2013 bwin World Poker Tour Prague Day 1b: Duval Leads, Rettenmaier Advances
The bwin World Poker Tour Prague Main Event continued on Monday with Day 1b action, and leading the 43 survivors was Jason Duval. The French-Canadian, a 2013 World Series of Poker bracelet winner, finished the day with 152,300 chips, placing him right behind Day 1a chip leader Vasili Firsau, who bagged 167,700.
Duval eliminated Michael Polchoplek with AxQx against AxJx, and then doubled through Ilan Boujenah to climb the leader board. Duval called bets of 2,500, 4,650, and 20,750 on a board of A♥9♠7♠5♥K♥, tabling 9♥8♥ for a flush on the river. Boujenah was firing away with a lowly pair of tens.
Duval remained atop the counts for the rest of the day, and when the clock read triple zeros, he had the largest stack in the room.
Joining Duval in the top 10 are two-time WSOP bracelet winner Roger Hairabedian, two-time WPT Champions Club member Marvin Rettenmaier, Kevin MacPhee, Will "The Thrill" Failla, and 2013 November Niner Sylvain Loosli.
Day 1c Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Duval | 152,300 |
| 2 | Khazket Nebezhev | 142,300 |
| 3 | Mark Dalimore | 119,900 |
| 4 | Stjepan Jokic | 92,900 |
| 5 | Roger Hairabedian | 92,500 |
| 6 | Marvin Rettenmaier | 89,600 |
| 7 | Kevin MacPhee | 83,800 |
| 8 | Will Failla | 83,400 |
| 9 | Sylvain Loosli | 79,400 |
| 10 | Tobias Peters | 66,200 |
Seventy-three players registered on Day 1b of the bwin WPT Prague Main Event, bringing the total number of players to 113. In order to reach 2012's total of 567 players, Day 1c will need to attract 454 runners.
Frenchman Philippe Ktorza was one of the first players to exit on Day 1b, and he was busted at the hands of Amanda Musumeci. Ktorza was all in and at risk with KxJx on a flop that contained both an Ax and a Kx, and unfortunately for him Musumeci held Ax5x. The pair of aces held up, and Ktorza hit the rail.
Musumeci was unable to survive the day as well. Joining her and Ktorza on the rail were Fabrice Soulier, and Zimnan Ziyard.
Ziyard was done in by Rettenmaier in a three-bet all-in pot. Rettenmaier opened to 1,125 with the blinds at 250/500/75, Ziyard moved all in for 6,475, and Rettenmaier tank-called. It was an unorthodox race with Ziyard's 5♦5♠ slightly ahead of Rettenmaier's A♠6♠, but the German caught up as the board ran out K♥8♦3♦A♦4♣.
Soulier was crippled when Sam Cohen called his shove with 9♥8♥ on a flop of 8♠6♠5♥. The Frenchmen tabled 7x7x for a lesser pair and an open-ended straight draw, but the turn and river were both bricks. Soulier was left with just two big blinds, and was eliminated shortly thereafter.
Failla crossed the six-figure threshold during the penultimate level of the evening when he rivered a ten-high four-flush. After check-calling a bet of 10,000 on a board of 8♣9♣5♠A♣, Hakan Demirciogu check-called another 20,000 after the K♣ completed the board. Failla showed J♠10♣ for said flush, and Demirciogu showed A♦10♠ for just a pair of aces.
Demirciogu said he thought he held the 10♣.
Bwin WPT Prague continued on Tuesday with Day 1c action starting at noon local time. Be sure to check back to PokerNews for a recap of the day's events. To watch the WPT Prague live stream, click here.
Photo and data courtesy of the WPT Blog.
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