The penultimate Main Event of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour before the rebranding to the PokerStars Championships, gathered a field of 134 entrants at the Casino Portomaso. After eight levels of 75 minutes each, only 61 of them bagged up chips and Dan Shak snatched the lead in the very last hand with 185,100 to edge out Pasi Sormunen's 183,500. Here's the top 5 after Day 1a:
| Position | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Shak | United States | 185,100 |
| 2 | Pasi Sormunen | Finland | 183,600 |
| 3 | Alex Brand | Netherlands | 163,300 |
| 4 | Frederik Jensen | Denmark | 147,800 |
| 5 | Ole Schemion | Germany | 147,500 |
The first of two starting days came with an insane rush for Ireland's Mahmood Rasheed who shot to the top of the leader board with full house over full house and quads, only to see Martin Kozlov double through him with quads.