€10,200 No-Limit Hold'em Day 1 | 2021 PokerStars EPT Prague

03-06-2022 02:21 UTC+2

Kulev Bags the Lead After Day 1 of the €10,200 No-Limit Hold'em Bounty High Roller

Christian Zetzsche

Level 10 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

The rescheduled 2021 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague stop has officially kicked off at the King's Casino in Prague. It was certainly an international affair for the first high-stakes competition of the festival. Familiar faces of the poker circuit from near and far showed up for the first €10,200 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller, which has attracted a field of 56 entries so far.

After ten levels of 30 minutes each, the number of hopeful contenders was cut into more than half as just 25 players bagged and tagged chips for the night. They are led by Dublin-based Bulgarian poker pro Alex Kulev, who claimed a stack of 604,000 to his name. He is followed by EPT High Roller regulars in Timothy Adams (452,000) and Niklas Astedt (389,000) while other notables in the overnight top ten include Ognyan Dimov (371,000), Yuri Dzivielevski (323,000), and Andras Nemeth (287,000).

Top 10 Counts After Day 1

Position	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds Day 2
1	Alex Kulev	Ireland	604,000	121
2	Timothy Adams	Canada	452,000	90
3	Niklas Astedt	Sweden	389,000	78
4	Audrius Stakelis	Lithuania	375,000	75
5	Ognyan Dimov	Bulgaria	371,000	74
6	Rodrigo Seiji	Brazil	339,000	68
7	Yuri Dzivielevski	Brazil	323,000	65
8	Daichi Tominaga	Japan	291,000	58
9	Andras Nemeth	Hungary	287,000	57
10	Zhong Chen	Netherlands	251,000	50

Sole PokerStars ambassador in the mix was Sam Grafton, who has already claimed one €5,000 bounty and advanced with 235,000 in chips. The Brit was responsible for the elimination of Steve Savio when his ace-king cracked aces in level three. Fellow countrymen Stephen Chidwick, Patrick Leonard and Conor Beresford all secured a stack for Day 2 while Paul Newey and Ben Heath were among the Day 1 casualties.

Further notable eliminations throughout the first ten levels were Laszlo Bujtas, Orpen Kisacicoglu, Andriy Lyubovetskiy, Karolis Sereika, Stoyan Madanzhiev, and Brazilian online grinder Belarmino De Souza. Those who only bowed out once can re-enter again and take another shot at the first High Roller trophy of the festival in Prague.

The registration for the €10,200 No-Limit Hold'em Bounty High Roller remains open until the cards are back in the air for Day 2 on Sunday, March 6, 2022, at 12.30 pm local time. All last minute additions will receive 100,000 chips, which is good enough for 20 big blinds for level 11 at blinds of 2,000/5,000 and a big blind ante of 5,000.

So far, the tournament features a total prize pool of €543,200 with €5,000 of each entry up for grabs in the form of bounties. The final day will once more feature levels of 30 minutes each and the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor from start to finish to provide all the action.

03-06-2022 00:58 UTC+2

Dimov Knocks Out Bujtas

Christian Zetzsche

Level 9 : 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

The decision to re-enter late seems to have paid off for Ognyan Dimov, as he just secured the bounty of Laszlo Bujtas. He found the perfect spot to pick up in the big blind while Bujtas' only flopped an inferior pair on a board of .

Player	Chips	Progress
Ognyan Dimov	370,000	140,000
Laszlo Bujtas	Busted

03-05-2022 23:48 UTC+2

Double Knockout for Stakelis

Christian Zetzsche

Level 7 : 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

Following a raise to 5,000 by Teun Mulder, Pavel Binar jammed for what appeared to be 50,000 on the button.

"How much are you playing?" Audrius Stakelis in the small blind asked towards Mulder, who replied "I have around 165k". Stakelis then just called and Mulder jammed over the top, picking up an instant call by the Lithuanian.

Pavel Binar:
Teun Mulder:
Audrius Stakelis:

All three players held pocket pairs and Stakelis not only had the best of them but also the biggest stack. After a board of , that remained the case and Stakelis earned two bounties at once.

Player	Chips	Progress
Audrius Stakelis	410,000	265,000
Pavel Binar	Busted
Teun Mulder	Busted

03-05-2022 23:37 UTC+2

Triple Up for Theologis

Christian Zetzsche

Level 7 : 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

In yet another three-way all-in, Laszlo Bujtas was flipping against two pocket pairs and held the second biggest stack of 128,000. He could earn the bounty of Alexandros Theologis, who was all-in for 102,500, while Arthur Conan had both comfortably covered.

Alexandros Theologis:
Laszlo Bujtas:
Arthur Conan:

Conan was on the verge to score two bounties and vault to the top of the leaderboard. However, the board ran out and Theologis tripled up. Conan secured the bounty of Bujtas and the small side pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexandros Theologis	310,000	175,000
Arthur Conan	210,000	115,000
Laszlo Bujtas	Busted

03-05-2022 23:22 UTC+2

A Lot of Aces "for the Ukraine"

Christian Zetzsche

Level 6 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Orpen Kisacikoglu was left with just two red T-500 chips and those went in preflop. He earned multiple callers and Belarmino de Souza then jammed for 117,000 total. Zhong Chen called with the covering stack to set up the following three-way showdown.

Orpen Kisacikoglu:
Belarmino De Souza:
Zhong Chen:

The board kept Kisacikoglu in contention while De Souza was eliminated. Kisacikoglu then doubled two times including with aces only to get it in preflop for 30,000 once more. He was looked up by Alexandros Theologis and there were some chuckles at the table when the cards were flipped over.

Orpen Kisacikoglu:
Alexandros Theologis:

Theologis picked up outs on the flop but bricked the turn and river.

"It's all for the Ukraine," Kisacioglu said as he will be donating a part of his winnings. "I think you will see a lot of aces during this trip," another player at the table remarked.

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhong Chen	340,000	120,000
Alexandros Theologis	135,000	20,000
Orpen Kisacikoglu	70,000	-30,000
Belarmino De Souza	Busted

03-05-2022 22:47 UTC+2

Guerrero Eliminated by Nemeth

Christian Zetzsche

Level 5 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Andras Nemeth raised to 4,500 from under the gun and picked up two callers including Ognyan Dimov on the button. Jimmy Guerrero then three-bet to 23,000 in the big blind and Nemeth was the only caller. On a flop of , Guerrero continued for 15,000 with some 60,000 behind.

Nemeth then raised to 80,000 and that sent the Frenchman into the tank. Eventually, Guerrero shrugged and called all-in after he had invested two 30-second time bank extensions.

Jimmy Guerrero:
Andras Nemeth:

Guerrero was ahead with his ace-high and even paired up on the turn. However, he could not fade the river which improved Nemeth to a flush.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alex Kulev	240,000
Sam Grafton	230,000	35,000
Andras Nemeth	210,000	210,000
Andriy Lyubovetskiy	80,000	-20,000
Ognyan Dimov	80,000	-5,500
Stoyan Madanzhiev	50,000	5,000
Jimmy Guerrero	Busted

03-05-2022 22:23 UTC+2

Newey Felted by Kulev

Christian Zetzsche

Level 5 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

The action unfolded in the last hand of the previous level and lasted a few minutes into the first scheduled break.

With some 45,000 in the middle in a hand between Alex Kulev and Paul Newey, the former bet the flop for 10,000. Newey called within a few seconds and both then checked the on the turn. Kulev jammed the river for around 95,000, which happened to be the covering stack.

Newey had some 70,000 behind and invested one time bank extension before tossing in a single chip for the call. Kulev revealed the for eights full of queens and that was good enough to score the bounty prize, as Newey only held for an inferior full house.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alex Kulev	240,000	130,000
Paul Newey	Busted

03-05-2022 21:52 UTC+2

Madanzhiev Doubles Through Dimov

Christian Zetzsche

Level 4 : 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Fresh off busting Sirzat Hissou, Zhong Chen raised it up to 3,500. Table short stack Stoyan Madanzhiev then three-bet jammed for the last 20,000 and Ognyan Dimov went all-in over the top for 105,500 to isolate for the €5,000 bounty. Chen asked for a count but ended up folding.

Stoyan Madanzhiev:
Ognyan Dimov:

The board ran out and Madanzhiev's kings prevailed to score the double up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhong Chen	220,000	75,000
Ognyan Dimov	85,500	-12,500
Stoyan Madanzhiev	45,000	25,000
Sirzat Hissou	Busted

03-05-2022 21:27 UTC+2

Grafton Bad Beats Savio

Christian Zetzsche

Level 3 : 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Steve Savio had already vaulted out of his seat as he got his stack in against PokerStars ambassador Sam Grafton with the flop showing .

Steve Savio:
Sam Grafton:

Savio's mood immediately changed when the turn improved Grafton as he was left with the case ace only. "That's bad," he mumbled in French. As the blank river completed the board, Savio grabbed his smart phone to take a picture and then left the tournament area. He returned for a few seconds only to grab his jacket, which he had left on the chair.

Player	Chips	Progress
Sam Grafton	195,000	80,000
Steve Savio	Busted

03-05-2022 18:47 UTC+2

Welcome to the 2022 EPT Prague €10,200 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller

Christian Zetzsche

The PokerStars European Poker Tour has returned to central Europe and one of the most popular stops will unfold at a rather unusual time of the year. Initially slated to kick off in December 2021, the 2022 EPT Prague festival has been rescheduled for March and the first headline event will get underway shortly. The host venue is the same as usual at the Hilton Hotel in Prague, however, it is now owned by Leon Tsoukernik and rebranded to the King's Casino Prague.

One of the High Roller competitions on the schedule is the initial €10,200 No-Limit Hold'em, which will determine a champion on March 6. To spice up the action, Event #1 will contain a bounty portion of €5,000 Bounty while the remaining €5,000 will go to the cash prize pool.

All players receive 100,000 in chips and the levels last 30 minutes each for the entire duration of the tournament. Day 1 will feature a total of 10 levels and two 15-minute breaks with the action getting underway at approximately 7pm local time. The late registration will remain open until the start of Day 2 at 12.30 pm local time to give all last minute additions 20 big blinds.

A 30-second shot clock is in play during the entire tournament and all participants will receive multiple time bank extensions available as well. This tournament allows for one re-entry and thus a maximum of two entries for each player is granted.

The PokerNews team will be providing updates from various marquee events and High Roller competitions, so stay tuned for the return of one of live poker's most well-known festivals.