European Poker Tour - Kiev narrowing down

It has been common knowledge for quite some time in Europe that the European Poker Tour events have been very tough in regards to how much value there is in them for the serious pro’s. These events don’t have the glamour of World Series of Poker events or World Poker Tour events and this contributes to some very tough fields.

The latest EPT event is currently underway in Kiev and the five thousand euro main event has now completed its second day. With a total of 203 runners and a first place prize of three hundred and thirty thousand euros, this event has attracted some big names despite its location. Just sixty eight players remain and day two proved to be a very stern test as over forty players fell by the wayside during the first two levels of play.

As expected, Russians and other eastern Europeans dominate the leader board and it is Vitaly Tolokonnika who is the current leader with a stack of 371,000, just ahead of fellow Russian Maxim Lykov who has 369,000. In fact there are no fewer than six Russians in the remaining top ten which is an obvious indication of the geographical advantage that has been enjoyed by those players.

There have been a few notable names in this event with “Miami” John Cernuto, Vadim Trincher and Shaun Deeb to name but a few. John Cernuto is still very much active in the event and has a stack of around 44,000 so far which means that he may need to make a move or two in order to get himself into contention.

The bubble will be hit on day three when forty players remain and the survivors who cash will walk away with over seven and a half thousand euros. Play will go on until 32 players are left on the third day but one thing is fairly certain, whoever makes it to the final table will stand a great chance of winning as no one has really slipped the pack so far and I fully expect the final table line up to be heavily weighted towards the locals.