |
| 2 | Nino Pansier | Netherlands | 3,281,000 | 273 |
| 3 | Harry Casagrande | Austria | 2,435,000 | 203 |
| 4 | Ronald Keijzer | Netherlands | 1,569,000 | 131 |
| 5 | Leonid Yanovski | Israel | 1,546,000 | 129 |
| 6 | Bernard Larabi | Hungary | 1,175,000 | 98 |
| 7 | Marco Di Persio | Italy | 1,011,000 | 84 |
| 8 | Spyridon Valakos | Greece | 1,004,000 | 84 |
| 9 | Elie Nakache | France | 909,000 | 76 |
| 10 | Andrew Ige | United States | 690,000 | 58 |
The players who register today will start over again with 200,000 chips, although there is a 10 percent bonus for players who register before the start of play and a five percent bonus for those who enter or reenter during the first level. Play will begin with blinds at 500/1,000 with a 1,000 big blind ante, and players will have unlimited reentries available until the day ends after Level 11: 6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 big blind ante.
All levels will be 45 minutes in length, with two 15-minute breaks sprinkled throughout the day and a 45-minute dinner break after Level 5, around 8 p.m. local time.
€5,200 PLO Opener Day 1b Structure
| Level | Duration (min) | Small Blind | Big Blind | Big Blind Ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45 | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 2 | 45 | 1,000 | 1,500 | 1,500 |
| 3 | 45 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| Break | 15 | |||
| 4 | 45 | 1,000 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| 5 | 45 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| Break | 45 | |||
| 6 | 45 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| 7 | 45 | 2,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 8 | 45 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| Break | 15 | |||
| 9 | 45 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 |
| 10 | 45 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 11 | 45 | 6,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 |
Another exhilarating day of Omaha is in the cards for Day 1b, so stick to PokerNews to not miss any of the four-card action.