It was a bad day yesterday for Luca Pagano. Despite the deepest of stacks and all the experience in the world, Pagano departed in something like level five, consigning him to a round of media interviews today and a stroll around Kyiv. But one thing we have learned over the past couple of years on the EPT is that poker-playing Italians are like gremlins dropped in water: there are always many, many more of them than you first thought.

Here in Kyiv is no exception. Far from it, in fact. They have had to travel at least as far as most of the players here, but the redoubtable Italian contingent has arrived, meaning the level of vocal support has pretty-much doubled and the action has loosened to a frightening degree.

Leading all this chaos, of course, is Pagano's friend and Team PokerStars Pro colleague Dario Minieri. Level one wasn't quite finished before Minieri was all in for the first time (he won; all the details are on our level-by-level updates post), and as usual, Minieri is the railbirds' principal prey. They've found a way to flock around him despite the most efficient security services we've seen on the EPT.

Dario Minieri

This morning, Minieri was spotted hanging around the hotel with another friend of his, and another notable poker talent, Andrea Benelli. Benelli had a storming season five on the EPT, cashing in London, Warsaw, Deauville and Copenhagen, and making the final table of two of those. He was seemingly always with a huge stack of chips, or heading out the door having lost them in a boom or bust moment. It's no wonder Benelli and Minieri are friends.

It doesn't stop there. Kyiv marks the debut in the Team PokerStars Italy colours of Pierpaolo Fabretti, a 24-year-old pro from Rome. Fabretti followed the Magic: The Gathering path into poker (as trodden by Minieri and Noah Boeken) and began playing high stakes sit and gos and multi-table tournaments online.

Pierpaolo Fabretti

Fabretti also qualified for EPT San Remo and EPT Warsaw on PokerStars and joined the national team soon after.

And there's more: sliding into the seat next to Leo Fernadez this afternoon in Ukraine was the inimitable figure of Alfonso Amendola. "What's the name of that Italian guy who dresses like a Texan?" asked a member of the press pack today, and everyone instantly knew who he meant. Amendola is a popular figure on the EPT and is, simply, an Italian who dresses like a Texan. He's here today, replete in stetson and button-down shirt.

Francesco Ciriani, who made a final table in Prague is also in the building. And even our PokerStars blog feature seat is occupied by an Italian: Michele Limongi. What chance another Italian-dominated final table?

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ITALIAN CHIP COUNT UPDATE SPECIAL

Dario Minieri -- 55,800
Andrea Benelli -- 23,100
Pierpaolo Fabreitti -- 39,200
Francesco Ciriani -- 62,000

Don't forget you can get the latest chip counts on the chip counts page. You can also click the red blinking link. Go on, click it.

CLICK HERE FOR CHIP COUNTS

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STATISTIC OF THE LEVEL

Number of players from Finland at EPT Kyiv: 0
Number of journalists from Finland at EPT Kyiv: 2

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MAKING THE BEST OF IT OF THE LEVEL

Finnish poker journalist 1: "But we have three dealers here."
Finnish poker journalist 2: "And they have a good chance of making the final table."

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CHIP LEADER OF THE LEVEL

It's still our Russian chess grandmaster, Alexander Grischuk, who now has about 73,000

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RED BLINKING LINK OF THE LEVEL

CLICK HERE FOR CHIP COUNTS

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NEIL STODDART'S PHOTO MASTERCLASS

This one is called: "Chips". (Not CHiPs, although that would be good.)

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VIDEO BLOG OF THE HOUR

Watch EPT Kyiv S6: Day 1b Introduction on PokerStars.tv

Live updates from day 1B, level 3 of EPT Kyiv Sports Poker Championship brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking right here. Blinds 100-200.

3.40pm: Vlad Zguba
Team PokerStars Ukraine member Vlad Zguba raised from first position and was called in two places including John Kabbaj in the big blind. Kabbaj then check called a bet and then led out on the turn to force the fold from one of our newest team members.

Over on a nearby table Albert Iversen just five-bet an opponent all in in a pre-flop raising war. The final move of aggression worked and Iversen raked in the pot to put him on 35,000.

3.35pm: Great Dane bounds out again
Gus Hansen has decided he's not in the mood to play to day and will return tomorrow. He made a brief appearance as we just reported but he'll try and pick up play with whatever stack he'll have left at the end of the day today.

3.25pm: Great Dane bounds in
Gus Hansen is in the house. The legendary Dane has taken his seat about half way through today's play. With the great new structure and with his style of play it's probably not a bad tactic.

3.15pm: Good Deeb for the day
A pretty sick hand just went down between Shaun Deeb and Moldovian player Valeriy Koka. The flop was already out as [6d][4s][7h] and in a flash all the chips were in the middle with Deeb calling Koka's all in with [5h][3h] for the nuts. Koka was drawing pretty thing with his [8s][7c]. Thin is not dead though and this proved as the turn came [8c] and the river [8d] to make a full house for Koka. Gasps were heard from all around but Deeb took it very well and counted out the 20,225 he needed to pay off his foe leaving him with 37,500.

3.05pm: Fabretti loses betti
Team PokerStars Italy's Pierpaolo Fabretti stared at the [ah][ks][ac][4s][7d] board. Then looked again at the 4,500 bet he faced from the player to his left. With 5,000 already in the pot, he fancied his chances and called... only to walk straight into [as][kh]. Insta-muck.

That put Fabreitti back to around 36,000.

Meanwhile his fellow countryman Dario Minieri just took a huge hit. On a board of [9h][5s][6s][6h][6d], and with 20,000 in the pot already, he faced a 24,900 all-in bet from the player three to his left. Dario dwelled for a while, and with around 55,000 behind him made the call.

He was shown [kh][ks] for the full house. "Nice hand," said Dario, as he mucked and contemplated the 30,000 he had left - exactly what he started with.

2.45pm: Dario at it again
There was around 5,500 already in the middle as I approached the table as the turn was dealt giving us a [4h][7h][3s][qc] board. A player in the small blind checked to Team Pokertars Pro Dario Minieri who isn't shy about betting and this proved as he bet 3,700. After a good think his opponent raised it up to 8,000 only to see Minieri pick up a handful of 5,000 denomination yellow chips and throw them over the line. His frustrated opponent aggressively slid his cards into the muck. Minieri shrugged and opened [7d][5s] for all to see. This puts him up to around 70,000 now. let's hope he can hang on to them.
Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri

Level 4 updates can be found here.

The distance between the Premier Palace hotel and the Palace of Sports is no more than half a mile, at least it looks it when you use a crayon to draw a straight line on the free tourist map. But the task of finding the most efficient route from one door to the other so far remains near impossible.

Street names are irrelevant to all but the Cyrillic literate, traffic crossings while great when you find them, with a clock counting down how many seconds you have left to cross the street before the revving bus driver floors it, are few and far between, and the midday heat means it's better to keep moving, lest the sun beat down on you even harder, boiling the blood in your veins as you consult the map again in vain.

Perhaps it was with this in mind that Eric Turner walked with me to the Sports Palace yesterday to take a look around before his turn to play came today. "I saw you had a map and thought 'I'll follow him'" he'd said, and fallen in alongside.

I was sure I could take a minute off an earlier journey time, a trip that had taken us underground, over ground and through what seemed like someone's backyard, before crossing a deadly three lane highway to the safety of the Sports Palace car park.

Here with his father, Turner, a pro player for four years from Dallas, Texas, had already suffered a nightmare journey to the Ukraine that included a 24-hour layover in Chicago before the final trans-Atlantic stretch and short hop to Kyiv. Now, to complete that journey from PokerStars satellite to Kyiv Sports Palace, he was walking there the long way and graciously saying nothing as he watched someone who had promised him safe passage struggle with a map.

But while Turner's journey here may have been tough his qualification on PokerStars was a good one, winning his seat with nothing more than a few Frequent Player Points. Turner has World Series experience in the bank but this is just his second EPT following Prague two seasons ago. My guess is the journey has something to do with it. "I play six-max cash games mainly, hold'em. But I like jumping in on those EPT satellites" he said grinning.

His reward today for getting this far is a seat at table three opposite current World Series runner-up Ivan Demidov. We'll keep tabs on him as the day progresses.

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PENALTY OF THE LEVEL

Costa Michalakis just received a one round penalty for exposing his hand out of turn. Michalakis exposed his pocket kings thinking his two opponents had folded. Instead he had to play the rest of the hand with them exposed. His opponents called for the flop... [kd][10c][9h]. That got a laugh. Any competition in the hand capitulated then. "Time for a smoke" said Michalakis.

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CHIP LEADER OF THE LEVEL

Alexander Grischuk, a chess grand master, from Russia with 63,000.

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POKERSTARS BLOG FEATURE SEAT UPDATE OF THE LEVEL

Today's first occupant of the feature seat (table two, seat seven) is Michele Limongi from Italy.

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HAND OF THE LEVEL

Leo Fernandez and Vateris Koka got to a flop, raised, re-raised and called, costing 750 each. The flop was [2c][9h][2d] and Koka checked and Fernandez bet 1,000. Call. The turn was [3h], check, bet 2,100, call. The river was the [6s], check, bet 5,000, call. Fernandez tapped the table, said: "Good call," and showed [ac][kd]. Koka tabled [10h][10s] which was good.

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QUOTE OF THE LEVEL

Following the hand above, Fernandez said: "I thought you had jacks." Another player at the table said: "I thought you had jacks too." Then another one: "I put you on jacks." And maybe a fourth: "I thought you had jacks." At this point another player meekly admitted: "I thought you had ace queen."

CLICK HERE FOR CHIP COUNTS

Live updates from day 1B, level 2 of EPT Kyiv Sports Poker Championship brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking right here. Blinds 75-150.

2.05pm: Zguba on home turf
New Team PokerStars Ukraine player Vlad Zguba had a tricky start to the day, losing a third of his 30,000 starting stack in the early levels.

He didn't want that to dive further, which explains his not getting over excited with his [kc][kh].

In the hand against France's Tristan Clemencon, who final tabled at EPT Deauville earlier this year, the pair of them saw a [2h][6h][9c] flop. Zguba bet out 400 with his kings, Clemencen called. The turn was [10s], and now Zguba check-called the Frenchman's 950 bet. Both players checked the [5s] river, and Clemencon quickly discovered his [6s][7s] was no match for the Ukranian's kings.

That hand put Zguba back up to around 23,000.

Vlad Zguba

1.50pm: Russian bluff
Andrew Feldman was in the cut-off and had seemingly called a raise from the player on his right before the flop came [7s][5s][ks]. He bet 850 when checked to him only to face a raise up to 3,000. He made the call and then faced a 5,200 bet after the [4d] came on the turn. After a tank of three to four minutes he laid it down and asked his opponent if he was bluffing. No answer came but the player to Feldman's left said: "It was a Russian bluff."

"He's American," responded Feldman.

"He's an American who made a Russian bluff!" added Alexander Kostritsyn to mild chuckles from those seated at that end of the table.

Feldman still around his starting stack so could afford not to gamble in that spot.

1.40pm: Kabbaj trusts the ladies
John Kabbaj, the seasoned campaigner from the UK, made a great call on the river to pick up a nice pot at the start of level 2.

On a tricky looking board of [kd][kh][3d][8c][4c] he faced a nearly pot-sized bet of 6,100 from his opponent. A couple of minutes in the tank, however, convinced him he was still ahead - and his instincts were correct, his [qc][qs] was in front of [ac][jc].

Kabbaj moves up to 38,000.

Level 3 updates can be found here.

As documented yesterday, Kyiv is the furthest flung destination we have visited on the European Poker Tour to date. Not if, like, you live in Ukraine, but, well, you know what I mean. One of the great things about the EPT, however, is that it remains a magnet for poker's top stars; a title is one of the most sought after in the game and you can't stop a poker player travelling in their attempts to enter the role call of winners.

So it is that in Kyiv today, the field has taken on a familiar EPT complexion. There is the usual raft of PokerStars qualifiers, there is a large and vocal contingent of local players and yes, there are the superstars. Here's a brief introduction to some of the players in the field today:

Dario Minieri, Italy, Team PokerStars Pro

After a relatively lean World Series for the pocket dynamo this year, Dario Minieri has returned to the happy stomping ground of the EPT. Still considered to be one of poker's new crop of talent, he already has a veteran's list of honours: he has made three final tables on the EPT, among five cashes, and continues to thrash through the online games. He has a World Series bracelet from 2008 and made the final table of the first WPT event to be held in Italy in May.

Ivan Demidov, Russia, Team PokerStars Pro

If Ivan Demidov never played another poker tournament after the summer of 2008, he'd still go down as one of the best the game has seen. That was the year in which he battled through to the final table of the World Series Main Event, then used the break before the November Nine showdown to make the final table of the World Series Europe. He would go on to take third in London and second in Vegas, good for about $6m.

Katja Thater, Germany, Team PokerStars Pro
Like her Team PokerStars Pro teammate Minieri, Katja Thater also has a World Series bracelet and a string of exceptional results in major tournaments across the world. She made an EPT final table in Warsaw on season four, has made two World Series final tables (including the one she won) and is in confident mood coming into this new season.

Shaun Deeb, USA, PokerStars passport winner
Shaun Deeb, known online as, waitforit, "shaundeeb" is the best online tournament player in the world. He won the PokerStars tournament leaderboard two years running and currently sits atop the online tournament rankings. He also won the WCOOP Main Event and has now been furnished with a PokerStars passport, which allows him to translate his online form to the live environment. We, along with plenty of follows on the online message boards, will be following Deeb closely.

Leo Fernandez, Argentina, Team PokerStars Pro
Arguably travelling further than anyone else to be here, the Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez has made the journey half way round the world from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Kyiv, Ukraine. Fernandez was a star on the Latin America Poker Tour and has three World Series cashes. He marked his EPT debut with a cash at the PCA in January.

Vlad Zguba, Ukraine, Team PokerStars Pro
He's as new to us as he will be to many of you, but the new Team PokerStars Ukraine Pro comes highly recommended. This is his home EPT and big things are expected.

Vitaly Lunkin, Russia
If proof was necessary of the exceptional boom in poker in the CIS, Vitaly Lunkin would be the man to point to. On the back of Demidov's dominant World Series of 2008, the 2009 renewal belonged to Lunkin. He won the $40,000 anniversary hold 'em tournament for close to $2m and then came fourth in the $50,000 HORSE event, jousting with and bettering the best and richest players in the world.

Alexander Kostritsyn, Russia
Another phenomenally talented young Russian player, with results to prove it. By the time Kostritsyn was cashing six times in the 2008 World Series, he was already the Aussie Millions champion, good for nearly $1.5m. He then won the HORSE event in 2009 in Melbourne and followed up with another couple of cashes this summer in Vegas.

John Kabbaj, UK
Another bracelet winner at this year's World Series, John Kabbaj has been at the top of the British game for several years, so much so that victory in the $10,000 pot-limit hold 'em event in Vegas was widely considered to be long overdue.

Among others we'll be following closely are:

Andrea Benelli, Italy
Liya Gerasimova, Russia
Darren Mould, UK, PokerStars qualifier
Stuart Rutter, UK
Dragan Galic, Croatia
Nicolas Levi, France
Tristan Clemencon, France
David Sonelin, Sweden
Christoph Halle, Germany
Pier Paolo Fabretti, Italy

Don't forget you can't follow the action level-by-level on the level-by-level post(s). And somewhere on this page there's a link to the fastest, most accurate chip counts in town. See if you can find it.

CLICK HERE FOR CHIP COUNTS

Live updates from day 1B, level 1 of EPT Kyiv Sports Poker Championship brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking right here. Blinds 50-100.

1.18pm: Hero call from online sensation
We heard Shaun Deeb had doubled up to over 60,000 so we got him to fill us in on some on the details. There was an early position raise to 250 that got two callers before Deeb three-bet to 1,225 from the button. Two out of the three players who had put 250 in called before the flop came T-9-2. It was checked to Deeb who continued his aggression with a 2,125 bet which was enough to get rid of one player before the other put in a raise to 6,625. Deeb called as he did when faced with a 8,000 bet on the 9 turn and with just 14,000 behind Deeb called a 13,000 bet on the A river. It turned out to be a great call as his opponent had pocket fives to his pocket Jacks.

1.10pm: All-in Minieri survives on the river
Dario Minieri was all-in for his tournament life... still in level one here in Kyiv. The board showed [10d][3d][4d][6c], and he faced a 3,500 bet from PokerStars qualifier Lennart Vahemets one seat to his left.

"I am all in," said the Italian, pushing his remaining 18,000 into the middle. That sent Vahemets, from Estonia, into the tank, but after a couple of minutes of agonised dwelling, he announced: "I call."

"You call?" asked Minieri, somewhat surprised. "Yes." On their backs:

Minieri: [ac][qd] for the overpair and flush draw.
Vahemets: [jc][jh] for the made top pair.

An ace, queen or diamond would be enough for Minieri, and the [qh] duly fell on the river to send the pot his way. He moves up to 38,000, leaving Yemehet nursing a still reasonable 21,000.

1.00pm: No slaying this Dragan just yet
EPT5 Prague final tablist Francesco Cirianni limped in from the button to see the small blind complete and Dragan Galic check his option from the big blind. The flop came [jc][th][kd] before Galic check called Ciranni's 150 bet but the small blind player moved out of their way. The [qc] turn was checked through before Galic led out for 550 on the [5h] river. Ciprianni called but mucked upon seeing Galic's [ad][5h] for the nut straight.

12.50pm: Second Pair Second Best
The flop was out reading [qs][7c][8h] and PokerStars qualifier Stuart Rutter bet 350 in the pot and was called by an opponent out of the blinds. They both checked the [5c] turn before Rutter bet 500 on the [5s] river after his opponent checked to him. The call was made with [ks][qh] and it was good for the pot as Rutter could only muster [ah][8d].

12.35pm: Early leader!
We already have one elimination. Details of the vanquished and the victor to follow, but it appears a set-over-set situation has sent one packing his bags, and the other stacking a substantial chip lead with more than 60,000.

12.20pm: Dario does what Dario does
After just a few minutes of play, we have already seen evidence of Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri's aggression. You'll know by now that the diminutive Italian raises for fun, and does so more often than not.

Sure enough, as we passed by just now, he already has a tall stack of black (100) and green (25) chips - evidence of his winning lots of small pots in the early skirmishes.

Dario Minieri

Also on Minieri's table is UK PokerStars qualifier Darren Mould. He's keeping things ticking along in the early stages. Raising to 300 from under the gun with A-K he got one call, and checked down the board which showed a pair of twos and a pair of jacks.

No point in playing super aggressive at this stage - unless your name is Dario, of course.

A crowd of expectant players buzzing around the doors with the friends they bring with them in tow; dealers seated, armed and ready to shuffle; chips poised to act as great armies on the baize battle field; thirty degree heat and slight dehydration. The uninitiated might not recognise them but those are the hallmarks of a great day of EPT poker. Welcome back to day 1b of the EPT Kyiv.

Yesterday the season six stage was set by ranks of Technicolor dancers trained to hot step and spin their way across a stage, with traditional music turned up to 11, and awe-strike a crowd. Four drummers with symbols up the walls did the same, skilled in finding a direct route into your head and burning their noise into your day 1a memory.

Sadly, there won't be that same Hopak and high-hat extravaganza today; instead the table action alone will have to suffice. But scanning today's player list only a hard hearted sceptic would predict anything other than top draw action -a bigger field peppered with well known faces which we'll introduce as the day goes on.

so as the mercury rises and top buttons everywhere are undone it's time to kick back for another day on the tour as Tournament Director Thomas Kremser readies the mike for introductions. Season six may have officially begun yesterday, but there's no harm in trying again today.

Only the order to shuffle up and deal stands between them and the start of another EPT season and that's minutes away...