€5,300 EPT Main Event Day 4 | 2019 PokerStars EPT Prague

12-15-2019 18:05 UTC+2

Zahiti Cracks Aces to Survive

Christian Zetzsche

Level 23 : 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Fidan Zahiti was all-in and at risk for 455,000 and he had picked the worst possible timing to get his stack in as chip leader Norbert Szecsi snapped him off.

Fidan Zahiti:
Norbert Szecsi:

Zahiti found a lot of hope on the flop and while the turn was a blank, he screamed out his excitement when the rolled over on the river. Several players rushed by to see what happened including fellow Swedish pros and Zahiti moved up to nearly one million in chips again.

Player	Chips	Progress
Norbert Szecsi	4,425,000 -450,000	-450,000

Fidan Zahiti	960,000 410,000	410,000

Tags: Fidan Zahiti Norbert Szecsi

12-15-2019 17:59 UTC+2

Pustina Rising Again

Christian Zetzsche

Level 23 : 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Vlastimil Pustina faced a raise to 50,000 by Mikalai Pobal and called out of the big blind to see the flop, on which he checked and called a bet worth 35,000. They checked the turn and river, and Pustina tabled as the winning hand.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mikalai Pobal	1,150,000 -20,000	-20,000

Vlastimil Pustina	800,000 200,000	200,000

Tags: Mikalai Pobal Vlastimil Pustina

12-15-2019 17:55 UTC+2

Norbert Szecsi Discusses Huge Hand that Propelled Him to Lead

mnuwwarah

Level 23 : 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Even an attentive poker player can occasionally make the mistake of not seeing a bet or miscounting a stack. The nightmare for tournament players is to have such a thing happen in a big spot, deep in a high-profile event.

That's exactly what happened to Norbert Szecsi deep in PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague Main Event. Luckily for him — and unluckily for his opponent — everything played out in absolutely ideal fashion after that, so much so that Szecsi now sits with a pile of chips that he likely never would have had if everything had gone standard from start to finish.

In that way, at least, he has his own error to thank for his chip lead at three-table redraw in the Main Event.

"That was a lucky one for me," he said to PokerNews on break. "Beautiful accident."

How the Hand Played Out

In the hand in question, Szecsi, sitting on a little under 2 million at 8,000/16,000/16,000, attempted to open the pot holding . Unfortunately, Philipp Zukernik hadn't yet acted on his right.

"He was thinking about what he's gonna do but I raised because I didn't check it," Szecsi said.

Zukernik opted to limp in, locking Szecsi raise of 35,000 into the middle. Action folded back to Zukernik and he came in raising with 130,000. Szecsi said it was pretty much what he expected. Luckily for Szecsi, he had position and they were around 90 big blinds deep, so he could peel.

"I had a good feeling about it," Szecsi said with a smile.

The flop came , a dream scenario for the Hungarian two-time bracelet winner. Zukernik bet another 130,000 and Szecsi made it 350,000. A preflop limp-raise hinted to Szecsi that there was value to be had here.

"I thought after his preflop action he is strong," Szecsi explained of his decision not to slowplay.

Zukernik stuck around for a turn. Given Szecsi's read of his opponent's range, he knew he might be up against an overpair with a one-card flush draw. Rather than attempt to bet big to protect his hand, he went for a small bet of 225,000.

When he wasn't raised, he was certain he had the best of it.

"It's only one bet in on the turn so that's good for me," Szecsi said. "I'm ahead against his overpairs and flush draws. If he has a flush, that sucks, it's a cooler for me, but I'm never gonna fold this hand."

Norbert Szecsi — Szecsi is in a great spot with less than 25 players left.

The river brought in something of a dream card, the . Now, all of Zukernik's draws got there but were dead against Szecsi's full house. With only about half-pot left behind, Szecsi had one move when checked to, jamming for the rest.

As for Zukernik, Szecsi expects his opponent to have a second-best hand 100% of the time in this situation. Not many players are going to go for a limp-reraise with pocket sevens or pocket eights, as these hands will often be difficult to play out of position with deep stacks. Given Szecsi's read that his opponent had a big hand preflop, Szecsi's boat was essentially the nuts.

What that also meant for Zukernik was his strong flushes were at the top of his range. He had just such a hand with , and Szecsi said this hand is probably too strong to fold.

"Maybe his nut flushes, but that's it," Szecsi said when assessing which better hands Zukernik reaches the river with.

Fortunate Timing

Given that he had pocket threes preflop, Szecsi admitted the situation actually played out ideally. He got to flop a set in a three-bet pot when that would have never happened if Zukernik had opened his ace-king as he'd always be doing.

"If everything went as we would normally play, it's not gonna happen," Szecsi said.

Preflop, it would be pretty adventurous to set-hunt given there were still players to act behind them. So, at best, Szecsi would have been making his hand in a single-raised pot, where Zukernik could have gotten away much cheaper.

As it played out, Zukernik ran into an incredibly unfortunate situation, but one player's misfortune is another's windfall, and now Szecsi sits in a wonderful spot. He's chip leader of an EPT Main Event with well north of 200 big blinds and the three-table redraw in the rearview mirror.

"This is the first time this situation has happened to me, and it's a good time for it," Szecsi said.

Szecsi got to support fellow Hungarian pro Marton Czuczor a few years back when Czuczor made a run and chopped EPT Prague with Jasper Meijer van Putten for more than €600,000. Thanks in part to a "beautiful accident," he's now got a chance to do even better and bank the €1,005,600 first-place prize in 2019.

Tags: Norbert Szecsi

12-15-2019 17:54 UTC+2

Szecsi Approaches Five Million

Christian Zetzsche

Level 23 : 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Akin Tuna raised the button and was called by Norbert Szecsi in the big blind. Both checked the flop and Szecsi check-called a bet of 50,000 on the turn. He did so again for 125,000 on the river and Tuna rolled over for a busted straight draw.

Szecsi once again had the best of it with the and claimed the pot, boosting his stack to nearly five million.

Player	Chips	Progress
Norbert Szecsi	4,875,000 125,000	125,000

Akin Tuna	3,660,000 -215,000	-215,000

Tags: Akin Tuna Norbert Szecsi

12-15-2019 17:53 UTC+2

Kim Gets Some Chips Back

Shirley Ang

Level 23 : 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Dietrich Fast raised to 50,000 from under the gun with . He was called by Gab Yong Kim in the early position with , Pierre Calamusa in the cutoff with , and Dominik Panka in the big blind with .

They all checked through the flop to the on the turn. It was checked to Kim who bet 180,000 for everyone to fold to.

Player	Chips	Progress
Pierre Calamusa	1,800,000 -50,000	-50,000

Dietrich Fast	1,500,000 -60,000	-60,000
Gab Yong Kim	1,100,000 175,000	175,000
Dominik Panka	575,000 30,000	30,000

Tags: Dietrich Fast Dominik Panka Gab Yong Kim Pierre Calamusa

12-15-2019 17:48 UTC+2

Marsh Five-Bets Shoves

Shirley Ang

Level 23 : 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Gab Yong Kim raised to 55,000 from the hijack with and Pierre Calamusa called on the button with . Luke Marsh three-bet to 215,000 in the big blind with . Kim used a time bank card and put out chips more than a call, but not enough for the minimum raise but he didn't announce anything. The floor was called over and it was ruled that Kim had to min-raise to 375,000. Calamusa folded and Marsh shoved with the bigger stack. Kim opted to fold.

Player	Chips	Progress
Luigi Shehadeh	2,540,000 -55,000	-55,000

Luke Marsh	2,360,000 530,000	530,000
Pierre Calamusa	1,850,000 5,000	5,000

Dietrich Fast	1,560,000
Ricardo Da Rocha	1,090,000
Gab Yong Kim	925,000 -465,000	-465,000
Dominik Panka	545,000

Tags: Gab Yong Kim Luke Marsh Pierre Calamusa

12-15-2019 17:44 UTC+2

"You Are a Lucky Guy, Again"

Christian Zetzsche

Level 23 : 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

On a flop of in a battle of the blinds, Norbert Szecsi check-raised from 25,000 to 85,000 and Fidan Zahiti called. They headed to the turn and Szecsi check-called a bet of 130,000 to see the on the river.

Both players now checked and Szecsi announced two pair, tabling his .

"You are a lucky guy, again," Zahiti sighed and exposed his .

Player	Chips	Progress
Norbert Szecsi	4,750,000 350,000	350,000

Fidan Zahiti	550,000 -200,000	-200,000

Tags: Fidan Zahiti Norbert Szecsi

12-15-2019 17:42 UTC+2

Fast Wins With the Higher Pocket Pair

Shirley Ang

Level 23 : 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Dietrich Fast raised to 50,000 from the hijack with . Ricardo Da Rocha called on the button with while the blinds folded.

The flop came , Fast continued with a bet of 50,000 which Da Rocha raised to 125,000 which was called.

The turn was the , Fast checked and Da Rocha barreled a bet of 120,000 over the line. Fast looked at the board for a bit and then called.

They both checked through the on the river for Fast to scoop the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dietrich Fast	1,560,000 310,000	310,000
Ricardo Da Rocha	1,090,000 -355,000	-355,000

Tags: Dietrich Fast Ricardo Da Rocha

12-15-2019 17:40 UTC+2

Denys Shafikov Eliminated in 22nd Place (€33,300)

Will Shillibier

Level 23 : 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Gaby Livshitz opened to 50,000 and called a shove from Denys Shafikov for around 650,000 in chips.

Gaby Livshitz:
Denys Shafikov:

The board came and Shafikov was eliminated in 22nd place for €33,300.

Player	Chips	Progress
Gaby Livshitz	4,030,000 595,000	595,000

Denys Shafikov	Busted

Tags: Denys Shafikov Gaby Livshitz

12-15-2019 17:37 UTC+2

Urgently Needed Chips for Pustina and Zahiti

Christian Zetzsche

Level 23 : 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Norbert Szecsi had raised and picked up three callers. That included Fidan Zahiti, Vlastimil Pustina and Morten Hvam. The flop came and the action checked to Zahiti, who bet 60,000 to win the pot.

Shortly after, Vlastimil Pustina raise-folded when making it 50,000 to go as Hvam three-bet to 125,000.

Pustina raised to 50,000 once more and Szecsi asked for his stack size, then called out of the big blind. The flop came and Szecsi check-folded to a continuation bet worth 45,000.