A player shoved for 52,000 from middle position, and Cristian Rajala called in the small blind.
Before they revealed their cards, they had to wait for the other table where Alexandru Ersen was struggling to make a decision after Mihai Tabac moved all in. He eventually folded J♦J♥.
Middle position player: 8♠8♦
Cristian Rajala: 9♦9♣
With a better pair, Rajala kept the lead on 2♣7♥A♠A♣J♠ and eliminated his opponent.
A few minutes after 4 a.m., the bubble finally burst on Day 1a of the 2023 Eurasian Poker Tour €560 EAPT Main Event at 888poker Room in Bucharest.
After 16 levels, only 15 players out of a field of 97 entrants still had chips and have qualified for Day 2. And as good things come in pairs, they are also in the money, in this €200,000 guaranteed event.
The key was to be discreet to get a big stack today. Corneliu Cretu perfectly got it as, slowly but surely, he managed to end the day as the chip leader with 521,000 chips. His closest competitor wasn't more talkative but was equally efficient, finishing the day with 480,000 chips.
Day 1a Top 10
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Corneliu Cretu
Romania
521,000
65
2
John One
Romania
480,000
60
3
Aristeidis Ktenioudakis
Greece
398,000
50
4
Bogdan Trifanescu
Romania
361,000
45
5
Cristian Rajala
Romania
311,000
39
6
John Two
Romania
308,000
39
7
Gheorghe Bilea
Romania
263,000
33
8
Stefan Hurjui
Romania
250,000
31
9
Cosmin Lupu
Romania
227,000
28
10
Adrian Constantin
Romania
197,000
25
Greece's Aristeidis Ktenioudakis completed the podium with 398,000 chips, slightly more than the pot he won in the last levels of the day with a flopped flush against a set. Bogdan Trifanescu bagged almost the same stack (361,000), while Cristian Rajala, thanks to whom the bubble burst, filled his bag with 311,000 chips.
Gheorghe Bilea and Mihai Tabac seemed to have a lot of fun when they found themselves at the same table, as they kept laughing together. Both of them will be back on Day 2, with 131,000 chips for Bilea and 131,000 for Tabac. In between those two are Stefan Hurjui (250,000), Cosmin Lupu (227,000) and Adrian Constantin, who held the chip lead for a long moment today, before his stack decreased to 197,000.
Finally, Iulian Tataru (115,000) and Alexandru Ersen (88,000) ended the day with the smallest stacks, but secured the min-cash.
Tomorrow, Thursday, November 10, the second of four starting flights will begins at 5 p.m. time and will again play on 40-minute levels down to the final 15 percent of the field.
There will also be a Day 1c flight on Friday, November 11 at 2 p.m. and a turbo Day 1d on the same day at 8 p.m. with 20-minute levels. The surviving players from each starting flight will then combine for Day 2 on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Stay tuned as PokerNews follows all the action the rest of the way until a champion is crowned.