Bassel Zebib Leads After WPTDeepStacks Berlin Day 1A

WPTDeepStacks Berlin looks set to be the biggest DeepStacks event ever held on European soil after 205 players entered on Day 1a. Just 72 advanced to Day 2, and leading them is Bassel Zebib (pictured above).

There were plenty of familiar faces in the field at the start of play, including former WPTDeepStacks champions Thijs Menco and Francisco Lopes. Joining them were familiar faces from DeepStacks events, including Adda52 Team Pro Kunal Patni, Jean Montury, Mercedes Osti, Sandro Pitzanti and Gregory Janin.

The tournament quickly grew to over 150 entrants, with big names such as Paul Newey, Jan Bendik, Max Pescatori and Ole Schemion jumping into the tournament, which comes with a €500,000 guarantee.

Player of the Year leader Tobias Peters was also in attendance, however he wouldn’t be bagging on Day 1a after busting. He still has tomorrow’s flight to make good use of the unlimited re-entry structure.

Both Lopes and Menco were both eliminated, with Menco subsequently re-entering. Also sent to the rail was Sandro Pitzanti, Jean Montury and Paul Newey.

For Sebastian Stepper it might feel like he’s already cashed, having won an iPhone X earlier in the day. The first player to make a Royal Flush with at least one card in their hand would be the winner of the new state-of-the-art phone, and his rivered Royal Flush of diamonds was enough to see him scoop the prize.

Menco, now on his second bullet, Anthony Vandrepotte and Ben Bensimhon all tussled for the chip lead late in the day, but it was Bassel Zebib who soared ahead ended the day as the only player over 200,000, having bagged 254,100.

Joining him on Day 2 is Menco who bagged a healthy 192,200 on his second bullet, Ben Bensimhon (197,500)(pictured above) and German pro Ole Schemion (135,500). Adda52 Team Pro Kunal Patni is also taking a healthy stack of 162,600 through to Day 2.

Day 1b gets underway at the slightly earlier time of 2pm tomorrow here at the Spielbank Casino. Late registration is open until the start of level 10 and you can follow all the action here at WPT.com.