2023 PokerStars EPT Prague

€25,000 NL Hold'em I
Day: 1
Event Info

2023 PokerStars EPT Prague

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
53
Prize
€180,150
Event Info
Buy-in
€25,000
Prize Pool
€360,150
Entries
15
Level Info
Level
17
Blinds
10,000 / 20,000
Ante
20,000
Players Info - Day 1
Entries
15
Players Left
1

€25,000 NL Hold'em I

Day 1 Completed

Teun Mulder Closes in on Top Spot of the Netherlands All-Time Money List

Level 17 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Teun Mulder
Teun Mulder

It's been quite the 24-months for Teun Mulder, and the Dutch star has added to his burgeoning legacy after securing another win on the PokerStars European Poker Tour.

His latest triumph has come at EPT's final stop of the year in Prague, a destination he's tasted success in before. This time around, he topped the 15-entry field in the festival's first €25,000 NL Hold'em event.

He defeated Lithuana's Paulius Plausinaitis in heads-up play, while online crusher Niklas Astedt rounded out the top three places. The trio were the only players to make the money and shared slices of the €360,150 prize pool.

With the €180,150 ($194,209) prize added to Mulder's extensive list of cashes, he finds himself within an inch of the Netherlands All-Time Money List leader Jorryt van Hoof, with less than $5,000 separating them.

Van Hoof currently sits at the top with $5,967,814 in recorded tournament earnings, while Mulder's tally now stands at $5,963,589 (includes $1.236M online win). It's also worth noting that Mulder has an additional seven-figure score in the online sphere, so there's a case that he should already be No.1.

What's impressive about Mulder's rise up the ranks is that a majority of his winnings have come over the last two years. On the live felt, 2022 saw him rack up $2,456,753 in prize money, and he's added a further $1,724,985 so far this year. With several events still to play out in the Czech capital, it seems a sure bet that Mulder will become the most successful poker player from his country of birth.

2023 PokerStars EPT Prague Payouts

RankPlayerCountryPrize
1Teun MulderNetherlands€180,150
2Paulius PlausinaitisLithuania€108,000
3Niklas AstedtSweden€72,000

Tamas Adamszki Wins €10,200 NL Hold'em at 2023 EPT Prague (€117,150)

Action of the Day

Six players registered for the start, with the three cashers along with Tsugunari Toma, Dimitar Danchev and Ognyan Dimov kicking off proceedings.

After the first two levels, Kayhan Mokri, who has been on a meteoric rise to poker's highest stakes, hopped into the action. Yesterday's €10,200 NLH Hold'em winner Tamas Adamszki also took a shot for another chance at EPT glory to see the entry count rise to eight.

At the first break, Toma had the chip lead, and the field then split onto tables after the arrivals of Robbie Toan and fan favorite Ole Schemion.

Masato Kashiwabara
Masato Kashiwabara

When play resumed, Danchev became the first casualty of the day after his big slick fell to Toma's ace-three. His seat was then taken by Japanese player Masato Kashiwabara.

Toan then got in on the action and scored an early knockout after his pocket tens remained best against Dimov's suited ace-eight, which ended Bulgaria's representation in the tournament.

Kashiwabara's brief cameo was ended by Plausinaitis just before Bruno Volkmann got into the mix. However, his fate was similar to Kashiwabara and the Brazilian was eliminated 15-minutes after he sat down. Toma scored his second KO of the session as Volkmann, who also had ace-eight suited, couldn't get there against the former's sailboats.

Toma then made it hat trick bustouts after seeing off Toan. Coincidentally, Toma had the ace-eight this time, and he showed his opponents how to properly play it, as Toan was drawing dead on the turn.

Mulder's first major pot came at the expense of the chip leader, as the eventual winner doubled up with a set of eights to climb up the counts.

Schemion departed next as the final table formed and Adamszki soon followed him to the exit after Mokri set the trap with slow-played aces.

Tsugunari Toma
Tsugunari Toma

Steve O'Dwyer, Laszlo Bujtas and a returning Adamszki were the only players who bought in prior to late registration closing.

Toma claimed another scalp as he rivered Bujtas with ace-king, and Adamszki's hopes of back-to-back wins were dashed by Mulder. Take a guess at what Adamszki's last hand was. That's right, it was ace-eight.

What followed next was nothing short of extraordinary. A plethora of all-ins and calls took place, yielding zero eliminations. Toma booked a series of doubles and had more lives than a cat after finding himself in the lower end of the counts. O'Dwyer also found himself on the right side of lady luck for a brief period and amazingly spun up his last 2,000 all the way back up to the 100,000 starting stack.

Mokri and Astedt both commented that they had never seen anything like it, which added to the good nature of the table. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the finish line appeared to be miles away as stacks peaked and troughed.

However, someone had to give, and Mokri was the sixth-place finisher. Mulder flopped the nut straight against Mokri's queen-ten, which failed to fill up on the turn or river. Mulder won a flip and stacked O'Dwyer shortly after to bring around the money bubble.

Paulius Plausinaitis
Paulius Plausinaitis

Despite quadrupling up moments before, Toma was confirmed as the bubble boy and was the last player to leave empty-handed.

Three quickly became one as Mulder took out Astedt following an all-in preflop encounter. The Dutchman took a 3:1 chip lead going into heads-up, which he never relinquished. Mulder sealed the victory with two pair against Plausinaitis after the chips went in on the turn.

This marks the end of PokerNews' coverage of the event but be sure to return tomorrow as more high-roller action is scheduled.

Tags: Bruno VolkmannDimitar DanchevKayhan MokriLaszlo BujtasMasato KashiwabaraNiklas AstedtOgnyan DimovOle SchemionPaulius PlausinaitisRobbie ToanSteve O'DwyerTamas AdamszkiTeun MulderTsugunari Toma

Paulius Plausinaitis Eliminated in 2nd Place (€108,000)

Level 17 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Paulius Plausinaitis
Paulius Plausinaitis

Teun Mulder limped the button and Paulius Plausinaitis checked his option.

Both players checked the 985 flop before Plausinaitis led out for 60,000 on the 3 turn. Mulder then moved all in and Plausinaitis quickly called for 320,000.

Plausinaitis showed 109 for top pair, but Mulder had 53 for two pair. The river was the A and Plausinaitis couldn't catch up, forcing him to settle for a runner-up finish as Mulder clinched the title.

After the hand, Plausinaitis asked Mulder what he had in the three-handed pot where he shoved the river. Mulder admitted he had king-ten for the straight and Plausinaitis said he folded a set of queens.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Teun Mulder nl
Teun Mulder
1,500,000
400,000
400,000
Profile photo of Paulius Plausinaitis lt
Paulius Plausinaitis
Busted

Tags: Paulius PlausinaitisTeun Mulder

Mulder Gets River Value

Level 17 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

In a limped pot to the 1098 flop, Teun Mulder checked from the big blind and Paulius Plausinaitis did the same from the button. The 4 turn checked through to the 3 river. Mulder bet 25,000 and was called.

Mulder had a pair of fours with his Q4 and his opponent mucked their cards.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Teun Mulder nl
Teun Mulder
1,100,000
150,000
150,000
Profile photo of Paulius Plausinaitis lt
Paulius Plausinaitis
400,000
-150,000
-150,000

Level: 17

Blinds: 10,000/20,000

Ante: 20,000

Plausinaitis Shoves on Mulder

Level 16 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Paulius Plausinaitis limped in from the button, then called when Teun Mulder raised to 60,000.

The flop came 397 and Mulder checked to Plausinaitis, who bet 40,000. Mulder called and the 7 fell on the turn.

Mulder led out for 80,000 and Plausinaitis called. The river was the 5 and Mulder again checked.

Plausinaitis then moved all in for 183,000 and Mulder gave it some thought before folding.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Teun Mulder nl
Teun Mulder
950,000
-150,000
-150,000
Profile photo of Paulius Plausinaitis lt
Paulius Plausinaitis
550,000
150,000
150,000

Tags: Paulius PlausinaitisTeun Mulder

Niklas Astedt Eliminated in 3rd Place (€72,000)

Level 16 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Niklas Åstedt
Niklas Åstedt

Teun Mulder raised to 135,000 from the small blind and Niklas Astedt called from the big blind, which left him with 7,000 behind.

The rest of the chips went in on the Q32 flop.

Niklas Astedt: K4
Teun Mulder: AJ

The Q turn was of no help to Astedt and the A river confirmed Mulder as the winner.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Teun Mulder nl
Teun Mulder
1,100,000
100,000
100,000
Profile photo of Paulius Plausinaitis lt
Paulius Plausinaitis
400,000
20,000
20,000
Profile photo of Niklas Astedt se
Niklas Astedt
Busted

Tags: Niklas AstedtTeun Mulder

Three Hands, Three Shoves

Level 16 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Niklas Astedt moved all in for 122,000 on the button and found no callers as he took down the pot.

Paulius Plausinaitis then moved all in for 350,000 and again both blinds got out of the way.

The next hand, Astedt limped the small blind, Plausinaitis shoved from the big blind, and Astedt folded.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Teun Mulder nl
Teun Mulder
1,000,000
37,000
37,000
Profile photo of Paulius Plausinaitis lt
Paulius Plausinaitis
380,000
-20,000
-20,000
Profile photo of Niklas Astedt se
Niklas Astedt
120,000
-17,000
-17,000

Tags: Paulius PlausinaitisNiklas Astedt

Astedt Put to the Test

Level 16 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Paulius Plausinaitis opened to 30,000 and Niklas Astedt defended his big blind.

Astedt check-called for 30,000 on the 873 flop before the 9 turn checked through to the 7 river. Astedt, with 137,000 behind, checked and his opponent announced all-in.

Astedt used one of eight time banks before releasing his hand.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Teun Mulder nl
Teun Mulder
963,000
13,000
13,000
Profile photo of Paulius Plausinaitis lt
Paulius Plausinaitis
400,000
50,000
50,000
Profile photo of Niklas Astedt se
Niklas Astedt
137,000
-93,000
-93,000

Tags: Niklas AstedtPaulius Plausinaitis

Mulder Shoves on Plausinaitis in Massive Pot

Level 16 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Paulius Plausinaitis raised to 30,000 on the button and Teun Mulder called in the big blind.

The flop came Q6J and Plausinaitis bet 20,000. Mulder then raised to 75,000 and Plausinaitis called.

Mulder checked the 2 turn and Plausinaitis bet 65,000. Mulder called and the A fell on the river. He checked to Plausinaitis again, who used up a time bank before betting 175,000.

Mulder also used a time bank before announcing he was all in. Plausinaitis snap-folded.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Teun Mulder nl
Teun Mulder
950,000
290,000
290,000
Profile photo of Paulius Plausinaitis lt
Paulius Plausinaitis
350,000
-340,000
-340,000

Tags: Paulius PlausinaitisTeun Mulder