Day 1b of the European Open Special Edition has come to a conclusion with just 75 players remaining as Egi Adriaans tops the leaderboard after nearly 16 complete levels of poker action.
The day began with 414 players taking to the felt to see the $400,000 prize pool guarantee smashed as expectation of this event were exceeded beyond belief. Players were looking at firing their second, third, and eventually fourth bullets in this tournament, but there were still some first-timers that took a seat throughout the day. World Champion "Action" Dan Harrington, Sorel Mizzi, Sam Abernathy, Andrew Lichtenberger, Chris Wallace, Lacey Jones, Chris Moorman, and eSports Battle Royale winner Andrew Neeme were all in attendance amongst the Unibet Ambassadors, seasoned tournament veterans, and occasional recreational player.
With players again allowed a single re-entry play was hot out of the gate as chips swirled across the blue felt of the Wynn Poker Room. Early casualties included 2012 Miss Finland Sara Chafak, as well as a multitude of Unibet Ambassadors such as Sophia White, George Boateng, Phil Babb, Hayli Baez, Henrik Larsson, Espen Jorstad, Dara O’Kearney, and Daiva Byrne. Joining them on the rails would be all the above mentioned first timers, along with the likes of Kenna James, Jon Turner, Barry Shulman, and Eric Baldwin who were all unable to survive into Day 2.
Once the dust settled and the chips were bagged and tagged, it would be Dutch player Egi Adriaans who would top the leaderboard with a whopping 410,500 in chips; more then 100,000 over Day 1a chip leader Joseph Wertz. Adriaans headed to the final break of the night with roughly 250,000 in chips, but a hot run of cards that included eliminating Wallace, saw him end with a stack that towers over the remaining players.
His nearest rivals would include Hong Zhang (289,000), Mark Rink (212,000), Sean Chen (163,500), and Federico Butteroni (162,000). The likes of Dutch Boyd, Ian Simpson, Jordan Cristos, Jeff Sluzinski, and David Sklansky are all still in contention when the 44 and 75 remaining Day 1a and Day 1b players respectively merge on Sunday for Day 2 to leave just 119 players remaining from the 673-player field.
Sunday will see Day 2 begin, and with it will come the money bubble that should be broken early in the afternoon before the tournament makes a run at reaching the final table by the conclusion of play. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be back on the floor of the Wynn Las Vegas once Day 2 play starts at 12:00 p.m. (PST), so make sure to stay tuned to PokerNews.com for all the action from the European Open Special Edition.
