Key points
- Mikalai Vaskaboinikau tops the counts with 10,475,000 chips after Day 1
- 27 players advance from 66 entries; field merges for Day 2
- Big swing hand: Vaskaboinikau makes the nut hearts to bust Armin Ghojehvand, with Cong Pham folding a big side pot
- Day 2 resumes at 2 p.m. local time on August 20; late reg open until Level 10 (~4:15 p.m.)
Here’s your Day 1 news recap from the $102,000 Onyx SHRS PLO Invitational at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa in Northern Cyprus: 66 entries showed up for high-octane Pot Limit Omaha action, and 27 survived to bag. Belarus’ Mikalai Vaskaboinikau finished way out front with 10,475,000, ahead of Cong Pham and Laszlo Bujtas in the chasing pack.
The headline hand came late, when Vaskaboinikau completed a four-heart board to eliminate Armin Ghojehvand and force a big fold from Cong Pham in the side pot, turbocharging his stack into eight figures.
Day 2 kicks off at 2 p.m. local time on August 20, with late registration open until the start of Level 10 at roughly 4:15 p.m.
End-of-day 1 chip counts: Top 10
Other notable stacks:
- Artur Martirosian 1,815,000 chips
- Eelis Parssinen 1,585,000 chips
- Nick Schulman 1,245,000 chips
- Lautaro Guerra 1,105,000 chips
- Ben Lamb 915,000 chips
Do you want to join these sick High Roller Events as well? Head over to the best Pot Limit Omaha training site, Run It Once, to improve your game. Don’t forget to use code PLO365 for 10% off.
By the numbers
- Entries: 66; Survivors: 27; Eliminated: 39
- Elimination rate: 59.1%
- Average stack: 2,059,259 chips
- Median stack: 850,000 chips
- Total chips in play: 55,600,000
- Chip leader advantage: 5.1x average
- Top three stacks control 41.8% of the chips
- Stack tiers:
- Short stack (≤30 BB): 12 players
- Medium (31–100 BB): 8 players
- Big (101–200 BB): 3 players
- Leader tier (>200 BB): 4 players
Event context and schedule
- Venue: Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa, Northern Cyprus.
- Structure note: invitees and pros were tracked separately on Day 1 and will mix on Day 2.
- Day 2: resumes at 2 p.m. local time on August 20; late registration open until Level 10 (~4:15 p.m.).
- Side action added color to the series this week with high-stakes heads-up matches between Ossi Ketola and Dan Cates, including talk of an escalating buy-in set culminating in a winner-take-all showdown .
What to watch on Day 2
- Can Pham or Bujtas close the gap early with position and pressure?
- Will Ivey’s 115 BB stack give him room to work postflop without risking stack integrity?
- With 10 invitees and 17 pros returning, how does table composition shift opening frequencies and 3-bet dynamics?
FAQs
66 entries, with 27 advancing to Day 2.
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau leads with 10,475,000.
Day 2 starts at 2 p.m. local time on August 20; late registration is open until the start of Level 10, around 4:15 p.m.
Yes. Vaskaboinikau made a heart flush on J♥4♥9♥5♥ to bust Armin Ghojehvand, with Cong Pham folding a big side pot after facing a shove.
Phil Ivey, Artur Martirosian, Nick Schulman, and Ben Lamb are among the players who bagged chips.
As a PLO enthusiast with nearly 12 years of experience, I’m passionate about breaking down the complexities of Pot Limit Omaha, helping you sharpen your strategy and grow your bankroll – no matter your current level. I also share exclusive bonus and rakeback deals, along with discounts on poker courses and tools, so you can get an extra edge. When I’m not writing, you’ll usually find me online, playing PLO cash games and turbo MTTs.
