Main Event
Day 1b Started
2012 PokerStars.net EPT Prague
Main Event
Day: 1b
Welcome to Day 1b of the 2012 PokerStars.net European Poker Tour Prague!
Season 9 of the 2012 PokerStars.net European Poker Tour continued yesterday with Day 1a action from the Prague €5,300 buy-in Main Event, which attracted 336 players. Today, a whole new set of players will pack the Hilton for Day 1b action, and expectations are high that last year’s record field of 722 entrants will be surpassed.
The EPT Prague has proven to be one of the most popular stops since its introduction to the schedule back in Season 4, which is when Arnaud Mattern defeated a field of 555 players to capture the title and €708,400 first-place prize. Mattern, along with EPT6 Prague winner Jan Skampa and the defending champ Martin Finger, were all in action on Day 1a, but only Finger would keep his tournament hopes alive.
Some other notables who were among the 180 players to advance yesterday were Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Richard Toth, Eugene Katchalov, Juha Helppi, Fabrice Soulier, Todd Terry, Eoghan O’Dea, and chip leader Iosif Beskrovnyy, who bagged 239,000 chips.
Who will join this impressive list of players in pursuit of an EPT title? Will a record-setting field create the largest prize pool in EPT Prague history? What time will Jason Mercier make it to the tournament floor after staying up all night playing open-face Chinese poker?
Finally quit. Gonna go to bed and try to wake up for ept Prague day 1b. Anyone know if they still don't blind off stacks?December 09 2012Follow
We’re expecting a massive turnout for Day 1b of the EPT9 Prague Main Event, which will include a laundry list of pros such as Johnny Lodden, Marc-Andre Ladouceur, Davidi Kitai, Ludovic Lacay, Andrew Chen, Bryn Kenney, Matt Waxman, David Vamplew, Grayson Ramage, Philipp Gruissem, Faraz Jaka, Ana Marquez and Ville Wahlbeck, just to name a few.
EPT Prague Champions
| Season | Entrants | Prizepool (EUR) | Winner | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 555 | €2,530,240 | Arnaud Mattern | €708,400 |
| 5 | 570 | €2,764,500 | Salvatore Bonavena | €774,000 |
| 6 | 586 | €2,842,100 | Jan Skampa | €682,000 |
| 7 | 563 | €2,730,550 | Roberto Romanello | €640,000 |
| 8 | 722 | €3,501,700 | Martin Finger | €720,000 |
Join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team at 12:00 CEST, which is just over an hour from now, for continuing coverage of EPT Prague.
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Cards Are in the Air
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
The lights were dimmed and the players given their instructions for the day after a short video was played. Shuffle up and deal!
Friendly Faces
We've already spotted a few friendly faces in the field today. Two of them, Shannon Shorr and Dan Kelly, are seated at the same table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 |
More Heroes
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 |
"Well That's A Nice Start"
It didn't take long for a considerable pot to develop here on Day 1b. Just minutes into play, we caught a hand on the river with around 15,000 already in the pot and a board reading 
.
Russia's Mikhail Shevchuk had checked from the small blind, and Lardo Leheste, who qualified for this event via a live satellite, had a big bet of 8,500 out in front of him. France's Jonathan Khalifa was considering the action from the button, but ultimately opted to fold. As soon as he did, Shevchuk called but mucked when Leheste tables 
for a flush.
"Well that's a nice start," Leheste said with a big smile as he stacked his chips. "Thank you, dealer."
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
50,000 |
River Games
Sorel Mizzi has James Keys for company today. The latter called a river bet from the former when a ten hit. Both had a ten in their hand but Key's ace kicker bettered Mizzi's king.
Toby Lewis' table isn't full up yet. Matt Wood is there though and rivered a flush with 
to scoop a pot off Akin Tuna. The man's gone fishing already.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
32,000 | |
|
31,500 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
|
28,000 | -2,000 |
Bonavena Looking For Another EPT Prague Title
Four years ago, a then little-known Italian by the name of Salvatore Bonavena made his presence known to the poker world when he topped a field of 569 players to win the second EPT Prague for €774,000.
Yesterday, Stephen Bartley took a look at Bonavena's career since his win in an interesting PokerStars Blog piece. Here's snippet of what he had to say:
It proved a breakthrough for Bonavena, who swapped modest scores in local tournaments in places like Sanremo and Venice, for the international stage. But more than that, as the first Italian to win a EPT title, it proved a watershed for Italian poker which embraced the game, and its winner, with typical aplomb.
Four years on and Bonavena is still a regular on the tour. Playing tomorrow, he was spotted earlier taking in the scene of his past triumph, to which he has since added the Sisal Italian Champions of Poker and IPT Venice to his resume, not to mention a third place in a WSOPE hold'em event earlier this year.
Bonavena is in today's field, as is Andrew Chen, who placed third back in Season 5.
EPT Prague Season 5 Final Table
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool | Number of Payouts | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €5,000 | 569 | €2,764,500 | 56 | December 9-13, 2008 |
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Salvatore Bonavena | Italy | €774,000 |
| 2nd | Massimo Di Cicco | Italy | €445,000 |
| 3rd | Andrew Chen | Canada | €257,000 |
| 4th | Alexiou Konstantinos | Greece | €199,000 |
| 5th | Francesco Cirianni | Italy | €166,000 |
| 6th | Fredrik Nygard | Finland | €130,000 |
| 7th | [Removed:197] | Germany | €99,500 |
| 8th | Raul Mestre | Spain | €71,800 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 |
You Win Some, You Lose Some
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
British pro Mathew Frankland has just taken his seat here in the EPT Prague Main Event after a long night of grinding online tournaments. Here's a tip, don't ask him about the PCA satellite he played in!
Although he has just took his seat, he has wasted little time in getting down to business and has been involved in two hands already. The first saw him open to 250 from the hijack, a raise that was called by Tonino Montesanti. The pair shared a 
flop, Frankland bet 325 and was instantly called. The turn was the 
and both players checked, which is what happened when the 
landed on the turn.
Frankland mucked when he saw the 
of Montesanti.
Shortly after, Sergey Borisenko open-limped from under the gun and then called when Frankland raised to 350. Borisenko then checked to Frankland on a 
flop, then folded when Frankland continued with a 625 bet.