PokerStars.com EPT Prague €10,000 High Roller Day 1: Karakousis Leads as Field Shatters Expectations
It was a big day in the Czech Republic on Monday as the Season 10 European Poker Tour continued with Day 4 of the Main Event and the start of the €10,000 High Roller. The former played down to the final 22 players, while the latter attracted a solid mix of well-known pros and hopeful amateurs.
In Season 9, the €10,000 High Roller, which featured a single reentry, attracted 108 unique players and five reentries. It was such a big turnout that an impromptu third day had to be added to the schedule. EPT officials adapted for Season 10 by making it a three-day event, but even so the numbers — 135 unique entries and 34 reentries — surpassed their wildest expectations. Even better is the fact that those numbers are likely to go up considering late registration and reentry are open until the start of Day 2.
After 10 one-hour levels of play, EPT10 London Main Event runner-up Georgios Karakousis finished the night as chip leader of the advancing 84 players with 407,200. Others who did well were Dmitri Yurasov (362,000), Jonathan Little (241,000), and members of Team PokerStars Vanessa Selbst (236,000) and Isaac Haxton (207,900).
Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgios Karakousis | 407,200 |
| 2 | Dmitri Yurasov | 332,600 |
| 3 | Max Heinzelmann | 268,300 |
| 4 | Nadar Kakhmazov | 253,200 |
| 5 | Jonathan Little | 241,000 |
| 6 | Julian Thomas | 236,600 |
| 7 | Vanessa Selbst | 236,000 |
| 8 | Isaac Haxton | 207,900 |
| 9 | Dan Shak | 205,800 |
| 10 | Simon Higgins | 199,000 |
Day 1 was characterized by eliminations, and, in many cases, subsequent reentries. The first elimination came in the first level when Doron Davidovitz and Bernard Guigon got involved in a big hand. When we picked up the action, Davidovitz had made it 5,500 and Guigon moved all in for right around the starting stack of 50,000. Davidovitz tanked for a couple minutes before calling with the K♥K♦, and he found out his hesitancy was well founded as Guigon tabled the A♠A♦. The board ran out 2♦J♥7♣2♠Q♦, and Davidovitz was the first player eliminated.
Davidovitz was among those to fire two bullets, but only to bust a second time. Others included Hot Besim, Simon Ravnsbaek, Benny Spindler, Nicholas Petrangelo, Salman Behbehani, Johannes Strassmann, Theo Jorgensen, Aku Joentausta, and Leon Tsoukernik.
Another man who had to fire two bullets was Mike McDonald, as he had a rough go of it in Level 8 (500/1,000/100). First, he got his kings cracked by the pocket jacks of David Vamplew in a monster pot, and then he was moved to a new table. He proceeded to move his short stack of 12,600 all in from the cutoff seat and Jesse Yaginuma called with the 9♣9♠. McDonald turned over his 10♦8♦ and was in need of some help. The K♦2♣4♠5♦4♥ board didn't do it, and the man known as "Timex" was left to reenter, which he promptly did and finished the night with 89,700.
Others who will be returning on Day 2 are Dan Shak (205,800), Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov (159,000), Martin Finger (144,500), Bryn Kenney (143,000), Steve O’Dwyer (141,400), Adrian Mateos (128,800), and Olivier Busquet (101,400), just to name a few.
Day 2 will begin at 12 p.m. local time on Tuesday, which is the same time the Main Event will start its journey to the final table. Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to bring you updates from both.
Until then, check out some of the fun services being offered by the EPT Concierge in Prague:
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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
