159 Players Make it Through Day 1a, Jovan Kenjic Bags Chip Lead
The €2,200 Eureka High Roller is always a popular event, and today was no different. Running as part of the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour at the Hilton Prague, Day 1a attracted 1,062 entries. After 16 full levels of play, 159 players made it through to Day 2 and into the money.
After a marathon day of poker, the bubble was a quick one, and the hand for hand phase never truly reached as Kamil Dobosz lost a flip with queens against Franz Bracher's ace-king right before it was about to start, to be eliminated in 160th place on the bubble.
That brought the flight to a finish and, as players bagged and tagged, Jovan Kenjic of Serbia had emerged as the chip leader. Along with a handful of other five figure scores, Kenjic cashed in the same event at the EPT Cyprus back in October, finishing 21st for $13,625. He's now set for another deep run in his second consecutive Eureka High Roller.
In second place was Nicola Grieco, an Italian player who according to Hendon Mob has locked up $649,719 in live cashes. No stranger to high pressure situations, Grieco came fifth in the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event in 2019.
Yaroslav Shkliar of Ukraine finished the flight in third place, Luigi D'Alterio in fourth, and Dorian Melchers in fifth.
Top Ten Day 1a Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jovan Kenjic | Serbia | 806,000 |
| 2 | Nicola Grieco | Italy | 736,000 |
| 3 | Yaroslav Shkliar | Ukraine | 641,000 |
| 4 | Luigi D'Alterio | Italy | 631,000 |
| 5 | Dorian Melchers | France | 595,000 |
| 6 | Hussein Abud | Norway | 547,000 |
| 7 | Juhani Rantala | Finland | 527,000 |
| 8 | Dominykas Mikolaitis | Lithuania | 510,000 |
| 9 | Baurzhan Akimov | Kazakhstan | 502,000 |
| 10 | Jon Ander Martinez | Spain | 497,000 |
Day 1b, the turbo flight of the event, also ran on the same evening, attracting 416 entries. Of those, 62 players made it through. The total prize pool stands at €2,837,760 and payouts will be announced at the start of Day 2.
The Eureka High Roller continues on Monday, December 11 at noon local time. By the end of the night, a new champion will be crowned.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as reporters bring live updates straight from the tournament floor as the event plays down to a winner on Day 2.