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152 players try to succeed last years champion Andrey Zaichenko
After 10 levels of play its American poker pro Kenneth Smaron in the lead with 274,400 in chips in the 2015 PokerStars EPT Season 12 Prague €10,300 High Roller. For quite some time it looked like Polish pro Kacper Pyzara (who busted the Main Event earlier that day) would finish as the chip leader, but Smaron won a big pot late to grab the lead.
247 unique players entered the high roller yesterday and a total of 56 re-entries were made. That made for a total of 303 entries, just shy of last year's record of 309 entries. Late registration and single re-entry option stays open until the start of Day 2, so it just may become the biggest EPT Prague High Roller after all.
A total of 152 players survived the day, amongst them a battalion of familiar faces. Australian high roller Jeff Rossiter (252,400), Daniel Cates (211,400) didn't play the Main Event or earlier High Rollers but did show up for this last one, EPT and WSOPE champion Kevin MacPhee (178,200) survived the day and PokerStars Team Pro's Vanessa Selbst (119,700), Liv Boeree (47,800) and Eugene Katchalov (21,400) made it through.
The plan for Day 2 is to play 10 levels of 60 minutes each (dinner break around 7 pm, finish around 1 am) or down to a final table of 8 players, whichever comes faster. The first level to be played is 1,000/2,000 with a 300 ante. You can find the entire structure here (.pdf).
Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree was just caught in a pot from the under-the-gun position against Vladimir Troyanovskiy in the big blind. The flop showed when the Russian pro check-called a bet of 5,500 and the turn brought the .
Troyanovskiy checked again after which the former EPT San Remo champion bet 14,000.
After a while Troyanovskiy moved all in to put Boeree at risk, and she called immediately for a total of 37,000.
Boeree's face turned as she saw her opponent turn over for two pair, and her were in trouble.
On the river however, the hit and Boeree let out the slightest squeal, followed by a big smile as she managed to double up. Boeree raked in the pot and she's now in great shape with about 90,000 chips.
Stanislav Kozlovskyi just raised under the gun to 5,000 and Ramin Hajiyev, who busted the Main Event yesterday and finish third in the €25,500 Single Day High Roller, three-bet to 14,000 under the gun plus two. The action folded back to Kozlovskyi and he moved all in, prompting a call from Hajiyev for about 50,000 chips. Kozlovskyi called.
Kozlovskyi:
Hajiyev:
The board ran out and Hajiyev's tournament ended in the first level of Day 2.
Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier was among the last people to enter the tournament before play started today, but unfortunately for him he was among the first to get sent to the rail.
After unknown action Mercier ended up at risk before the flop for about 34,000 and he was up against Dimitrios Farmakoulis.
Steve O'Dwyer just won a banana, but more importantly, Jean-Noel Thorel is building a stack in this event again after finishing second in the €25,500 Single-Day High Roller.
After we wrote down the hand that boosted Thorel's stack to 125,000, Steve O'Dwyer explained to us what happened on the hand before. Thomas Muehloecker raised before the flop and the player on the button moved all in for about 35,000 chips. Muehloecker folded to the shove and the all-in player tabled .
On the very next hand it was O'Dwyer who raised from the button and the small blind shove again, this time for 41,000. Thorel made de call from the big blind and O'Dwyer folded, after which the showdown played out as follows.
Thorel:
Opponent:
The board ran out and Thorel raked in the pot, and the knocked-out player threw his banana into the pot as well as he left the tournament. Thorel was pushed the pot, and the banana, but he surrendered the latter and O'Dwyer snapped it up.
While Thorel stacked some newly won chips, O'Dwyer peeled his banana and both players seemed equally happy with the outcome of this hand.
On a flop it was David Vamplew who had 11,500 out in front of him from the button and Paul Newey threw in 28,500 from the big blind. After a while the former EPT London champion moved all in and Newey called to risk his tournament life for about 80,000 chips.
Vamplew:
Newey:
The turn was the and the river was the , keeping Vamplew's pair of queens in front.
As we approached the table Palumbo was already getting his stack counted by the dealer, at that point guaranteed to get it back times two. He told us afterwards what had happened.
Palumbo raised before the flop with and got two calls, one of 'em being Pavel Binar from the small blind. The flop came and Binar checked. Palumbo made a continuation bet of 8,500 and got a call before Binar check raised to 32,000. Just Palumbo made the call. The fell on the turn and Binar bet more than half Palumbo's remaining stack. The two got all of their chips in eventually and Palumbo was shown for a lower trips. The on the river didn't change a thing about that and Palumbo scored a full double.
Vladimir Dobrovolskiy opened from middle position and Alen Bilic in the cutoff shoved all in for 51,500. Action folded to Vanessa Selbst in the big blind and she called. Dobrovolskiy called as well.
Selbst checked on and Dobrovolskiy checked behind. The hit the turn and Selbst checked again. Dobrovolskiy made a bet of 60,000 and Selbst shoved all in for 188,000. Dobrovolskiy went into the tank but after some minutes he called.
Vladimir Dobrovolskiy:
Vanessa Selbst:
Alen Bilic:
Dobrovolskiy and Bilic needed the last king in the deck but wouldn't be so lucky. Instead the hit and Bilic was out while Dobrovolskiy was down to just over 70,000.
Pavel Plesuv opened for 14,000 under the gun with around 5 minutes on the clock till the dinner break. Ihar Soika right next to him three-bet to 34,000 and two positions down action was on Vanessa Selbst. The PokerStars Team Pro made it 71,000 from the cutoff and the button and small blind both quickly released to go on dinner break.
Daniel Cates in the big blind wasn't hungry just yet and took his time figuring out what he was going to do. The break had almost started by now and he eventually decided to make it 115,000. Plesuv folded right away and Soika followed his example after less than half a minute in the tank. Selbst called however.
The flop came and Cates again took his time before betting 90,000. Selbst called.
Though it took some time, both players eventually decided to check the turn and river.
"I guess I win than" Cates said, still hesitant to show his cards. When Selbst didn't show either, he finally tabled his . Selbst mucked.
While Selbst and Cates both started counting and stacking their chips, with the break already about 10 minutes underway now, the latter said "Can I pay you €100 for your hand there?" Selbst snap accepted but Cates backed out a little; "Maybe I should have started with €50" Cates said. Selbst didn't want to know of any other deal and eventually Cates grabbed his wallet, pulled out a €100 note from a wad of cash, and handed it to Selbst. "I had pocket tens" Selbst admitted.
"Maybe if I jam river on you, you fold" Selbst said while packing her bag to go on dinner. "No! I'm never folding river. I wanted you to jam the river" Cates said with a giggle. With 48 minutes left in the break, the two were finally heading for the exit.
when the Russian pro check-called a bet of 5,500 and the turn brought the 
.
for two pair, and her 
were in trouble.
hit and Boeree let out the slightest squeal, followed by a big smile as she managed to double up. Boeree raked in the pot and she's now in great shape with about 90,000 chips.
and Hajiyev's tournament ended in the first level of Day 2.
and Thorel raked in the pot, and the knocked-out player threw his banana into the pot as well as he left the tournament. Thorel was pushed the pot, and the banana, but he surrendered the latter and O'Dwyer snapped it up. 
and the river was the 
, keeping Vamplew's pair of queens in front.
and got two calls, one of 'em being Pavel Binar from the small blind. The flop came 
and Carrel was knocked out.
and Cates again took his time before betting 90,000. Selbst called. 
