Florian Ribouchon raised from under the gun and Hannes Jeschka called on the button. Victor Yugay then three-bet to 6,200 and Ribouchon four-bet all in. Jeschka folded and Yugay made the call. Players flipped their cards, with Ribouchon at risk.
Florian Ribouchon: A?K?
Victor Yugay: A?A?
Ribouchon had run his ace king into Yugay's pocket aces. The board ran out J?4?8?3?2? and Yugay held to claim a huge pot. Ribouchon was eliminated.
Under the gun, Anthony Kennedy opened to 600, and was called by Florian Duta in early position, Benny Glaser on the button and Paul Newey in the big blind.
On the flop K?3?10?, Kennedy bet 1,500, but only Duta called. Then on the turn A?, Kennedy quickly threw 2,000 in front of him.
Duta called again to see the river 2? that Kennedy checked. Duta took this opportunity to announce 4,500. Next to him, Kennedy stood up and called. But his cards went into the muck after Duta showed K?10? for two pair.
Nils Pudel raised to 300 from early position, Maduka Meragal called, Alexios Messalas called and Andrew Gray three-bet to 1,600 from the big blind. All three players called the raise.
The flop came 6?J?10?. Gray continued for 2,500 and only Meragal called. The turn was the 2?. Gray bet 4,000 and Meragal called.
The river came the J?. Gray bet again, this time for 6,000 and Meragal called again.
Meragal showed A?J? for a pair of jacks and Gray showed 10?10? for a set of tens to win a significant pot.
2023 EPT Barcelona Main Event champion Simon Wiciak just arrived in the field. On one of the first hands he played, he called from the small blind after an open to 400 by Michael Sullivan in the hijack.
On the flop J?4?6?, Sullivan made a continuation-bet to 400. But Wiciak check-raised to 1,200. Sullivan didn��t back down and called to find the 10? on the turn.
Wiciak checked before Sullivan bet 2,500 and Wiciak made the fold.
Michel Atallah raised to 300 from middle position and Stefan Rothdauscher called. Simone Andrian reraised to 1,300 from the button and both Atallah and Rothdauscher called.
The flop came 3?2?6?. Action checked to Andrian, who continued for 2,100. Atallah called and Rothdauscher folded.
The turn was the Q?. Atallah checked and Andrian bet 7,000. Atallah then moved all in and Andrian quickly called. Players flipped their cards.
Atallah showed 7?7? for pocket sevens and Andrian showed Q?Q? for a set of queens.
The river came the 4?. Andrian won the pot and got the early double-up. Atallah was eliminated.
For the first time ever, the PokerStars European Poker Tour travels to the glittering shores of the Mediterranean for Day 1a of the historic $5,300 EPT Cyprus Main Event.
The action gets underway at noon local time inside the luxurious Merit Royal Diamond Hotel and Spa. Day 1 consists of 10 hour-long levels, with a 20-minute break after every two levels and a 75-minute dinner break at the end of Level 6, which should come around 6:40 p.m.
Players begin with a starting stack of 30,000 and are allowed a maximum of two entries across the two starting flights. Late registration is open until the start of Day 2, so there will be plenty of opportunities for players to jump in and make this milestone tournament a massive field.
The stop in Cyprus is the fourth EPT festival of 2023. Razvan Belea, Mike Watson, and Simon Wiciak have already been crowned champions. Wiciak made a run in the Eureka Main Event here in Cyprus earlier this week as he tries to repeat the performance he had in Barcelona just over a month ago.
Simon Wiciak
The wait is over. History will be made here today, and PokerNews will be following all the action and providing live updates throughout the day and the remainder of the tournament.