In yesterday’s write-up of Day 1A of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Campione Main Event, we said, “Unless something beyond the realm of comprehension happens [with regards to the Day 1B turnout], EPT Campione will not come close to the size of EPT San Remo.” Seeing as this season’s EPT San Remo drew a field of 837 players, we were right, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t impressed with how many people showed up. A near-capacity 392 runners paid the €5,000 + €300 buy-in on Tuesday’s Day 1B, bringing the total field to a very nice 570 players. Lebanon’s Nicolas Chouity closed the final Day 1 flight as that day’s chip leader, taking 165,800 chips into Wednesday’s action.
The 570 players created a prize pool of €2,764,500, with €640,000 going to the eventual winner. 88 players in all will turn a profit in this tournament. Here is the complete pay schedule:
1. €640,000
2. €430,000
3. €240,000
4. €157,000
5. €124,000
6. €92,000
7. €71,500
8. €54,000
9-10. €41,000
11-12. €30,000
13-14. €25,000
15-16. €20,000
17-24. €15,000
25-32. €13,000
33-48. €11,000
49-64. €9,000
65-88. €7,500
The Day 1B chip leader does not have the longest live tournament resume, but Nicolas Chouity does have a couple finishes of serious quality. In April 2010, he won the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, banking a phenomenal €1,700,000 ($2,263,166). It won’t be easy to ever top that, but he was able to make the final table in one of the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em events at last year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP), placing 6th for $115,477.
Chouity’s ascendance to the chip lead occurred just as the night was ending, when he eliminated Vanessa Selbst from the competition, grabbing a sizeable stack of chips. Selbst had six-bet all-in with a modest J-9 suited only to end up staring at the pocket Aces of Chouity.
Though Nicolas Chouity enters Day 2 with the largest chip stack of all the Day 1B players, the top two from Day 1A, Davide Andreoni (175,100 chips) and Nick Yunis (169,200), lead the remaining 218 players.
The combined Days 1A and 1B survivors will start Day 2 on Wednesday at 2:00pm local time.
European Poker Tour Campione – End of Day 1B Chip Leaders
1. Nicolas Chouity – 165,800
2. Andrea Benelli – 163,400
3. Stefano Demontis – 154,700
4. Andrey Gulyy – 138,000
5. Andras Kovacs – 131,900
6. Calvin Anderson – 126,500
7. Andrey Demidov – 125,500
8. Jannick Wrang – 121,400
9. Fabrice Soulier – 115,700
10. Bryan Piccoli – 112,900
European Poker Tour Campione – Combined Days 1A and 1B Chip Leaders
1. Davide Andreoni – 175,100
2. Nick Yunis – 169,200
3. Nicolas Chouity – 165,800
4. Andrea Benelli – 163,400
5. Stefano Demontis – 154,700
6. Grigorij Orlov – 154,200
7. Primoz Adamie – 138,400
8. Andrey Gulyy – 138,000
9. Andras Kovacs – 131,900
10. Claudio Leonardo Pagano – 130,700
