The first day of play at the European Poker Tour - Dortmund, sponsored by PokerStars.com, saw 306 players plop down EUR5,000 + EUR300 for a chance at an estimated prize pool worth over EUR3,000,000 (nearly $4,000,000 USD).

Among the crowd at the Casino Hohensyburg on the first of two day ones sat many well known international pros including Ivan Demidov, Barney Boatman, Soren Konsgaard, Rolf Slotboom, Alexander Kravchenko and Team PokerStars Pro William Thorson.

Thorson easily had the best Day 1 of that distinguished list and ended his day as chip leader with 84,000 in tournament chips, a full starting stack more than his closest competitor Robert Zipf, who sits in second with 72,300.

Some of the less fortunate players that already hit the rail include Marcin Horecki, Arnaud Mattern, Casey Kastle, Michael Tureniec, Boatman and WSOP Main Event runner-up Demidov.

There's no time for mourning the fallen players though as Day 1b in Dortmund has already begun, with early reports suggesting a larger starting group with even more top pros in the mix. To follow the action visit the PokerStars blog page for updates and chip counts, and then check out PokerRoad.com later this week for live streaming coverage right as the tournament truly gets interesting.


Story by Mark Anderson