EPT Cyprus Main Event Down to Final 16 Players Going into Penultimate Day
The PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Cyprus is nearing a conclusion, with only two days remaining in the $5,300 EPT Main Event. The field has been reduced from 1,320 total entrants to the final 16 players, who will compete starting at 12 p.m. local time with the shared goal of reaching the final table today and claiming the top prize of $1,042,000 during tomorrow's finale at Merit Royal Diamond Hotel and Spa.
Italy's Andrea Dato leads the pack going into Day 5, having bagged 6,155,000 during the previous evening, worth 154 big blinds. Dato already has a wealth of experience in main event fields with $1,811,780 in career tournament earnings including a fourth place finish in the 2014 EPT Barcelona main event for a career-best score of �362,000 ($481,299). Dato will need a 2nd place finish or better in this event to surpass that score.
Dato is most closely followed by Gilles Simon who bagged 4,430,000. Simon currently has $202,648 in total career tournament earnings, a number that will at least be doubled should he finish in sixth place or better in today's event.
Rounding out the top 3 is Uzbekistan's Victor Yugay who begins today with 3,870,000 in chips. Yugay's career-best tournament score before this event is $8,770, a number he has already greatly surpassed in today's event, with all 16 remaining players being guaranteed at least $43,275.
Among the most experienced players remaining in the field is Kenny Hallaert who comes into today with 2,965,000. Hallaert has a plethora of six-figure scores and boasts $5,344,310 in career-tournament earnings across his illustrious career. Hallaert hasn't tasted a final table score in an EPT main event in twelve years when he earned a 6th place finish in the 2011 EPT Deauville main event for �155,000 ($210,962) and will undoubtedly be a force to be reckoned with today as he gets another shot at EPT glory.
EPT Cyprus Main Event Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrea Dato | Italy | 6,155,000 | 154 |
| 2 | Gilles Simon | Netherlands | 4,430,000 | 111 |
| 3 | Victor Yugay | Uzbekistan | 3,870,000 | 97 |
| 4 | Kenny Hallaert | Belgium | 2,965,000 | 74 |
| 5 | Nathan Tetart | France | 2,725,000 | 68 |
| 6 | Halil Tasyurek | Turkey | 2,580,000 | 65 |
| 7 | Marc Foggin | United Kingdom | 2,570,000 | 64 |
| 8 | Priit Parmasto | Estonia | 2,385,000 | 60 |
| 9 | Bjorn Kozenkai | Hungary | 2,290,000 | 57 |
| 10 | Aleksandr Faterin | Russia | 2,090,000 | 52 |
| 11 | Timur Vardanian | Russia | 1,745,000 | 44 |
| 12 | Nikita Kuznetsov | Russia | 1,455,000 | 36 |
| 13 | Yannick Schumacher | Germany | 1,390,000 | 35 |
| 14 | Jose Gonzalez Sanchez | Spain | 1,155,000 | 29 |
| 15 | Gerard Carbo | Spain | 1,130,000 | 28 |
| 16 | Alessandro Minasi | Italy | 635,000 | 16 |
Action will commence at noon local time today with 37 minutes and 12 seconds left on Level 25 with blinds of 20,000/40,000 and a 40,000 big blind ante. The plan is to play down to the final six players who will make up Sunday's streamed final table.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is here on-site in northern Cyprus and will continue providing updates ahead of the next EPT Main Event champion being crowned.