The first day of a unified field in the 2013 European Poker Tour (EPT) Deauville Main Event concluded Tuesday, with the starting Day 2 field of 419 players narrowed to 154 by the end of the night. Romania’s Andrei Stoenescu surged to the front, amassing a stack of 485,600 chips, more than 100,000 than Zimnan Ziyard, the closest competitor.
Stoenescu has an extremely short live tournament resume with just six lifetime cashes according to the tournament database at TheHendonMob.com, but he did make one very impressive run almost a year ago. Last March, Stoenescu finished 3rd in the EPT Madrid €5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event, banking €330,000 ($432,912). That makes up the bulk of his career winnings, as none of his other five cashes eclipses $18,000.
He entered Day 2 in great shape, sitting in 14th place with 131,800 chips. He made healthy progress throughout the day, but it wasn’t until the final hand of the night that he actually took the chip lead. He opened the pre-flop action to 5,000, Konstantinos Nanos re-raised to 13,000, and Stoenescu four-bet to 29,000. As often happens in a raising war, the two men got all their chips into the pot. With about 145,000, Nanos was covered, holding A-J. He was also dead to rights when Stoenescu showed pocket Aces.
The chip leaders from Days 1A and 1B are still both alive and well. Jesper Feddersen, the Day 1A leader, took his stack from 188,900 chips to 302,000 by the close of Day 2. David Ostrom, whole led all Day 1B players with 212,600, ended the day with 368,400 chips. Both are in the top 14 going into Day 3.
The money bubble didn’t quite burst Tuesday; payouts start at 120th place. With just 154 players remaining, the tournament should hit hand-for-hand play fairly quickly on Wednesday.
As one might expect, EPT Deauville is being dominated by Europeans. Of the final 154 runners, just six hail from the United States. Three of the remaining players represent Canada, while several others hail from Australia, Israel, Lebanon, and Russia. Not surprisingly, the French make up the largest remaining contingent, with 66 players left in the field.
Play continues Wednesday afternoon and into the night at the Casino Barriere at The Deauville International Centre as the tournament winds its way to Saturday’s final table.
2013 European Poker Tour Deauville – Day 2 Chip Leaders
- Andrei Stoenescu – 485,600
- Zimnan Ziyard – 380,200
- Hugo Pingray – 374,400
- James Mitchell – 372,400
- Cyril Andre – 370,600
- David Ostrom – 368,400
- Vladimir Velikov – 351,200
- Kevin Miannay – 340,500
- Andrei Konopelko – 335,900
- Samuel Grafton – 311,400
