Main Event
Day 1b Started
Main Event
Day 1b Started
Good morning and welcome back to EPT Prague. While the city freezes outside, things are heating up here at the Hilton as Day 1b is about to get underway.
Yesterday we got 191 runners; 85 made it through the day with Frenchman Elias Brussianos in the lead. Also through to Day 2 are EPT Player of the Year frontrunner Fernando Brito, online qualifier Jonathan Weekes, Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki, EPT Berlin winner Kevin MacPhee and serial WSOP go-deeper Matt Affleck.
Today we're expecting a rather larger field, although we're probably not going to beat last year's overall field of 586. Nevertheless, this tournament is going to give 2009 a run for its money. Expected to take their seats at the tables today are Team PokerStars Pros Johnny Lodden, Marcel Luske and Martin Hruby. Also, we understand that following a curious wager between Hruby and Dag Palovic, the latter will be dying his hair red and decorating it with the PokerStars logo for our amusement this afternoon. It's going to be a good day.
Play is due to start around about noon. We'll be on the floor from then to bring you all the action.
The large television screens around the vast tournament area are informing me, and anyone else looking in their general direction, that there are only ten minutes remaining until Day 1b of EPT Prague gets under way. However, Thomas Kremser has just announced we will begin in around 15 minutes.
Tournament Director Thomas Kremser and his excellent staff are already patrolling the tournament floor in their matching suits with green ties and handkerchiefs, whilst the dealers are in their seats.
All we are missing now are the players! Not long to wait now folks, hold onto your hats, this should be quite a ride!
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Most of our horsies are seated at their respective (s)tables, and it already looks like almost double yesterday's numbers.
Here are a few of the more notable players already in their seats and riffling their chips. A number of well-known faces are still to take their seats, choosing to turn up fashionably late
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Luca Pagano | 30,000 | |
Jesus Cortes Lizano
|
30,000 | |
Toby Lewis | 30,000 | |
|
||
Giuseppe Pantaleo | 30,000 | |
Liv Boeree | 30,000 | |
Marcel Luske | 30,000 | |
Johnny Lodden | 30,000 | |
James Akenhead | 30,000 | |
Artur Wasek | 30,000 | |
Fatima Moreira De Melo | 30,000 | |
Stephen Devlin | 30,000 | |
Richard Toth | 30,000 | |
Jani Sointula | 30,000 | |
Kristoffer Thorsson
|
30,000 |
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Kati Jerney
|
30,000 | |
John Eames | 30,000 | |
Mike Pesek
|
30,000 | |
Fabrizio Ascari
|
30,000 | |
Max Heinzelmann | 30,000 | |
Nikolay Evdakov | 30,000 | |
Dmitry Stelmak | 30,000 | |
Eric Qu | 30,000 | |
Rob Hollink | 30,000 | |
|
||
Dragan Galic | 30,000 | |
Dmitry Vitkind | 30,000 | |
Martin Hruby | 30,000 | |
Jeffrey Hakim | 30,000 | |
Daniel Drescher | 30,000 | |
Alfonso Amendola | 30,000 | |
Kevin Stani | 30,000 | |
|
||
Jack Ellwood | 30,000 | |
Casey Kastle | 30,000 | |
Rasmus Nielsen
|
30,000 | |
Salvatore Bonavena | 30,000 | |
Manuel Bevand | 30,000 | |
Paul Berende | 30,000 | |
Nicolo Calia | 30,000 | |
Peter Hedlund | 30,000 | |
Juan Manuel Pastor | 30,000 | |
We knew that most of the Team PokerStars Pros making their way to sub-zero Prague for this year's EPT would be gracing Day 1b with their presence, and the turnout has reflected the popularity of the second flight with everyone - more than 30 tables are filled with players right now. The walk around the huge tournament area is better exercise.
We have a provisional list of owners of some of the unclaimed 30,000 stacks, including several Italians, Luca Pagano and Dario Minieri among them, plus Bruno Fitoussi, and Surinder Sunar.
Registration is still open during this first level, and so if you have a spare €5,000 and an itch to play against what looks like a tough, large field today, then the Casino at the Prague Hilton is the destination for you.
Team PokerStars Pro Richard Toth has been quick to add to his 30,000 starting stack with the help of a pair of kings.
The player in the hijack seat opened with a bet to 325, which was met with a raise from Toth to 950 from the cutoff. The action folded back around to the hijack, who announced his intention to call.
Flop: - Mr hijack checked, then very quickly called Toth's continuation bet of 1,350.
Turn: - Mr hijack now decided his best course of action was to bet and put out chips totalling 2,250. Toth called as quick as his opponent had done on the flop.
River: - Again, the hijack bets, adding 250 to his previous bet and Toth quickly calls the 2,500 chips.
Mr Hijack:
Toth: - and the winning hand.
Toth now has 37,150
Finally running out of immediately recogniseable players spottable from the stage (an excellent vantage point giving a real sense of the scale of this event) every tour still provides a few new names for the chip counts...
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Luke Schwartz | 30,000 | |
Praz Bansi | 30,000 | |
Florian Langmann | 30,000 | |
Simeon Naydenov | 30,000 | |
Theo Jorgensen | 30,000 | |