EPT Kiev: Gus Hansen Eliminated on Day 1B
A number of big names took part in the second opening day of the inaugural EPT Kiev but not many survived. Gus Hansen was the biggest casualty of the day.
167 players entered Day 1B of the PokerStars EPT Kiev. This take the player count in the first leg of the European Poker Tour to a very respectable 296 players.
After the two starting days of play, Russian Viktor Ivanov leads the field going into Day 2 with 153,825 chips. Day 1A leader Mihaylo Demidenko follows closely in second place. PokerStars qualifier Jason Kudron from the United States is third with 118,110 chips.
Gus Hansen Hits The Rails
A host of Team PokerStars pros joined the action in the second opening day. Ivan Demidov, Leonardo Fernandez, Dario Minieri, Katja Thater, Pier Paolo Fabretti and Ukrainian Vlad Zhuba were all spotted hitting the felts. Demidov and Thater were the only two to survive the day. They will be joined fellow team member Alexander Kravchenko in Day 2.
After arriving late, Gus "The Great Dane" Hansen (pictured right ) was the last player to register for this tournament. However, he will not be the last one standing as he was eliminated late in the day. Nursing a short stack, Gus pushed all in on the button with 
. However, it was not going to be his day as Ivan Lunchkin called from the small blind with 
. The board was of no help and Hansen was eliminated.
Day 1B was also filled with drama as halfway through the proceedings, all power went off in throughout the Kyiv Sports Palace. The windowless room was plunged into darkness and organizer had to rely on torches to complete the hands. Luckily the generators kicked in a while later and the tournament resumed as normal.
The top 10 after the two opening days are:
| EPT Kiev Day 1 Standings |
||
| Rank | Name | Chips |
| 1st | Viktor Ivanov | 153,825 |
| 2nd | Mihaylo Demidenko | 145,125 |
| 3rd | Jason Kudron | 118,100 |
| 4th | Bernard Boutboul | 110,325 |
| 5th | Dragan Galic | 110,175 |
| 6th | Anatoly Zharnitsky | 105,750 |
| 7th | Alexander Rykov | 105,300 |
| 8th | Jonas Kronwitter | 105,150 |
| 9th | Oleksandr Ziv | 98,275 |
| 10th | Yevgeniy Zaitsev | 97,750 |
