A full board of 2♦6♦K♥2♥9♥ was showing with around 30,000 chips in the pot when Filip Mikulas led out for 15,000 from the big blind, and Alessandro De Michele put in a raise to 45,000 from the hijack. Mikulas looked back at the board and checked out his stack, which had around 90,000 in it after his bet.
Ultimately, Mikulas couldn't make the fold and after he made the call, De Michele revealed a full house holding K♦K♠. Mikulas tapped the table and mucked, and the big pot was pushed to De Michele.
Savov Plamenov opened to 5,000 from middle position and was three-bet to 25,000 by Philip Joyce in the cutoff — leaving himself just 5,500 behind. Patrik Zidek called cold from the small blind and Plamenov folded.
Zidek shoved on the 8♥9♥J♠ flop and Joyce called all in.
Philip Joyce: 7♦7♠
Patrik Zidek: 9♣9♠
Joyce was in rough shape against Zidek's flopped set, but the 10♣ turn improved Joyce to a straight to take the lead.
The 6♣ river bricked out for Zidek and Joyce was awarded the double up.
Allah Atf opened from middle position to 6,500 and Scott Margereson three-bet the cutoff to 17,000. Philip Joyce took his time then four-bet to 29,000 from the big blind. Atf quickly folded, Margereson shoved, and Joyce snap-called for his stack of 70,000.
Philip Joyce: A♥A♠
Scott Margereson: A♣K♥
Joyce had the goods and improved to the nut flush on the 2♠8♠2♦5♠9♠ runout, which secured him a double-up as the bubble starts to loom closer.
Sofianos Vergitsis opened to 6,000 from middle position and Markus Wellen called from the small blind. Marle Spragg shoved for her last 12,500 from the big blind and Vergitsis called. Wellen then back-raised all in and Vergitsis got out of the way.
Marle Spragg: 6♣6♠
Markus Wellen: A♦K♥
It was a fair fight, but the Q♣8♠8♥7♠7♦ runout counterfeited Spragg's pair — leaving Wellen best with his ace-kicker.
"I knew it was coming the hard way," Spragg said. "Good luck."
There were already around 25,000 chips in the middle on a board of K♠9♣6♠K♥ when Samy Hazan led out for 10,500 from the small blind, Luca Moschitta folded from the cutoff, and Filip Mikulas called on the button.
A 3♥ dropped on the river and Hazan shoved with a covering stack, and Mikulas snap-called for his stack of 71,500.
Hazan showed trips with K♣Q♣, but Mikulas had improved to a full house on the river with 3♣3♠ to double up, much to the dismay of Hazan.
Elsewhere, Soraya Estrada was seen scooping up the last of Benjamin Spragg's stack, and big-stacked Adam Polek has around 270,000 now, down 150,000 from his peak.
There were around 35,000 chips in the pot on a flop of 9♦10♥Q♥ when Dimitrios Kilintaris checked and Magnus Persson bet 21,000. Ondrej Goetz then shoved for 62,000, which gave Kilintaris a difficult decision. After around a minute, Kilintaris folded, and Persson called, which left Goetz at risk.
Ondrej Goetz: 10♠9♠
Magnus Persson: A♥8♥
Persson had a flush draw with a gutshot and was looking to take down the flopped two pair of Goetz. However, the runout of 2♣7♠ was no help to Persson, and Goetz doubled up.
There were around 40,000 chips in the pot on a flop of 2♣6♥9♣ when Adam Polek fired 20,000 from under the gun and Conor O'Driscoll shoved for 60,000 from the next seat. Polek asked for a count and quickly made the call once he realized it was 40,000 more.
Conor O'Driscoll: A♣10♣
Adam Polek: 6♣5♣
Polek had the best of it after he paired his six but had to dodge the overcards and better flush draw of O'Driscoll. An A♥ on the turn sent O'Driscoll into the lead, and Polek couldn't catch up on the 2♦ river, which meant O'Driscoll doubled up.
Anders Hansen had raised from the hijack and Daniel Doroteo shoved for 67,000 from the big blind. Hansen called.
Daniel Doroteo: K♠K♥
Anders Hansen: A♥K♣
Doroteo was the at-risk player but was ahead with his pocket kings. However, the chances of him winning the hand were drastically reduced when the 8♥9♠A♦ hit the baize, as Hansen paired his ace. A 9♥ turn and 6♥ river changed nothing, and Doroteo was the bubble boy.
Poker players from around the globe have made their way to the 2024 European Poker Tour Prague, which got off to a lively start today after 352 entrants joined Day 1a of the €1,100 Euerka Main Event here inside the luxurious Hilton Prague.
By the time the Day-2 bubble had burst, Andre Winkler emerged as the chip leader of the 53 remaining players after amassing 396,000 through a bit over 16 levels of play. Not far behind him is Sami Bechahed (387,000), who won the PokerStars NAPT Main Event last year for a career-best $268,945 score.
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Andre Winkler
Germany
396,000
2
Sami Bechahed
France
387,000
3
Henri Antikainen
Finland
381,000
4
Dimitrios Kilintaris
Greece
364,000
5
Humberto Jor Lopes Martins
Spain
353,000
6
Nicat Hasanov
Azerbaijan
326,000
7
Bartosz Jablonski
Poland
324,000
8
Adam Polek
Czech Republic
305,000
9
Ondrej Goetz
Czech Republic
296,000
10
Krzysztof Krawczyk
Poland
295,000
Philip Joyce, who placed second in the UKIPT Nottingham Main Event last month, ended the day with an above-average stack of 235,000 despite being on the brink of elimination at one point. Joyce's good fortune continued after he found himself on the right side of a cooler with aces against Scott Margereson's ace-king for another double up shortly thereafter.
Philip Joyce
Other notables who made it to Day 2 include EPT Main Event Champion Robin Ylitalo (239,000), Petar Andreev (207,000), Conor O'Driscoll (172,000), and Alessandro De Michele (129,000).
Among the less fortunate who entered but fell short of a Day-2 berth include Vanessa Kade, Marle Spragg, Benjamin Spragg, Uri Gilboa, and Barny Boatman, who busted two bullets despite having some early success after making a big call early on.
The Day-2 bubble burst on just the second deal of hand-for-hand play after Daniel Doroteo got all in preflop with pocket kings against Anders Hansen's ace-king. Hansen ended up putting a beat on Doroteo after flopping an ace and Doroteo was unable to catch a miracle one-outer on the turn or river — concluding play for Day 1a much to the delight of all the remaining players.
All players who earned a Day-2 berth are automatically in the money, although the exact amount of a min-cash won't be calculated until after all starting flights have been played to completion.
Anyone who failed to make Day 2 still has several more chances as there are still four starting flights over the next couple of days. The next flight is Day 1c, which will get underway on Thursday, December 5 at 11 a.m. local time. Day 2 will get begin on Saturday, December 7 at 11 a.m.
Be sure to stick with PokerNews for continuing coverage as the Eureka Main Event is just getting warmed up!
