The 2024 World Series of Poker Europe kicked off its first high roller event at King's Resort, Rozvadov, with top poker professionals and VIPs vying for a piece of the €1 million guaranteed prize pool. Event #8: €25,000 NLH GGMillion€ saw an elite but compact field of 25 entries from 18 unique players.
After 12 levels of play, Martin Kabrhel leads the pack of the 14 remaining. Following closely behind are Samuel Ju and Jacob Amsellem, who round out the top three chip counts. Other notable contenders still in the mix include Orpen Kisacikoglu, Alex Foxen, and Kristen Foxen, who are eyeing a deep run in the tournament.
Despite the presence of some of poker’s best and brightest, the standout story so far is the incredible value available to participants. With only €615,000 collected into the prize pool, an impressive overlay of €385,000 remains. This figure is expected to decrease as late registration remains open until the conclusion of Level 14 on Day 2.
Event #8: €25,000 NLH GGMillion€ Chip Counts
Action from Day 1
Originally scheduled to start at 4 p.m. local time, the GGMillion€ event was delayed, with play commencing around 6 p.m. The tournament began with two tables of three players each before additional participants joined the high-stakes action.
The early stages saw cautious play as competitors navigated the challenges of deep-stacked poker. With a starting stack of 500 big blinds and short-handed tables, most pots remained small. Orpen Kisacikoglu and Konstantyn Holskyi made strong starts, with Holskyi entering the fray midway through the opening level. Krasimir Yankov’s entry expanded the field to ten players, soon followed by Hoang Phan, bringing the total to eleven.
Online legend Viktor Blom was the first notable exit after running queens into Kisacikoglu’s pocket kings. However, Blom quickly reentered the tournament. Kisacikoglu's rise continued after he took down a five-bet pot without showdown at the expense of Yankov. Sirzat Hissou faced early struggles, often finding himself on the wrong side of the deck. He was the second player to exit the day after Salih Atac’s ace-nine crushed his jacks. Undeterred, Hissou reentered the tournament with renewed determination, successfully bagging and tagging a stack.
The day’s biggest cooler involved Samuel Ju and Hoang Phan. Ju flopped a set of kings while Phan held a set of tens. The chips piled in on the turn, reducing Phan to crumbs before being finished off by Stephen Chidwick. Simone Andrian and Jacob Amsellem bolstered the entry total, and Phan’s second bullet injection added much-needed funds to the prize pool. Tom-Aksel Bedell was eliminated by Phan, who opted to fire a second bullet following his elimination.
Ahead of the final break of the night, Amsellem’s Big Slick sent out Yankov, and when play got back underway, Atac fell to Kisacikoglu. Chidwick followed the duo out of the door after his overcards failed to best Ju's pocket eights.
WSOP bracelet winners Alex Foxen, Kristen Foxen and Martin Kabrhel also turned up when Day 1 reached its twilight levels. Kabrhel, who has tasted much success in Rozvadov, quickly found himself at the reentry desk after failing to outdraw Ju's set of queens. Atac and Chidwick also bought back in before the first stage wrapped up proceedings.
Kabrhel span up his second bullet to the chip leading stack, taking several pots off Bedell, who he knocked out of the top spot.
Phan bowed out for the second time in the final three hands of the night. He put in his last 12 big blinds with seven-deuce suited from the small blind. Hissou looked him up with jack-nine in the big blind. A seven on the turn put Phan ahead, but a jack on the river confirmed him as the penultimate elimination of the night as Thomas Eychenne was ousted the following hand.
All in all, Day 1 concluded with close to two full tables, and those players, along with any late entries, will be back in action at 2 p.m. local time to play down to a winner. Play will resume on level 13 where the blinds are 10,000/20,000/20,000bba.
As always, keep it locked in with PokerNews to keep up with all the action from the WSOPE.
