2013 PokerStars.com EPT Prague

€5,300 Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info

2013 PokerStars.com EPT Prague

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
1010
Prize
€725,700
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€4,883,950
Entries
1,007
Level Info
Level
33
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
30,000

Lacay Leads as 61 Advance from Day 3; Schemion, Little & Engel Still in Contention

Level 19 : 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
Ludovic Lacay
Ludovic Lacay

Season 10 of the European Poker Tour continued on Sunday with Day 3 action from the EPT10 Prague Main Event. For the past few days, the Czech Republic’s largest city has played host to the largest field in EPT Prague history (1,007 players), but the final day in the weekend saw the returning 189 players reduced to the final 61.

During five 90-minute levels of play, the money bubble burst when just 151 player remained, and then the in the money finishes piled up. By the end of the night, Ludovic Lacay emerged as the chip leader with 1.7 million, though some stiff competition also advanced including Ole Schemion and Jonathan Little.

Action resumed in Level 15 (1,500/3,000/400), and it didn’t take long for one of the most accomplished players in the field to fall. In one of the first hands of the day, Team PokerStars Pro David Williams was crippled when his pocket kings were cracked when his opponent made a pair of aces on the river.

The next hand there was a raise in front of Williams to 6,500 and he shoved his last big blinds in. The call that followed was quick and Williams would soon find out his {3-Spades}{3-Hearts} was dominated by {J-Diamonds}{J-Hearts}. The board ran out {4-Hearts}{5-Clubs}{8-Diamonds}{10-Spades}{2-Spades} and Williams left the tournament area empty handed.

Others who fell shy of the money were Martin Staszko, Erik Scheidt, Marcin Wydrowski, Sam Cohen, Rui Sousa, Bolivar Palacios, and Alexander Lakhov, who was sent to the rail as the bubble boy.

From there the in the money eliminations began to mount and include current EPT10 Player of the Year leader Thomas Muhlocker (149th - €8,600), Kitty Kuo (144th - €8,600), Paul Volpe (143rd - €9,000), Sylvain Loosli (140th - €9,000), Taylor Von Kriegenbergh (126th - €9,000), Dominik Nitsche (124th - €9,000), Team PokerStars Pros Henrique Pinho (109th - €9,900) and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier (106th - €9,900), and Amir Lehavot (105th - €9,900).

From there, EPT10 Barcelona Super High Roller champ Vitaly Lunkin (102nd - €9,900); Full Tilt Poker Ambassador Dermot Blain (99th - €9,900), WSOP Europe Main Event champ Adrian Mateos (93rd - €11,100), Team Online’s newest member Marc-Andre Ladouceur (81st - €11,100); and Day 2 chip leader Walid Bou Habib (74th - €11,100) all hit the rail.

Two other players to fall before the end of the night were Team PokerStars Pros Eugene Katchalov and Jonathan Duhamel.

Katchalov was ousted in Level 19 (4,000/8,000/1,000) when he moved all in for 107,000 from early position and Lasell King moved all in over the top from the small blind. King, who won the Poker EM CAPT in Baden last October for €92,035, tabled {A-Hearts}{K-Diamonds} which was superior to Katchalov's {A-Spades}{10-Spades}. The {Q-Hearts}{7-Hearts}{2-Diamonds}{7-Spades}{9-Spades} board didn't help Katchalov and he exited in 71st place. Duhamel, the last Team PokerStars Pro standing, would follow him out the door in 65th place.

Day 4 will kick off at Noon local time on Monday, which is also when the €10,000 High Roller gets under way. Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to bring you updates from both.

Until then, check out this video of poker pros singing songs:

Tags: Ludovic Lacay

Engel Wins With King Jack From Kings

Level 19 : 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
Ari Engel
Ari Engel

We missed the precise action but another player told us that Ari Engel had opened to 17,000 preflop under the gun. Andrey Grenko had made it 41,000 and action folded back to Engel. According to the table mate Engel had started talking to himself and eventually had shoved all in for 290,000. Grenko made the call.

Engel had a mere {K-Spades}{J-Spades} to go to battle with while Grenko brought {K-Clubs}{K-Diamonds}. If Grenko was Goliath and Engel was David, the board would be the stone thrown to the head: {2-Spades}{10-Spades}{3-Clubs}{8-Diamonds}{5-Spades}. Flush for Engel who left his Russian opponent with just 21,000 in chips.

Player Chips Progress
Ari Engel ca
Ari Engel
600,000 315,000
Andrey Grenko ru
Andrey Grenko
21,000 -278,000

Tags: Ari EngelAndrey Grenko

Eugene Katchalov Eliminated in 71st Place (€13,200)

Level 19 : 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
Eugene Katchalov
Eugene Katchalov

Right before the break Eugene Katchalov lost a huge pot with ace seven to ace king on an ace high board. That set him back to around 100,000 and that amount he just shoved to the middle. It was 107,000 to be exact and he made his move from the under the gun plus two position.

Action folded to Lasell King in the small blind who announced to be all in as well. Norwegian Morten Klein in the big blind had the decision for his 345,000 stack and folded after some minutes of thinking.

King, who won the Poker EM CAPT in Baden last October for €92,035, tabled {A-Hearts}{K-Diamonds} which was superior to Katchalov's {A-Spades}{10-Spades}. The {Q-Hearts}{7-Hearts}{2-Diamonds}{7-Spades}{9-Spades} board couldn't help Katchalov and he exited in 71st place, the first one in the new pay out level of €13,200.

Player Chips Progress
Eugene Katchalov ua
Eugene Katchalov
Busted

Tags: Eugene KatchalovLasell King

Team Online Done and Dusted

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Marc-Andre Ladouceur
Marc-Andre Ladouceur

With around 40,000 in the pot and a flop of {4-Hearts}{3-Clubs}{10-Hearts}, Tapio Vihakas checked from the small blind and Team Online's Marc-Andre Ladouceur did the same from the big. Lars Anders Dahlin then bet 20,000, Vihakas called, and Ladouceur woke up with an all-in check-raise to 112,000. Dahlin then moved all in over the top for around 175,000 and Vihakas folded.

Ladouceur: {10-Clubs}{j-Hearts}
Dahlin: {10-Spades}{a-Spades}

Ladouceur had flopped top pair, but his kicker had him in dire straits as Dahlin backed his top pair up with top kicker. The {2-Diamonds} turn left Ladouceur in need of a jack and a jack only on the river, but it wasn't in the cards as the {3-Spades} blanked. A solemn Ladouceur collected his belongings and then made his way to the payout desk in 81st place.

Player Chips Progress
Tapio Vihakas fi
Tapio Vihakas
390,000 -40,000
Lars Dahlin se
Lars Dahlin
300,000 91,000
Marc-Andre Ladouceur ca
Marc-Andre Ladouceur
Busted

Tags: Tapio VihakasMarc-Andre LadouceurLars Anders Dahlin

Chartier Tanks

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Samuel Chartier
Samuel Chartier

Ireland's Ciaran Burke opened the button to 13,000 and saw Canadian Sam Chartier three bet to 29,000 from the small blind. After the big blind folded, Burke made the call.

{8-Spades}{6-Clubs}{8-Diamonds} on the flop and Chartier made it 31,000. That continuation bet was called pretty quickly by Burke who saw Chartier checking on the {J-Spades} turn. Burke bet out 79,000 and Chartier called. The river brought the {A-Clubs} on board and Chartier checked again. Burke bet out 129,000 which brought the action back to Chartier.

For minutes he looked both puzzled and agonized. Nobody dared to call the clock though and in the end Chartier folded. The dealer began to collect the chips to shove them to Burke. Chartier stared at Burke with a desperate face, dying to know what Burke had.

Burke checked his cards again and than revealed the {8-Clubs} to everyone before mucking.

Player Chips Progress
Sam Chartier ca
Sam Chartier
245,000 -95,000

Tags: Ciaran BurkeSamuel Chartier

Engel Eliminates the Reigning WSOP Europe Main Event Champ

Level 17 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Adrian Mateos
Adrian Mateos

Back in October, a 19-year-old Spaniard by the name of Adrian Mateos defeated a stacked final table to win the 2013 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event for €1,000,000! Mateos did so by defeating accomplished pro Fabrice Soulier in heads-up play. Others Mateos outlasted were Dominik Nitsche (3rd - €400,000), Ravi Raghavan (5th - €176,000) and Benny Spindler (6th - €126,000).

Mateos was in action today and looking for another European title, but his hopes of that just came to an end courtesy of American Ari Engel.

After losing the majority of his chips, Mateos got his last 62,500 all in preflop and found himself in a race situation.

Mateos: {a-Hearts}{k-Hearts}
Engel: {8-Hearts}{8-Clubs}

The {j-Clubs}{3-Hearts}{3-Clubs} flop wasn't very exciting, though it did give Mateos a runner-runner flush draw to go with his overs. Mateos and his supporters on the rail watched intently as the dealer burned and turned the {8-Spades}. It was the worst card in the deck as Engel filled up and Mateos was left drawing dead.

A crestfallen Mateos watched the meaningless {a-Clubs} put out on the river and then took the long walk to the front of the room on his way to the payout desk.

Player Chips Progress
Ari Engel ca
Ari Engel
240,000 60,000
Adrian Mateos es
Adrian Mateos
EPT Main Event Champion
EPT 1X Winner
Busted

Tags: Adrian MateosAri Engel

Lehavot & Chidwick Clash in Huge Feature Table Hand

Level 17 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Amir Lehavot
Amir Lehavot

After being moved to the feature table on the break, 2013 World Series of Poker third-place finisher Amir Lehavot and UK pro Stephen Chidwick clashed in a huge pot.

We picked up the action after Chidwick had four-bet to 65,000 from the small blind and Lehavot five-bet to 120,000 from the button. Chidwick responded with a six-bet shove and Lehavot called off for 348,000. Chidwick barely had him covered, but he was the favorite.

Chidwick: {q-Spades}{q-Clubs}
Lehavot: {a-Diamonds}{k-Clubs}

It was a big flip for the chip lead, and according to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, Chidwick was a 56.55% favorite while Lehavot would survive 43.03% of the time. The {10-Diamonds}{8-Clubs}{9-Diamonds} flop was no help to Lehavot, and he fell to a 3-1 dog. The {9-Clubs} turn knocked him down even further to 13.64%, meaning he needed either an ace or king on the river to stay alive. On the other hand, Chidwick would win 86.36% of the time, and as fate would have it this was one of those times as the {Q-Hearts} river improved him to a full house.

With that, Lehavot was eliminated in 106th place while Chidwick took over the chip lead.

Player Chips Progress
Stephen Chidwick gb
Stephen Chidwick
730,000 350,000
Amir Lehavot il
Amir Lehavot
Busted

Tags: Amir LehavotStephen Chidwick

Grospellier Eliminated

Level 17 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier

Jonathan Duhamel opened the hijack to 11,500 before Bertrand Grospellier made it 27,000 from the button. The small blind folded but Max Silver in the big blind seemed genuinely interested. He made it 50,000 to go and Duhamel quickly folded. Not Grospellier though, he pushed all in and Silver immediately called.

Silver showed his {A-Spades}{A-Diamonds} directly and Grospellier almost already mucked his {A-Hearts}{K-Hearts} before a flop was dealt. He got up from the table and saw the dealer deal {8-Hearts}{10-Clubs}{6-Diamonds}{10-Spades}{2-Clubs} as the community cards. Before the river even was dealt Grospellier was already up from the table and in the arms of a lady escorting him to the pay out registration.

Player Chips Progress
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier fr
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier
Busted

Tags: Bertrand GrospellierJonathan DuhamelMax Silver

Loosli Loses to Wiklund (140th Place, €9,000)

Level 16 : 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
Sylvain Loosli
Sylvain Loosli

As we approached the table, November Niner Sylvain Loosli stood up and made a beeline for the payout desk. We discovered Loosli held {a-}{k-} on a {4-Hearts}{6-Spades}{3-Diamonds}{k-Clubs}{a-Diamonds} board, but it was no good as Martin Wiklund held the {6-Clubs}{6-Hearts}.

A member of the French media told us that Loosli was 50 big blinds deep at the beginning of the hand. It was a pre flop all in situation where Loosli called the shove. Both hit, Loosli simply didn't hit enough to beat Wiklund's flopped set.

Meanwhile, Wiklund has been on a bit of a heater as of late and is up quite a bit since the last time we checked in with him.

Player Chips Progress
Martin Wiklund se
Martin Wiklund
580,000 325,000
Sylvain Loosli fr
Sylvain Loosli
Busted

Tags: Martin WiklundSylvain Loosli

Volpe Eliminated in 143rd Place (€9,000)

Level 16 : 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
Paul Volpe
Paul Volpe

We ran into Paul Volpe in the hall way and he was so kind to give us the details on his bust out hand.

He had worked his stack up to 85,000 but would lose most of them in a hand where the player under the gun opened to 9,500. The player was playing a 70,000 stack and Volpe shoved from middle position with {A-Hearts}{J-Hearts}. The older gentlemen, who had opened under the gun more than once, tanked for some time but eventually made the call with pocket fives. The board didn't help Volpe who was left with just a few chips.

Those remaining chips would soon be gone too. He got it in with pocket fours against ace ten. The flop gave his opponent top two and the remaining two fours didn't pop up on the turn or river. Volpe finished 143rd for €9,000.

He immediately took the little booklet the organization was handing out, to check which side event to play.

Player Chips Progress
Paul Volpe us
Paul Volpe
Busted

Tags: Paul Volpe