Lybaert and Calamusa Lead the Way Ahead of EPT Prague Main Event Day 2
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After two starting flights in the PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague €5,300 Main Event, just 391 players are still in contention from a starting field of 1,136 ahead of Day 2 which gets underway at midday on Friday 13th December.
The 391 entries on Day 1a were joined by 745 on Day 1b, and with registration open until the start of Day 2, it remains to be seen just how big the last EPT Main Event of the season can get.
Leading the survivors is Day 1a chip leader Pierre Calamusa who, despite using both bullets, bagged the chip lead on Day 1a. Having already racked up over $1.2M in lifetime winnings, Calamusa will be in the driver's seat to add plenty more when players return.
Joining him at the top of the counts is well-known pro Bart Lybaert from Belgium who bagged the Day 1b chip lead, spinning his 30,000 starting stack all the way up to 333,400. Lybaert has already racked up over $3M in lifetime winnings — including a €1,100 EUREKA win for €115,000 (the predecessor of the EPT National) right here in Prague — and will be looking to add yet another big score to his already impressive poker resumé.
2019 EPT Prague Main Event Chip Leaders After Day 1a & 1b
| Name | Chip Count | Day | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pierre Calamusa | 457,000 | 1a |
| 2 | Bart Lybaert | 333,400 | 1b |
| 3 | Stefan Egermann | 285,600 | 1a |
| 4 | Niklas Lehnert-Rappel | 267,000 | 1b |
| 5 | Alex Kulev | 266,800 | 1b |
| 6 | Jonathan Therme | 256,400 | 1b |
| 7 | Roland Chassing | 248,600 | 1a |
| 8 | Jakub Krawinski | 236,600 | 1b |
| 9 | Krasimir Yankov | 226,000 | 1b |
| 10 | Gab Yong Kim | 220,800 | 1b |
Notable Players Still in EPT Prague Main Event
As well as the big stacks, several well-known players made it through the two starting flights including High Roller regular and former EPT champion Steve O'Dwyer (206,400), Sylvain Loosli (166,000), former EPT champion Sebastian Malec (154,600), Andrea Dato (121,800), Adrian Mateos (104,100), Sergio Aido (88,000), Jan Bendik (84,900), Danny Tang (78,300), Stephen Chidwick (78,100), Gaelle Baumann (46,000), William Kassouf (34,500), and Ole Schemion (31,300).
Both the WSOP Main Event champion Hossein Ensan and runner-up Dario Sammartino are still in heading into Day 2, but this time it is the Italian with the bragging rights, bagging 168,000 compared to Ensan's 94,800.
Sow Last Remaining PokerStars Ambassador
Just one PokerStars Ambassador remains, with Kalidou Sow surviving with 79,000 on Day 1a as fellow Ambassadors Fatima Moreira De Melo and Ramon Colillas along with Conor Beresford, Henri Buhler, Walter Treccarichi, Jason Wheeler, Morten Mortensen, Jasper Meijer van Putten, Parker Talbot, Kahle Burns, Julien Martini, and defending champion Paul Michaelis all failing to make it through.
Day 2 resumes at the start of Level 11 and the levels increase to 90 minutes in length. The plan for Day 2 is to play five 90-minute levels. The tournament schedule says there will be a 20-minute break after each level, and a 30-minute break after Level 14.
The tournament will bag up ahead of Day 3 at the end of Level 15. Stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage of the European Poker Tour Prague Main Event here at the Hilton Prague.
A former professional poker player with a background in sports marketing and journalism. Yori has been a part of PokerNews since 2016 and manages the content team.
Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.
