Aubin Cazals began the day on the short stack, so it was no surprise to see him become the day's first casualty.
It happened when action folded around to the Frenchman in the cutoff and he moved all in for right around 240,000. The button got out of the way, and then Finland's Juha Helppi moved all in over the top from the small blind. Jason Mercier folded the big and the cards were turned up:
Showdown
Helppi:
Cazals:
Helppi's kicker has him as a heavy favorite; in fact, the PokerNews Odd Calculator had him as a 71.54% favorite; meanwhile, Cazals had just a 22.74% chance of surviving the hand.
That actually dropped to a measly 4.84% on the flop, and hit zero on the turn. Cazals began to rise even before the hit the turn on the river, and he exited in ninth place. With that, we've reached the official final table of eight.
The action folded to Juha Helppi, who opened to 48,000 on the button. Jason Mercier tanked for a bit then three-bet to 94,000 from the small blind. After the big blind released, Helppi quickly moved all in.
Mercier asked for a count - it was a 483,000-chip bet - and after mulling it over for a bit, he called.
Helppi:
Mercier:
The flop gave Mercier a leading pair of nines, but Helppi still had outs to catch up. The on the turn was a brick, but the fell on the river, giving Helppi a pair of jacks and the win.
He doubled to over one million chips, while Mercier is back under 500,000.
[user101598]
Jason Mercier (Day 2) is back in the game
The action folded to Jason Mercier, who opened to 48,000 on the button. Sorel Mizzi pushed out 500,000 from the big blind, and Mercier called, turning over .
Mizzi tabled .
The dealer was confused because Mercier called so quietly, and wanted to confirm that there was indeed an all in and a call.
"Yes," Mercier said. "Especially now that I've seen that."
The board ran out , and Mercier successfully doubled.
Two days ago, the €10,000 High Roller at the Season 9 European Poker Tour Prague is attracted a field of 113 players. That turnout exceeded even the wildest expectations, and that’s resulted in the tournament running longer than planned. For that reason, Day 3 has been added to the schedule to determine a winner.
Just nine players remain in contention for the €365,300 first-place prize including chip leader Sorel Mizzi, who has 1.192 million; France’s Philippe Ktorza, the only other man over a million in chips; back-to-back World Poker Tour champion Marvin Rettenmaier; and Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier.
Mercier suffered a brutal beat late last night when Rettenmaier opened for 40,000 from the cutoff and Mercier three-bet to 113,000 from the small blind. Action was then on Ktorza in the big blind and he paused for a moment before announcing that he was all in for 522,000. Rettenmaier got out of the way and Mercier snap-called.
Showdown
Ktorza:
Mercier:
Mercier held rockets and was a huge favorite over Ktorza, who was up on his feet. The flop gave Ktorza a pair of kings, but he'd need another to stay alive. Wouldn't you know it, the dealer burned and turned the . Ktorza briefly celebrated while Mercier was clearly disgusted and frustrated. The was put out on the river, and the long-time chip leader was suddenly on a short stack. Luckily for him, Mercier doubled the very next hand to put himself back in contention with 444,000.
Here’s a look at the final nine and how they stack up:
Seat
Player
Chips
1
Andrey Gulyy
229,000
2
Fabian Quoss
781,000
3
Marcin Wydrowski
420,000
4
Aubin Cazals
225,000
5
Marvin Rettenmaier
738,000
6
Juha Helppi
546,000
7
Jason Mercier
444,000
8
Philippe Ktorza
1,094,000
9
Sorel Mizzi
1,192,000
Play will resume at 12:00 CEST, which is less than an hour from now. Join us then as we will crown a winner in the EPT9 Prague €10,000 High Roller!
flop, and hit zero on the 
turn. Cazals began to rise even before the 
hit the turn on the river, and he exited in ninth place. With that, we've reached the official final table of eight.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop gave Mercier a leading pair of nines, but Helppi still had outs to catch up. The 
.
flop gave Ktorza a pair of kings, but he'd need another to stay alive. Wouldn't you know it, the dealer burned and turned the 
was put out on the river, and the long-time chip leader was suddenly on a short stack. Luckily for him, Mercier doubled the very next hand to put himself back in contention with 444,000.