Day 1d of the $1,100 Eureka Main Event, running as part of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa, has now reached its conclusion. This turbo flight drew in 346 new entries, bringing the overall number for this main event to an impressive sum of 1,444. The current prize pool stands at $1,392,700, however, with two more Day 1 flights to follow, this number is sure to swell.
Of the 52 players to progress from Day 1d, Mark Smith bagged the overall chip lead taking through a massive 1,050,000 for the Day 2 restart. This result puts Smith second in the overall rankings, just behind Day 1c chip leader Marian Virlanuta with 1,156,000
Day 1d Top Ten Chip Counts:
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Smith | United Kingdom | 1,050,000 | 175 |
| 2 | Semen Kravets | Russia | 499,000 | 83 |
| 3 | Joseph Mouawad | Lebanon | 453,000 | 76 |
| 4 | Sebastian Ting | Germany | 391,000 | 65 |
| 5 | Leonid Orman | Russia | 380,000 | 63 |
| 6 | Michael Wang | United States | 355,000 | 59 |
| 7 | Nikita Voznesenskiy | Russia | 350,000 | 58 |
| 8 | Halef Bulut Celik | Turkey | 327,000 | 55 |
| 9 | Frederick Anastasiades | Cyprus | 288,000 | 48 |
| 10 | Robbie Bull | United Kingdom | 286,000 | 48 |
Michael Wang started the day strong as he earned an early double-up with pocket kings. Seemingly Wang retained this momentum throughout the day as he managed to bag a top 10 stack, ending proceedings with a total of 355,000.
Still in the mix for Day 2 is reigning champion Ankit Ahuja. Although Ahuja may only be taking through a stack of 51,000, his eye will certainly be set on back-to-back titles here in Cyprus.
As Level 10 came to a close and late registration was due to end, many sharks surfaced to try their luck on the felt at the very last minute. One of those to late register included PokerStars Team Pro member Kenny Hallaert. Yesterday’s turbo flight, Day 1b, saw Hallaert bust only a matter of hands after the close of registration, and unfortunately enough, today proved to be no different; Level 12 saw Hallaert’s quiet exit from the tournament floor as he failed to progress to Day 2.
Those to join Hallaert on the rail during this Day 1 included Alexander Tkatschew, Uri Reichenstein and Ren Lin, all of which are likely to make a reappearance tomorrow.
Day 2 will kick off on the 12th of October, but before then, players have two more opportunities to get into the mix with flight 1e and its turbo counterpart 1f tomorrow, starting at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. respectively.
The PokerNews live reporting team will return to bring you more coverage of the Eureka Main Event here at EPT Cyprus, so stay tuned.