First Man Down
Failing to do his bit for the Greek economy was Maximos Pertsinidis. The man from Greece failed to make it through the first level.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Busted |
2012 PokerStars.net EPT Prague
Main Event
Day: 1a
Jude Ainsworth Chips Down
Jude Ainsworth's good start has quickly been forgotten after he was coolered by Rodrigo Seiji to drop to 8,050 chips.
Ainsworth was in the big blind and defended after his Brazilian opponent raised from under the gun. The flop fell 
and Ainsworth check-called a 700 bet to see the 
turn.
Seiji bet 1,600 when the action was checked to him and was soon check-raised to 4,200 by Ainsworth. Seiji then seemed to shock Ainsworth by moving all in for 27,250.
The Irishman smiled and asked, "Do you have ace-king as I can beat that?"
Seiji just shrugged and then opened 
for a set when he was called. Ainsworth opened 
for a smaller set. He found no one-outer on the 
river and dropped down to 8,050 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
8,050 | -29,950 |
Wasek All-In
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
Man-mountain Artur Wasek has just doubled up over on Table 16 and is back to around his starting stack of 30,000 chips.
We did not see the hand go down, but were drawn to Wasek's table when we heard him exclaim in his native Polish tongue and we saw a board reading 
, Wasek's 
displayed proudly in front of him and the dealer pushing the pot towards their new owner.
Wasek has a number of cashes on the European Poker Tour, his two best being a fourth place finish at the 2010 EPT Berlin Main Event (€280,000) and another fourth place in the 2010 EPT London Main Event (£240,000).
A Rare Sighting
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
Usually, posts entitled "A Rare Sighting" are reserved for when we spot a poker player who has not been seen on the circuit for a significant length of time, but this particular post is due to us seeing a hat!
Until the recent purchase of Full Tilt Poker's assets by PokerStars, anyone sporting Full Tilt Poker attire would have been frowned upon by their peers, but now that PokerStars made everything right on that front Liutauras Armanavicius has decided to dust the cobwebs from his Full Tilt Poker cap and display it proudly onto of his mop of curly hair.
Early Fireworks at Table 18
In one of the first hands played, Pawel Brzeski and Pedjman Hamie got involved in a three-bet pot. On a flop of 
, Brzeski led out for a bet, and Hamie raised to what looked like 7,500. Brzeski called, and the turn brought the .
Both players checked.
The river was the 
, and Brzeski moved all in for 16,000 or so, which was a pot-sized bet. Hamie tanked for well over a minute, but eventually mucked his hand.
An orbit or so later, the two were involved in another three-bet pot, and they brought Frenchman Jean-Philippe Rohr with them. The flop came 
, and Rohr led out for 1,625. Only Brzeski called.
The turn was the 
, Rohr opted to check, and Brzeski fired 4,650. Rohr folded, and Brzeski raked in another pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
47,000 | 17,000 |
|
26,500 | -3,500 |
|
14,250 | -15,750 |
A Look Back at the EPT Prague Season 4
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
The European Poker Tour first visited Prague way back in Season 4, which is when Arnaud Mattern topped a field of 555 players to walk away with the €708,400 top prize. Mattern is in today's field, so we thought it'd be fun to take a look back at the Frenchman's win over Italy's Gino Alacqua. Here's the final hand as reported in our Live Blog:
Arnaud Mattern raises from the small blind to 200,000, and Gino Alacqua moves all in. Arnaud calls immediately, covering Gino by 500,000.
Arnaud:
Gino: 
The flop is scary for Arnaud: 
. The turn is the , removing the queens and tens as outs but giving Gino any nine, any ace, or any diamond to double up.
The river is the 
, meaning Arnaud wins the hand with kings and deuces, to become the inaugural EPT Prague champion, winning €708,400.
Gino Alacqua is the runner-up winning, €407,300.
EPT Prague Season 4 Final Table
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool | Number of Payouts | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €4,700 | 555 | €2,530,240 | 56 | December 10-14, 2007 |
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Arnaud Mattern | France | €708,400 |
| 2nd | Gino Alacqua | Italy | €407,300 |
| 3rd | Kristian Kjøndal | Norway | €235,300 |
| 4th | Juha Lauttamus | Finland | €182,200 |
| 5th | Markus Golser | Austria | €151,800 |
| 6th | Nedzib Suman | Sweden | €119,000 |
| 7th | Dag Palovic | Slovakia | €93,600 |
| 8th | Mikael Norinder | Sweden | €63,200 |
Matrozos the Victim of a Table 1 Controversy
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
"Floor Table 1," we heard a dealer call from the corner of the room. We made our way over and witnessed the first controversy of the day.
There was roughly 7,500 in the pot and a board reading 
, and we listened intently as the dealer attempted to explain the situation. From what we could piece together, Stefanos Matrozos had tabled 
at the showdown for a flush. His opponent, Ukraine's Artem Metalidi, responded by tossing his cards toward the muck, though they landed facedown just in front of him.
It was at this point that the dealer, who was under the impression that the last aggressor must show his cards, tabled the hand... 
. Metalidi actually held a winning full house, and the floor was left to make a decision. He explained to the dealer that the hand did not need to be shown as the last aggressor only has to show first if the other players refuse to reveal their hands first. If they do show, the last aggressor is free to muck.
In this instance, since the hand never touched the muck and was tabled, it was ruled the winning hand and Metalidi was pushed the sizable pot. Matrozos seemed frustrated but remained silent.
Jude Ainsworth Chips Up
Team PokerStars Pro Jude Ainworth has got off to a great start and now finds himself armed with 38,000 chips.
Ainsworth opened the betting with a raise to 250 from the hijack and it generated plenty of action for the Irishman. First, Rodrigo Seiji called from the cutoff, then Iosif Beskrovnyy squeezed to 650 from the big blind. Ainsworth instantly reached for chips and four-bet to what looked like 2,300 and both of his opponents called immediately.
The dealer fanned out the flop, Beskrovnyy checked, Ainsworth bet 3,500 and only Beskrovnyy called. The turn was the and both players checked. The fifth and final community card was the 
and when Beskrovnyy checked, Ainsworth put a solitary 5,000 blue chip into the pot stating he intended to bet 4,000. Beskrovnyy confirmed the bet amount before flicking his cards back to the dealer.
First blood to Ainsworth.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
38,000 |
Nothing for Nachman
A player opened to 250 on the button, and Nachman Berlin defended his big blind. The dealer fanned 
, Berlin checked, and the agressor continued for 300. Berlin called.
The turn brought the , both players knuckled, and the completed the board. Berlin checked a third time, and after tanking for 20 seconds or so, his opponent checked behind.
The player tabled 
for king-high, and Berlin mucked his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
29,450 | -550 |
Todd Terry Fast out Of The Blocks
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
Many poker players use the first few orbits of a new tournament to try and suss out their opponent's tendencies; but not Todd Terry.
Chriistophe Benzimra opened to 250 from the hijack seat and was immediately three-bet by Terry in the cutoff. terry's three-bet of 650 forced the button and both blinds out of the pot, but Benzimra put in the extra chips and called.
The duo shared a flop that read 
, a flop that Benzimra checked. Terry fired a continuation bet of 650 at his sole opponent and it was enough to take down the pot because Benzimra mucked his hand.