In the first hand of the day, Halil Tasyurek opened to 10,000 under the gun, and received a call from Valeriy Fokin on the button.
On the J♥8♦2♣ flop, Taysurek check-raised to 33,000 over a bet of 11,000 from Fokin, and Fokin quickly folded.
Halil Tasyurek opened to 10,000 again in the next hand, and Kazi Bairamukov defended the big blind.
The 9♣5♠2♠ flop was checked through. On the 10♥ turn, Bairamukov led out with a bet of 13,000, which Tasyurek called.
The K♦ river completed the board and was checked through. Bairamukov tabled J♥9♥ for a pair of nines, and that was good enough for the pot as Taysurek mucked.
Joao Tomas raised to 10,000 in the cutoff as action folded to Uri Reichenstein in the big blind. He asked the dealer what would happen if his clock ran out as he took a moment before calling.
The flop came Q♣7♦5♠ and Reichenstein again took his time before leading out for 10,000. Tomas immediately raised enough to put him all in and Reichenstein called for an additional 6,000.
Uri Reichenstein: 3♥3♠
Joao Tomas: A♦Q♦
Tomas had flopped top pair and had Reichestein at risk as the board ran out K♠9♠, sending Reichenstein to the rail. "Sorry for the time. I was trying to make the jump," Reichenstein told his tablemates as he got up from his seat.
"It was worth an extra thousand," Danielle Noja replied.
Sebastian Malec from under the gun and Milos Skrbic from the next seat played out a pot which left the latter at risk preflop for his stack of around 150,000.
Milos Skrbic: Q♥Q♣
Sebastian Malec: A♥A♦
Skrbic had picked up a premium, but it wasn't quite good enough as his pocket queens were crushed by the aces of Malec. The flop of 5♣4♣5♥ offered no help to Skrbic, but he did pick up a flush draw on the K♣ turn, which peaked his interest in the pot. However, the 10♥ river wasn't the card he needed, and he was the first player to hit he rail on Day 3.
Cards are in the air here on Day 3 of the $5,300 EPT Cyprus Main Event. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage of what is sure to be a day of poker thrills and spills.
The PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus has reached its halfway point in the $5,300 EPT Main Event, with the action set to resume today at 12 p.m. EEST.
From an initial field of 1,284 players, only 144 remain in contention at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. Two frontrunners have emerged, leading the pack into Day 3. Bulgaria’s Fahredin Mustafov sits atop the leaderboard with a hefty stack of 920,000 chips, just ahead of Russia’s Ivan Zabiiakin, who holds 915,000. Germany’s Oliver Weis rounds out the top three with 715,000.
Fahredin Mustafov
Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Fahredin Mustafov
Bulgaria
920,000
184
2
Ivan Zabiiakin
Russia
915,000
183
3
Oliver Weis
Germany
715,000
143
4
Damir Zhugralin
Kazakhstan
705,000
141
5
Shankui Li
China
693,000
139
6
Chakib Mhiri
Tunisia
648,000
130
7
Georgios Tsouloftas
Cyprus
620,000
124
8
Radoslav Stoyanov
Bulgaria
575,000
115
9
Boris Kuzmanovic
Croatia
573,000
115
10
Mohamad El Rais
Switzerland
563,000
113
The event attracted 1,284 entries, and now, the remaining players will battle for their share of a $6,227,400 prize pool. The eventual champion will walk away with $1,030,000, the prestigious PokerStars trophy, and the title of EPT champion. Every player still in the field is guaranteed at least $9,100, with a pay jump just one elimination away, bumping the next payout to $10,460.
Place
Prize
1
$1,030,000
2
$642,300
3
$459,000
4
$353,100
5
$271,400
6
$208,720
7
$160,500
8
$123,400
9
$94,940
10-11
$73,100
12-13
$60,900
14-15
$50,760
16-17
$42,280
18-20
$36,740
21-23
$31,940
24-27
$27,780
28-31
$24,160
32-39
$20,980
40-55
$18,240
56-71
$15,880
72-95
$13,820
96-119
$12,020
120-143
$10,460
144
$9,100
Day 3 will start at noon, local time, with blinds of 2,500/5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante. The plan is to play five more levels as the field shrinks further toward the final table. Today also marks the start of the shot clock, with players having 15 seconds for their first decision and 30 seconds for subsequent moves. Each participant begins with six time-bank cards, giving them extra seconds to think in high-pressure situations.
Shot Clock
As always, keep it locked in with PokerNews to keep up with all the action from EPT Cyprus.
