The European Poker Tour kicked off back in 2004, and it took four seasons before the tour found its way to venerable Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic and home to more than 1 million residents.
Back in those days, the "festival" included just four events, a far cry from the current setup. Those thirsting for big buy-in action could do no better than the €5,000 Main Event, but eventually a High Roller was added to the schedule. As high roller events continued to gain steam in the poker community, EPT brass decided to up the ante by adding a €50,000 Super High Roller.
With the board reading , Sylvain Loosli checked from the big blind, Tobias Reinkemeier checked from under the gun and Vladimir Troyanovskiy bet 8,500 from the button. Loosli check-raised to 24,500, which folded out Reinkemeier, but Troyanovskiy called.
Despite all of that excitement, there was no more betting in the hand. Both players checked the turn and the river, Troyanovskiy's beating Loosli's .
Bryn Kenney, who was off to a good start, just lost a bunch to Igor Kurganov, who needed it a bit more after dropping some early.
Kurganov raised to 5,200 in early position and Kenney defended from the blinds. The flop came down and both players checked, after which Kenney bet 7,800 on the turn when the hit.
The river brought the and Kenney fired out another 13,600, and Kurganov called after about 30 seconds.
Kenney flashed what looked like , and Kurganov showed his to claim the pot.
We picked up the action with around 100,000 already in the pot and a board reading . Yingui Li bet 30,000 from the big blind, and Fedor Holz responded with a raise to 77,500 from middle position. Li thought long and hard about what to do, but eventually settled on a fold.
Steve O'Dwyer raised to 4,500 and Alex Bilokur called from his direct left after which Anthony Zinno called from the big blind as well. The flop came down and and O'Dwyer bet 5,500 after Zinno checked, and only Bilokur called.
The turn brought the and O'Dwyer bet another 13,000, and Lykov tossed in 30,000 to put pressure on his opponent. O'Dwyer quickly folded and Bilokur picked up this pot.
Fedor Holz raised to 5,000 from the button and was met by a three-bet to 16,700 by Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier in the small blind. Timothy Adams then four-bet to 40,000 from the big, Holz snap-folded, and Mercier hit the tank for a couple minutes before five-betting to 77,000.
Adams spent an equal amount of time before making the call, and watched as Mercier bet 63,500 on the flop. Adams gave it about 30 seconds before folding his hand.
Vladimir Troyanovskiy opened from first position and his neighbor Thomas Muehloecker made the call. Sylvain Loosli in the hijack squeezed and both Troyanovskiy and Muehloecker called.
The flop came and Troyanovskiy and Muehloecker checked. Loosli fired 26,400 and Troyanovskiy called. Muehloecker now moved all in for about 200,000 and Loosli called. Troyanovskiy folded.
Thomas Muehloecker:
Sylvain Loosli:
Muehloecker needed a heart or ten without pairing the board. He failed to improve with the on the turn and on the river. Muehloecker was left with 7,500.
A couple days back, Dan "Jungleman" Cates has beaten Russian EPT regular Vladimir Troyanovskiy — who is playing in this tournament — heads up to take down the EPT12 Prague €5,000 8-Game tourney. Cates has now added another €26,675 to his total live tournament winnings of $3.2 million.
Troyanovskiy took €16,005 for second with German player Tobias Hausen finishing third for €10,670. Cates’ best live result to date came in Season 10 when he was runner-up to Dan Colman in the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final Super High Roller for €1,283,700. There were only 11 players in the Prague 8-Game, but it was a stacked field including EPT Player of the Year Dzmitry Urbanovich, Jussi Nevanlinna, Stephen Chidwick and WPT Player of the Year Anthony Zinno.
, Sylvain Loosli checked from the big blind, Tobias Reinkemeier checked from under the gun and Vladimir Troyanovskiy bet 8,500 from the button. Loosli check-raised to 24,500, which folded out Reinkemeier, but Troyanovskiy called.
turn and the 
river, Troyanovskiy's 
beating Loosli's 
.
and both players checked, after which Kenney bet 7,800 on the turn when the 
hit.
and Kenney fired out another 13,600, and Kurganov called after about 30 seconds. 
, and Kurganov showed his 
to claim the pot.
and and O'Dwyer bet 5,500 after Zinno checked, and only Bilokur called.
on the turn and 
