After a month layoff, the next World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event kicked off this week at the Montesino Casino in Vienna, Austria. The second of the two Day 1 flights wrapped up Wednesday with Darko Stojanovic holding a massive chip lead over the rest of the field. His 320,000 chips are over 50 percent more than Carsten Jeppe’s 206,400. Of course, being the chip leader after the first day isn’t typically the most meaningful thing in tournament poker, but it is better than being the short stack.
This is just the second running of WPT Vienna. Last season’s Main Event saw 555 runners pay the €3,200 + €300 and create a prize pool of €1,776,000. Russia’s Dmitry Gromov took home the crown, defeating fellow countryman Maxim Kolosov heads-up for the €447,840 first prize. This year’s WPT Vienna is not nearly as large, with just 396 players taking part. The prize pool will be €1,267,200 and while the prize structure has yet to be announced, the first prize should be around €316,800, which is 25 percent of the prize pool.
Darko Stojanovic does not have much a live tournament resume, with just four cashes for less than $100,000 in his career. His best performance was a victory in last February’s WPT Regional Series Paris, good for €49,960.
Stojanovic built his chip stack by essentially playing extremely aggressively and running over everyone he faced. He reached the 200,000 chip mark when he called an Ed Kim four-bet all-in pre-flop with just 7-8 suited. Kim had A-Q, but Stojanovic flopped a 7 and Kim hit the rail.
Near the end of the night, he ran with a marginal hand and was able to hit big. McClean Karr held 2c-3c and flopped the nuts when the board came out A-4-5. With two clubs on the board, Karr also had a shot at a flush. So did Stojanovic, though, as he had Jc-4c in the hole. Karr bet strong on each street and with his low pair and flush draw, Stojanovic kept calling and eventually found another club on the river. Karr’s final bet was for his last remaining chips, so Stojanovic collected another pelt.
The 182 remaining players will reconvene for Day 2 on Thursday at 1:00pm local time. WPT Vienna is scheduled to run through the weekend with the final table taking place on Sunday, April 15th.
2012 World Poker Tour Vienna – Combined End of Days 1A and 1B Chip Leaders
1. Darko Stojanovic – 320,000
2. Carsten Jeppe – 206,400
3. Jan-Peter Jachtmann – 190,600
4. David Breitfuss – 185,500
5. Sam El Sayed – 182,700
6. Michael Eiler – 178,700
7. Marc Gork – 170,500
8. Christopher Sly – 153,200
9. Tristan Wak – 151,600
10. Jürgen Recht – 149,400
