Kayhan Mokri reentered soon after busting his first bullet.
"Pocket tens, huh," he said to Hirokazu Kobayashi as he retook his seat.
"Well, what did you have," Niklas Astedt asked him.
"A good calling hand. Pocket nines," Mokri replied.
Mokri then raised to 3,500 in the cutoff and Tsugunari Toma called on the button. Both players checked the K♣4♣3♥ flop.
The turn was the 8♠ and Mokri bet 7,500. Toma called and the 10♠ fell on the river. Mokri then bet another 22,500.
Toma came back with a raise to 50,000. "Here, Santa Claus," Mokri said as he flung his chips into the middle. Toma showed J♣9♠ and Mokri turned over K♠9♥ to win the pot.
Kayhan Mokri was all in for his last 3,000 from the cutoff and up against big blind Niklas Astedt and Hirokazu Kobayashi under the gun.
Kobayashi bet 4,000 on the 7♠K♥J♥ flop and Astedt folded.
Kayhan Mokri: J♠8♠
Hirokazu Kobayashi: K♣10♥
Kobayashi was ahead with a pair of kings as the 2♠ turn gave Mokri more outs with a flush draw. "Oh oh," Mokri said, but he missed the 5♣ river and was sent to the rail.
On the second hand of the day, Tsugunari Toma raised to 2,500 under the gun before Niklas Astedt three-bet to 7,000 on the button. "Let's gamble," Toma said as he moved all in.
Astedt accidentally said call and attempted to take his chips back. "I said call, didn't I? I just woke up," he said before being forced to put in the chips.
Niklas Astedt: A♥J♥
Tsugunari Toma: A♠K♦
The flop came K♥Q♣6♥ and Toma made top pair, while Astedt picked up straight and flush draws. The turn 6♦ was no help to Astedt, while the 4♠ river sent him off to reenter early in the day.
For the second consecutive day, some of the biggest names in poker will gather inside the Hilton Prague for another €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague beginning at 12:30 p.m local time.
The first big buy-in event of the festival was won by Dutch pro Teun Mulder last night, when he defeated Lithuania’s Paulius Plausinaitis heads-up to earn €180,150 in the 15-entry field. Swedish online legend Niklas Astedt also cashed in third place, while Ole Schemion, Kayhan Mokri, Japan’s all-time leading money winner Tsugunari Toma, and past EPT champions Steve O’Dwyer, Dimitar Danchev, and Ognyan Dimov fell short of the money.
€25,000 No-Limit Hold'em I Results
Place
Player
Country
Earnings
1
Teun Mulder
Netherlands
€180,150
2
Paulius Plausinaitis
Lithuania
€108,000
3
Niklas Astedt
Sweden
€72,000
Players once again begin with a starting stack of 100,000. Levels are 30 minutes long and a shot clock will be implemented from the start of play. Late registration is open until the end of Level 10 around 6:15 p.m., with unlimited reentries allowed during the registration period. There is a 15-minute break after every four levels and a 75-minute dinner break scheduled for the end of Level 14 around 8:15 p.m.
It took nearly 17 levels and nine hours of play to crown a champion in yesterday’s star-studded field, and today should be another grueling test as poker’s elite battle for the EPT trophy. PokerNews will be following all the action and providing live updates as the field plays down to a winner today.