Josef Klinger, Austria's Number One, In Strong Contention After Day 1b

The second and final starting day of the World Poker Tour Vienna Main Event was a big success as 136 players entered including lots of big names. After eight levels of play it was Zoltan Szabo who came out on top with 177,800, but more interesting to mention is the fact that Austria’s all-time money list leader Josef Klinger bagged up 166,300 chips.

Klinger has not cashed in a live poker tournament for almost five years, the year in which he finished second in the EPT Grand Final for a million euros. This week Thomas Muehloecker can overtake him as the number one since the gap is just $12,000, but so far Klinger is in a great spot to widen the gap a little bit.

Among the other survivors of Day 1b we found the big stacks of Tibor Nagygygory (131,600), Pascal Hartmann (117,700) and Anders Karlsen (114,100), but also Frederik Jensen (33,300), Artur Koren (88,900) and Erich Kollmann (38,500).

Other that weren’t so lucky included Bruno Lopes, Sofia Lovgren, Dany Parlafes and Josip Simunic. The latter re-entered right away and had a nice run in the final level as he bagged up 50,400 chips.

On Saturday, at 2:00 p.m. local time, the second day starts with 113 remaining players from 206 total entries, all of which will try to play the five 90-minute levels that are scheduled. Play will end around 11:00 p.m. local time so that everyone will have a chance to go to the Player’s Party at Platzhirsch, a stunning nightclub in downtown Vienna.