EPT Sochi 2019: Aditya Sushant Among Top 10 Stacks After Day 1C of EPT National, PokerGuru Ambassadors Kartik Ved & Jayjit Ray Also Advance to Day 2

The second edition of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Sochi kicked off in style on March 21 with the series-opener, the ₽77,000 EPT National taking center stage. After the completion of the three starting flights, a total of 721 entries (Day 1A – 249, Day 1B – 84 and Day 1C – 388) were registered at the event, overtaking the record of 705 entries set at the event last year.

A select group of Indians was seen in action at the event and leading the charge was India`s first WSOP bracelet winner Aditya Sushant. Sushant first tried his luck in the opening flight, Day 1A, but failed to make his mark as he was knocked out by the Day 1A chip leader Andrey Lukyanov. He was next seen in the final starting flight of the event, Day 1C, where he fared much better than before. Not only did Sushant advance to Day 2, but also managed to bag the sixth-largest stack of 456,000 on Day 1C which is the seventh-largest stack overall coming into Day 2. Sushant fired a total of 4 bullets in the event.

PokerGuru Team Ambassadors Kartik Ved, Jayjit Ray, and Tathagata Sengupta were also seen in action. While Ved (178,000) and Ray (121,000) were able to make it to Day 2, Sengupta was eliminated before the day’s proceedings came to an end.

Day 1C chip leader Matous Houzvicek accumulated the biggest overall stack of 694,000, with Daniil Kiselev (664,000) and Aidyn Kanabekov (601,000), rounding up the top three stacks. They are the only three players who were able to cross the 600,000-mark out of all the three starting flights.

Houzvicek will lead the 108 players who return to the felts later today where the plan is to play down to the final table.

Day 1A Recap

Day 1A pulled in a total of 249 players, but only 37 remained after 17 levels of grueling play.

Team India’s Aditya Sushant was among the notable names in the field; however, he was eliminated by eventual Day 1A chip leader Andrey Lukyanov early in the day.

Lukyanov bagged up 544,000 in chips becoming the only player to take forward over 500K in chips. He was trailed by Valery Yantsevich (401,000) and Komil Ruzaev (391,000), who rounded up the top three stacks.

Other notable stacks for the day included Evgenii Tsoi (250,000), Sergey Bagirov (221,000), Dmitriy Belikov (212,000) and Karolis Domarkas (201,000).

Top 10 Chip Counts At the End of Day 1A

1. Andrey Lukyanov – 544,000

2. Valery Yantsevich – 401,000

3. Komil Ruzaev – 391,000

4. Tomas Macnamara – 386,000

5. Artur Martirosyan – 308,000

6. Bohdan Cherba – 306,000

7. Natalya Yakovleva – 284,000

8. Oleg Vasylchenko – 283,000

9. Daniil Lukin – 275,000

10. Andrey Kaygorodtcev – 266,000

Day 1B Recap

Day 1B opened to somewhat lesser fanfare than the opening flight with only 84 participants, out of which only 13 remained by the time the day wrapped up.

Andrey Chernokoz and Yaniv Peretz were neck-to-neck on the leaderboard with the exact same stack of 311,500.

Peretz picked up the last elimination on Day 1B when Giorgiy Skhulukhiya‘s were cracked by Peretz’s which improved to a top pair on the board .

Chernokoz was leading in chips until he lost a hand against Vladislav Naumov towards the fag end of the day. Nevertheless, he still managed to hold on to the lead, sharing the honor of being the Day 1B chip leader with Peretz.

Other noteworthy names that qualified for Day 2 were Aleksandr Denisov (287,000), Vladislav Naumov (191,000), Dmitry Yurasov (175,500) and Pavel Gavrish (56,000).

Top 10 Chip Counts At the End of Day 1B

1. Andrey Chernokoz – 311,500

2. Yaniv Peretz – 311,500

3. Marat Achilov – 309,500

4. Aleksandr Denisov – 287,000

5. Mikhail Khabarov – 201,500

6. Vladislav Naumov – 191,000

7. Sergey Petrushevskiy – 191,000

8. Dmitry Yurasov – 175,500

9. Mikhail Mamonov – 170,000

10. Fransisco Benitez De Camilli – 156,000

Day 1C Recap

As expected, Day 1C turned out to be the biggest starting flight for this year’s EPT National and attracted 388 entries, overshadowing the 333 entries from the first two flights combined. The player pool now stands tall at 721 entries, eclipsing 2018’s 705 entries.

Aditya Sushant returned for Day 1C, along with PokerGuru Team Ambassadors Kartik Ved, Jayjit Ray, and Tathagata Sengupta.

Sushant and Sengupta were some of the early birds to hit the felts at Casino Sochi. Sushant was off to a rocky start as he lost some chips early on to Wei Jiao.

“I lost half my stack second hand,” Sushant remarked. Soon enough, he busted out, but fired a second bullet and re-entered after that making steady progress. He chipped up against Yuriy Chernenko in level three and by level five had worked up a stack of 34,000. By level 12, Sushant was one of the top stacks on the floor sitting with around 190,000.

He took down a big pot against Evgeniy Nekrasov when the latter’s ran into Sushant’s . The board blanked, and Sushant doubled up, while his stack swelled to 240,000. The WSOP bracelet winner ultimately ended the day with the sixth-largest stack of 456,000.

Sushant also expressed his excitement of playing in the series-opener despite firing four bullets to make the cut for Day 2. “I really wasn’t expecting these numbers,” said Sushant. “They got 400 or something last year and now 300 in this flight alone.”

He was also impressed by the dealers at Casino Sochi and praised them saying, “It’s really nice. One thing I’ve really been impressed with has been the dealers. There have been hardly any mistakes, it’s incredible. You go to some places where they’re short of dealers and there are mistakes, but here I’ve maybe seen only one or two.”

Joining Sushant at the felts was fellow EPT Sochi satellite winner – Kartik Ved. Ved first popped up on PokerNews’ live coverage during level 8 when he lost a pot to Anatoliy Voropaev. However, he quickly recovered by winning chips from Stepan Mikhno during level 15. Two levels later he doubled up through Vilen Karimov when the latter’s were overrun by Ved’s . The board offered no help to either player and Ved raked in the pot with his ace-king kicker. Ved amassed a commendable stack of 178,000 by the end of the day.

PokerGuru Team Ambassador Jayjit Ray was also seen in action. He was among the big stacks during level 14 when he had accrued 240,000 in chips, but by the time the day’s play culminated, his stack had become considerably at 121,000.

Ray’s fellow PokerGuru Team Ambassador Tathagata Sengupta, however, failed to progress to Day 2.

Matous Houzvicek emerged with the biggest stack of 694,000 at the end of Day 1C and is currently the overall chip leader. He will lead the 58 survivors from Day 1C to Day 2.

Other big stacks advancing to Day 2 from Day 1C include Daniil Kiselev (664,000), Aidyn Kanabekov (601,000) and Sarkis Karabadzhakyan (595,000).

Top 10 Chip Counts At the End of Day 1C

1. Matous Houzvicek – 698,000

2. Daniil Kiselev – 664,000

3. Aidyn Kanabekov – 601,000

4. Sarkis Karabadzhakyan – 595,000

5. Giorgiy Skhulukhiya – 457,000

6. Aditya Sushant – 456,000

7. Alexandr Sergutin – 443,000

8. Leonid Bilokur – 428,000

9. Denis Kushnerov – 425,000

10. Vasilijus Piskunovas – 404,000

A total of 108 runners (Day 1A – 37, Day 1B – 13 and Day 1C – 58) will return later today for Day 2 with Houzvicek seated in the pole position.

Top 10 Chip Counts At the Start of Day 2

1. Matous Houzvicek – 698,000

2. Daniil Kiselev – 664,000

3. Aidyn Kanabekov – 601,000

4. Sarkis Karabadzhakyan – 595,000

5. Andrey Lukyanov – 544,000

6. Giorgiy Skhulukhiya – 457,000

7. Aditya Sushant – 456,000

8. Alexandr Sergutin – 443,000

9. Leonid Bilokur – 428,000

10. Denis Kushnerov – 425,000

Content & Images Courtesy: PokerNews

Keep following PokerGuru for more exciting updates from the 2019 EPT Sochi!