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PokerStars ushered in its new era of live poker this week when the PokerStars Open Campione exploded into action. Most poker community members shared similar thoughts that the new mid-stakes tour would prove popular, but we doubt many people thought the inaugural PokerStars Open Main Event would shatter attendance records.

The €1,100 buy-in PokerStars Open Campione Main Event featured a €1 million guaranteed prize pool. Four flights were scheduled, meaning an average of 250 entrants per flight would see the guarantee reached. The signs of a bumper turnout were there for all to see on Day 1a, which PokerStars delayed for 30 minutes due to the sheer volume of players wanting to buy into it. For those unfamiliar with multi-day live tournaments, the first starting flight tends to be the least busy of those offered.

Day 1a saw a whopping 644 entrants, ensuring more than 64% of the guarantee had been reached already! Day 1b, later in the same day, drew in another 163 entries, bringing the total to 807 with two flights remaining!

€1 Million Guarantee Obliterated

The €1 million guarantee was guaranteed to be blown out of the water during Day 1c thanks to over 300 players registering for the third flight before it even started. By the time the curtain came down on Day 1c’s proceedings, a staggering 1,124 players had exchanged €1,100 for the chance to become the PokerStars EPT Campione Main Event champion.

To put that Day 1c field into perspective, PokerStars’ best-attended Italy-based live event (to the best of our knowledge) was the 2010 European Poker Tour (EPT) Sanremo Main Event, which saw Liv Boeree come out on top of a 1,240-strong field. Sure, that was a €5,300 buy-in, but still!

Outside of Italian EPTs, the 2014 edition of the IPT Sanremo Main Event saw 1,124 players buy in for €770 across the entire tournament.

The PokerStars Open Campione Main Event’s field grew even larger after 208 players chose Day 1d to start their quest for glory. That means 2,139 players have bought into this event, and 772 players have punched their Day 2 tickets.

However, late registration remains open until the end of the first level on Day 2, meaning we could see some late arrivals or some players re-entering late on. Just how large can the PokerStars Open Campione Main Event field reach?

Darius Neagoe Leads the Monster-Sized Event

Romania’s Darius Neagoe is the man to catch going into Day 2 of the record-breaking PokerStars Open Campione Main Event. Neagoe entered Day 1a and turned his starting stack into a tournament-leading 417,000. The Romanian’s chips are worth the equivalent of 358 big blinds; it’s fair to say he has plenty of room to manoeuvre!

Terrance Reid occupies second place with 413,500 chips, with Poland’s Sebastian Kotowicz, another Day 1a entrant, rounding out the podium in third with a 398,600 stack.

Having such a large prize pool – it is currently €2.1 million and rising – means the event has attracted plenty of seasoned pros. Some of those top-tier grinders to look out for in PokerNews’ Day 2 coverage include Alexandre Reard (168,000), Antonio Buonanno (166,300), Gianluca Speranza (166,000), Arsenii Karmatckii (109,500), and Guillermo Sanz (98,700).

PokerStars Open Campione Main Event Top 10 Chip Counts

How Many Entries Will the PokerStars Open Campione Main Event Have?

The incredible turnout for this event shows there is a market for mid-stakes live events. The numbers are also helped by more than 300 PokerStars players redeeming Power Path passes to play in this inaugural event.

Head over to the PokerNews Live Reporting pages from 1:00 p.m. CET on March 14 to follow our indystry-leading coverage of the PokerStars Open Campione Main Event, and see how massive the eventual field is one late registration slams shut at around 2:15 p.m. CET.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

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