€5,300 EPT Main Event Day 1a | 2018 PokerStars EPT Prague

Player	Chips	Progress
John Sarailis	297,400 59,400	59,400
Xixiang Luo	241,900 116,900	116,900
Joris Ruijs	236,800
Patrik Antonius	209,600 32,200	32,200

Niall Farrell	200,300 135,300	135,300

Bruno Volkmann	197,900 52,900	52,900
Wael Sarkis	197,100
Parker Talbot	191,900 6,900	6,900

Petr Glasko	177,600
Gary Hasson	171,000
Andras Nemeth	165,200 4,800	4,800
Konstantin Farber	165,000 5,000	5,000

Florian Duta	160,000
Vladimir Rosliakov	159,900 159,900	159,900
Carlos Branco	153,400 3,400	3,400
Javier Fernandez Alonso	144,000
Ramon Miquel Munoz	144,000
Ori Miller	140,100
Jia Tang	138,000
Vicent Bosca	132,000
Andrey Pateychuk	129,900

Christophe Larquemin	125,100
Alexandros Theologis	124,800

Norbert Szecsi	123,200 6,800	6,800
Guoliang Wei	123,000

Player

Chips

Progress

John Sarailis

297,400

59,400

Xixiang Luo

241,900

116,900

Joris Ruijs

236,800

Patrik Antonius

209,600

32,200

Niall Farrell

200,300

135,300

Bruno Volkmann

197,900

52,900

Wael Sarkis

197,100

Parker Talbot

191,900

6,900

Petr Glasko

177,600

Gary Hasson

171,000

Andras Nemeth

165,200

4,800

Konstantin Farber

165,000

5,000

Florian Duta

160,000

Vladimir Rosliakov

159,900

Carlos Branco

153,400

3,400

Javier Fernandez Alonso

144,000

Ramon Miquel Munoz

144,000

140,100

138,000

132,000

129,900

125,100

124,800

123,200

6,800

Guoliang Wei

123,000

A long Day 1a wrapped up at 2018 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague with about 170 of 371 entries making it through, and a poker legend is among those at the top of the counts.

Finnish high-stakes veteran Patrik Antonius bagged up 209,600, good for an unofficial top-five stack, at the conclusion of 10 levels of play.

Antonius has made a triumphant return to tournament poker this year with nearly $5 million in cashes after several years of minimal tournament results. The EPT in particular has been good to him as he has two cashes in EPT Main Events already, including a sixth-place finish at EPT Monte Carlo for €139,050.

The chip lead, meanwhile, belongs to John Sarailis. The Greek player held a big lead over the final couple of levels and it only got bigger at the end when he was dealt pocket kings and busted an unfortunate opponent who grinded through the long day only to run his ace-king into the cowboys. That late hand pushed Sarailis to 297,400.

Other notables finished with big stacks included Xixiang Luo (241,900), Niall Farrell (200,300), Parker Talbot (191,900) and Andras Nemeth (159,900).

Nemeth came over midway through the day after busting in second to Matthias Eibinger in the €50,000 Super High Roller. He experienced some huge swings late but finished on a high note when he made a flush with pocket queens in a sizable pot to recoup some losses from when he ran into queens himself with pocket nines.

Players running dry on chips included Niklas Astedt, Jean-Noel Thorel and Charlie Carrel. Provided they've only fired once, they'll still be able to take a crack at this prize pool with Day 1b or Day 2 registration, as the tournament permits two entries total per player.

Day 1b gets rolling at noon local time here at Hilton Prague once again, and a big field is expected after a solid Day 1a turnout. Tune in to PokerNews for all of your live coverage needs.

Tags: Patrik Antonius

2018 PokerStars EPT Prague

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End of Day 1a Counts (full)

Photos: 2018 PokerStars EPT Prague €5,300 Main Event Day 1a

Antonius in Top Five After Day 1a of Main Event