Fabrice Soulier opened the betting with a raise to 725 from under the gun, and was immediately three-bet by the player to his direct left, Ireland's Mick Graydon. This early action set alarm bells ringing in the ears of the rest of the table and they folded back around to Soulier who called.
The flop fell and Soulier checked to his opponent. Graydon sat motionless for a few moments, before reaching for chips worth 2,700. Soulier was not prepared to pay this sum and his cards found their way to the muck.
I ran into Fabian Quoss in the first break today and he was very upbeat despite missing out on a WPT final table yesterday across town. He said he always runs good this time of year and the first two levels of play had gone really well for him today. The two levels after that also went very well for him and the 5th level that we're now in is going well too.
The German pro raised from early position and bet 1,500 on the flop and 3,500 on the turn. The board read and his opponent gave up on the turn. Quoss opened for trips.
Day ones of EPTs traditionally attract the fewest number of players. This is even more the case here in Prague as so many other tournaments are still running and many players are doing the "Sunday grind". Despite those facts today has still managed to attract 336 players.
With many more expected tomorrow last year's attendance record of 722 looks set to be smashed.
Jan Skampa and Favia Francesco each put in 2,900 preflop and saw a flop of . Francesco was first to act and bet 3,500, which Skampa min-raised to 7,000. Francesco eyed up his opponents remaining stack, which was about 11,000 more, and then moved all in.
Skampa snap-called and rolled over for two pair, which had the of Francesco crushed. The turn improved Skampa to a full house, and left Francesco drawing dead. The meaningless was run out on the river for good measure, and the EPT6 Prague champ received a welcome double.
Irishman Ronan Gilligan saw the action fold around to him in the hijack seat and he set the price to play at 700. Jude Ainsworth folded in the cutoff and when the button folded Georges Ghossan called in the small blind, before Per Emil Mattson called in the big blind.
The flop saw both blinds check, Gilligan bet 1,600 and only Ghossan call. The on the turn was greeted with another check-call from Ghossan, this time an increased bet of 2,200. The river saw the make an appearance and now Ghossan lead out to the tune of 3,500. This seemed to puzzle Gilligan, who eventually talked himself into calling but we will never know his hand because he mucked when he saw the slowplayed set of sixes Ghossan had made with his .
Peppino Finocchi checked, Marko Neumann called, and both Mark Dalimore and Jonathan Duhamel folded.
The river was the suicide king (), and Finocchi led for 2,000. Neumann paused for 20 seconds or so, then raised to 6,500. Finocchi called.
Neumann turned over for a rivered straight, and Finocchi unhappily showed for a flopped set of tens. Neumann, who dipped below the 40,000-chip threshold for a bit, is now back up to 47,000.
Jan Skampa seems in good form and is showing signs of why he is a former EPT Prague champion.
It was Skampa who opened the betting, with a raise to 700 from late position. Three players folded before Bartlomiej Machon three-bet to 2,200 from the big blind. Skampa then took back his original bet and replaced it with chips worth 4,500. Machon let out a wry smile before relinquishing his hand.
Anders Andersen and Andre Moreira were heads up on a flop of . Andersen open-shoved for around 8,000 effective into a pot of around 1,500, sending Moreira deep into the tank.
The Portugal native sat silently, riffling chips with his hand and studying the board. He eventually muttered, "call," turned over for ace-high.
Andersen rolled over for a king-high flush draw, and according to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, he was actually a 54% favorite to win the hand.
The turn was the , giving Andersen said flush, and the completed the board. Moreira was eliminated, while Anderson chipped up to around 36,000.
and Soulier checked to his opponent. Graydon sat motionless for a few moments, before reaching for chips worth 2,700. Soulier was not prepared to pay this sum and his cards found their way to the muck.
and his opponent gave up on the turn. Quoss opened 
. Francesco was first to act and bet 3,500, which Skampa min-raised to 7,000. Francesco eyed up his opponents remaining stack, which was about 11,000 more, and then moved all in.
turn improved Skampa to a full house, and left Francesco drawing dead. The meaningless 
was run out on the river for good measure, and the EPT6 Prague champ received a welcome double.
on the turn was greeted with another check-call from Ghossan, this time an increased bet of 2,200. The river saw the 
make an appearance and now Ghossan lead out to the tune of 3,500. This seemed to puzzle Gilligan, who eventually talked himself into calling but we will never know his hand because he mucked when he saw the slowplayed set of sixes Ghossan had made with his 
.
), and Finocchi led for 2,000. Neumann paused for 20 seconds or so, then raised to 6,500. Finocchi called.
for a flopped set of tens. Neumann, who dipped below the 40,000-chip threshold for a bit, is now back up to 47,000.
, giving Andersen said flush, and the 
completed the board. Moreira was eliminated, while Anderson chipped up to around 36,000.
