The overwhelming popularity of the first-ever PokerStars Open (PSO) Campione knew no bounds on Day 1c of the €1,100 Main Event. Over 300 players had registered before the kickoff, which meant that the €1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool was surpassed before the cards were in the air.
Over the next 13 hours, tables were opened out of thin air, waiting lists of several hundred people were cleared, and every nook and cranny of Casino di Campione was filled with poker players. At the end of the night, Day 1c tallied a whopping 1,124 entries. Turbo flight Day 1d added 208 more, bringing the total across all starting flights to 2,139 entries, surpassing the record for the largest-ever standalone PokerStars event at this buy-in level. The prize pool stands at €2,092,800, including the Day 2 entries that have already been made.
At the end of Day 1c, 410 players still had chips. Among them were PokerStars Ambassadors Guillermo Sanz, Benjamin Bruneteaux, and Kerry-Jane Craigie. Sanz performed best and bagged 98,700, more than three starting stacks and 82 big blinds at the start of Day 2. Bruneteaux followed his colleague closely with a stack of 90,000, while Craigie battled valiantly throughout the day but ended up with less than a starting stack, 27,000.
None of them could touch chipleader Tommaso Marangi, however, as the Italian player bagged a big lead with 360,000 chips. Frenchman Samuel Mayet came closest to Marangi with a bag of 271,700, while Swiss player Michael Simeon completed the podium with 271,000 chips. Also in the top ten at the end of the night were regulars Mykhailo Demydenko (234,700) and Nuno Duarte (227,000).
End of Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tommaso Marangi | Italy | 360,000 | 300 |
| 2 | Samuel Mayet | France | 271,700 | 226 |
| 3 | Michael Simeon | Switzerland | 271,000 | 226 |
| 4 | Artem Komarov | Ukraine | 256,100 | 213 |
| 5 | Davide Cojaniz | Italy | 255,600 | 213 |
| 6 | Vincenzo Di Coste | Italy | 239,200 | 199 |
| 7 | William Mancini | Italy | 237,000 | 198 |
| 8 | Mykhailo Demydenko | Ukraine | 234,700 | 196 |
| 9 | Marco Perra | Italy | 234,200 | 195 |
| 10 | Nuno Duarte | Portugal | 227,000 | 189 |
Other notables making it through on Day 1c include EPT winners Antonio Buonanno (166,300), Giuliano Bendinelli (132,800), Grzegorz Glowny (63,000), and Dominik Panka (19,000).
Meanwhile, Day 1d saw 113 players progress, led by Italian Giacomo Geracitano, who amassed 146,800. Gregory Grech squeeked into the top ten of Day 1d with 107,600, while Ermanno Di Nicola (52,800) and Jamie Walden (36,200) were among the other notables in the turbo flight.
End of Day 1d Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giacomo Geracitano | Italy | 146,800 | 122 |
| 2 | Esteban Ismailov | Switzerland | 144,100 | 120 |
| 3 | Franco Polidori | Italy | 133,500 | 111 |
| 4 | Joaquim Da Costa | Portugal | 130,000 | 108 |
| 5 | Feliciano Rosano | Italy | 119,100 | 99 |
| 6 | Martino Pozzi | Italy | 115,000 | 96 |
| 7 | Francesco Pirondini | Italy | 109,800 | 92 |
| 8 | Gregory Grech | France | 107,600 | 90 |
| 9 | Franco Bini | Italy | 106,000 | 88 |
| 10 | Tayfun Rodoplu | Turkey | 101,100 | 84 |
As for who did not find a bag, Adam McKola had his aces cracked by quads and could not recover, falling shortly after his fellow podcast host Rory Jennings. Sam Grafton and Alex Romero did not have any success either, but these Red Spades will have more chances at glory as the late registration will remain open for the first level of Day 2.
Day 2 will get underway tomorrow, March 14, at 1 p.m. local time. Blinds will restart in Level 12: 600/1,200 (1,200), which is also the last level for entries and reentries. The length of the levels will be increased to 75 minutes, and a break is scheduled after every two levels.
Tune back in to PokerNews tomorrow to find out just how big PSO Campione will grow on Day 2 of the Main Event.
