€10,300 EPT High Roller Day 1 | 2024 PokerStars EPT Prague

12-13-2024 18:08 UTC+1

Tajiou Busts With Short Stack

Matt Warburton

Level 5 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Sylwester Fortuna raised to 600 from early position, Niklas Astedt called, then Mounir Tajiou moved all in for 4,500. Fortuna isolated and Astedt folded to leave two players to flip their cards.

Mounir Tajiou: Q♠9♦ All in
Sylwester Fortuna: A♠10♠

The board ran out 7♠10♦8♣4♠J♠ with the river bringing a straight for Tajiou, but also a flush for Fortuna. Tajiou was eliminated as Fortuna dragged in the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Sylwester Fortuna	26,000 26,000	26,000
Mounir Tajiou	Busted

Tags: Mounir Tajiou Niklas Astedt Sylwester Fortuna

12-13-2024 17:55 UTC+1

Nemeth Caught Bluffing

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Maxime Taldir

Level 5 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Armin Rezaei opened to 1,300 from middle position. Andras Nemeth on the button was the only one to call.

On a board of J♣J♦K♠K♦, Nemeth bet 1,200, then fired a second barrel of 3,500. Rezaei check-called both times.

After Rezaei checked again the 6♣ river, Nemeth bet 8,000. Rezaei made the call with A♣Q♥ and it was good enough to scoop the pot because Nemeth was bluffing with 7♥5♥.

Player	Chips	Progress
Armin Rezaei	185,000 39,000	39,000
Teun Mulder	46,000 46,000	46,000
Andras Nemeth	25,000 19,000	19,000

Tags: Andras Nemeth Armin Rezaei

12-13-2024 17:52 UTC+1

Pichierri Chipping Up

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Barry Russell

Level 5 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Martin Sedlak raised under the gun to 1,200, Koyes Miah called from the cutoff and Alessandro Pichierri called in the big blind.

Action checked around on a flop of 5♦10♣Q♥. Pichierri led when the 7♣ hit the turn for 3,000 but was quickly raised to 8,500 by Sedlak. Miah folded then Pichierri called.

Pichierri checked when the 5♣ completed the board and Sedlak checked back. Pichierri tabled Q♣8♠ and took the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alessandro Pichierri	75,000 49,800	49,800
Koyes Miah	40,000 40,000	40,000
Martin Sedlak	34,000 34,000	34,000

Tags: Alessandro Pichierri Koyes Miah Martin Sedlak

12-13-2024 17:48 UTC+1

Nevalainen Makes Quads

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Matt Warburton

Level 5 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Janne Nevalainen raised to 1,300 from early position, Simas Karaliunas three-bet to 4,000 from the button and Nevalainen called.

Nevalainen checked on the 4♥J♠9♥ flop and Karaliunas checked behind. The turn was the 10♥ and Nevalainen led for 7,000, which Karaliunas called.

The river came the 9♠ and Nevalainen used a time bank before pushing in a stack of blues worth 30,000, which was more than half of his stack. This sent Karaliunas into the tank himself before he made the call.

Nevalainen tabled 9♦9♣ for quad nines. His opponent nodded in approval as he mucked and Nevalainen won the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Janne Nevalainen	108,000
Simas Karaliunas	26,000

Tags: Janne Nevalainen Simas Karaliunas

12-13-2024 17:36 UTC+1

Enders Takes From Worthington-Leese

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Maxime Taldir

Level 5 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Romain Stoica opened to 1,200 from middle position. Peteris Enders in the hijack called, but Leo Worthington-Leese in the cutoff three-bet to 5,200. The button and the blinds folded, as well as Stoica, but Enders called.

Worthington-Leese continued for 3,200 on the 6♦A♦10♣ flop and was called, then he checked back the 2♦ turn.

Both players checked again the 9♦ river and Enders flipped over A♣J♣ for top pair, while Worthington-Leese cards' went into the muck.

Player	Chips	Progress
Peteris Enders	85,000 58,000	58,000
Leo Worthington-Leese	40,000 6,000	6,000

Tags: Leo Worthington-Leese Peteris Enders Romain Stoica

12-13-2024 17:21 UTC+1

Top Ten Chip Counts Following Second Break

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Matt Warburton

Level 5 : 300/600, 600 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Raul Gallego	154,800 14,800	14,800
Ka Kwan Lau	149,500 9,500	9,500
Niklas Astedt	146,500 21,500	21,500
Armin Rezaei	146,000 1,800	1,800
Anton Wigg	142,000 57,000	57,000
Kazuhiko Yotsushika	140,500 6,500	6,500
Daniel Rezaei	136,000
Artsiom Lasouski	135,000 2,000	2,000
Joris Ruijs	124,300

Level: 5

Blinds: 300/600

Ante: 600

12-13-2024 17:02 UTC+1

Players Heading for 20-Minute Break

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Matt Warburton

Level 4 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

Players in the EPT High Roller are heading for their second 20-minute break of the day. There are now 185 entries and 151 players remaining.

12-13-2024 17:01 UTC+1

Thiriart Paid for Queens, Dukic Busts

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Matt Warburton

Level 4 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

Nenad Dukic open-raised to 1,000 from under the gun, leaving himself just 500 behind. He picked up two calls, one from Ilya Nikiforov, before Arthur Thiriart three-bet to 5,200 from the small blind. Dukic put the rest of his chips in and Nikiforov also called.

The flop came 4♥10♣7♥ and Thiriart continued for 5,600, which Nikiforov called. Both players checked it back on the K♠ turn.

The river was the 7♦ and Thiriart fired out a bet of 9,500 and Nikiforov used two time bank cards before making the call. Players revealed their hands.

Nikiforov had A♠J♥ for ace-high. Dukic had A♣3♦ and also had ace-high. Thiriart turned over Q♣Q♠ for pocket queens, two pair with the sevens on board to win the pot. Dukic busted and Nikiforov took a blow to his stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Arthur Thiriart	110,000 69,000	69,000
Ilya Nikiforov	20,000 13,000	13,000
Nenad Dukic	Busted

Tags: Arthur Thiriart Ilya Nikiforov Nenad Dukic

12-13-2024 16:59 UTC+1

Flashback: Padraig O'Neill Turns 12 Big Blinds into €1,030,000 En Route to 2023 EPT Prague Main Event Victory

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Sandra Barbour

Level 4 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

The road to PokerStars European Poker Tour glory always has plenty of twists and turns, and the record-breaking 2023 EPT €5,300 Prague Main Event was no exception.

Jon Kyte, who had led the tournament from Day 3, entered the finale with 229 big blinds and a historic chip lead, one that was assumed to be unassailable. Padraig O'Neill had other ideas and was unexpectedly awarded the final EPT Trophy of the 2023 season after overcoming the Norwegian in heads-up play.

Known affectionately as "Smidge" in the Irish poker community, O'Neill came into the day as the shortest stack and turned his 12 big blinds into a €1,030,000 payout. With the victory, he became Ireland's second-ever EPT Main Event champion, 11 years after Steve O'Dwyer reigned supreme in Monte Carlo.

2023 EPT Prague €5,300 Main Event Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize (EUR)
1	Padraig O'Neill	Ireland	€1,030,000
2	Jon Kyte	Norway	€643,000
3	Umberto Ruggeri	Italy	€459,240
4	Cheng Zhao	China	€353,240
5	Adam Wagner	Czechia	€271,660
6	Grigorii Rodin	Russian Federation	€209,000
7	Govert Metaal	Netherlands	€160,750
8	Marle Spragg	United States	€123,600
9	Vincent Meli	France	€95,000

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