Radek Jantos shoved for 18,000 from under the gun with Tjenno Eskes calling from the next position and Andrea Peroni calling from the big blind.
With Jantos all in, the dealer fanned a flop of 2♥3♥10♦. Peroni check-folded to a bet of 16,000 from Eskes, and after the cameras arrived at the table, the cards were flipped over.
Radek Jantos: K♦7♦
Tjenno Eskes: 9♠9♥
Jantos was in need of a king or some running diamonds or he would finish just shy of the money. The 9♣ fell on the turn to give Eskes a set and leave Jantos drawing dead. An inconsequential 2♣ came on the river and everyone in the tournament was one elimination away from the money.
Luke Porter opened from under the gun and was three-bet by Bogdan Munteanu in the hijack. Action folded back around to Porter, who four-bet to approximately 70,000. Munteanu responded with a shove for a 331,000 total and Porter called to put Munteanu at risk.
Bogdan Munteanu: K♠K♥
Luke Porter: A♦A♠
It was a brutal cooler for Munteanu, but the 6♥K♣10♦ flop vaulted him into the lead with a set of kings. However, in a cruel twist of fate, the A♥ was dealt on the turn, which got a collective gasp from onlookers as Porter retook the lead with a set of aces.
The J♣ river sealed Munteanu's fate and he was eliminated on the stone bubble.
Anton Kraous opened to 8,000. Adi Rajkovic three-bet to 55,000 leaving himself around 25,000 behind. Kraous shoved and Rajokvic called all in for his tournament life and 81,000.
"I'm in bad shape," said Rajkovic as the first all-in hand took place.
Adi Rajkovic: A♠J♠
Anton Kraous: K♠10♦
Turns out Rajkovic wasn't in as bad shape as he thought, but it got worse as the K♦5♥3♠ flop gave Kraous top pair and the lead. The turn 8♠ did gave Rajkovic outs to a flush, but the J♦ was too little too late and he became these second elimination on the bubble.
Jaehyung Park open-jammed from the hijack with a stack that covered the entire table. Jeremie Zouari was next to act in the cutoff and decided to commit them into the middle. After the rest of the table folded, and the camera crews arrived, the cards were revealed.
Jeremie Zouari: J♥J♣
Jaehyung Park: 4♥3♣
As there had already been two eliminations during this hand, Zouari just had to avoid an unfortunate runout to double-up and be in the money.
The board ran out 5♠3♠10♠5♥K♠ and although Park hit a pair of threes, it wasn't enough to beat the pair of jacks of Zouari.
Paul Carr narrowly squeaked into the money with just 7,000 chips to his name. After the bubble burst, he folded a few hands before being forced all in from the big blind. Davidi Kitai called, but Tom Cohen raised to 15,000, pushing Kitai out of the hand and setting up a showdown between Carr and Cohen.
Cohen revealed K♥J♣, while Carr, yet to look at his cards, turned over K♣Q♦ to the crowd’s surprise. The flop, however, brought 2♣K♦J♦, giving Cohen two pair and putting Carr on the brink of elimination.
The 4♦ turn changed nothing, but an unexpected Q♠ on the river gave Carr a better two pair and a lifeline with a critical double-up.
A few hands later, Cohen raised from under the gun to 8,000, and Carr pushed all in for 15,000. Seeking a potential comeback, Carr was met with a call, and the cards were revealed:
Paul Carr: A♥J♠
Tom Cohen: A♣K♦
This time, there was no last-minute salvation for Carr as the board ran out A♦2♦7♠Q♥10♦, sending him to the rail. Despite the short-lived comeback, Carr left with a respectable finish and a story to tell.
Scott Hall opened to 8,000 from middle position and Fintan Hand shoved for his last 56,000 from the small blind. Hall thought it over, but eventually decided to stick in a call to put Hand at risk.
Fintan Hand: A♣Q♦
Scott Hall: A♦J♥
Hand was the favorite to double and remained that way on the 5♣2♦A♥ flop and K♥ turn; however, the J♠ river paired Hall's jack on the end — forcing Hand to settle for a min-cash as play winds down for the evening.
For the third consecutive year, the European Poker Tour Prague Main Event has reached new heights, with a record-breaking 1,458 entrants converging at the Hilton Prague to chase EPT glory. Of those, just 191 remain in contention for the title of Main Event Champion and the €1,146,500 first-place prize — the largest share of the €7,071,300 prize pool.
Leading the pack is Sylwia Studniarz, who managed to end with an impressive 842,000 chips. Studniarz only has two recorded live cashes on The Hendon Mob, however, one of them is a win from an EPT Ladies Event in Barcelona last year for €10,670. Anton Bergstrom sits second with 715,000, and Pierre Calamusa rounds out the top three with an even 700,000 in his stack.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Sylwia Studniarz
Poland
842,000
168
2
Anton Bergstrom
Sweden
715,000
143
3
Pierre Calamusa
France
700,000
140
4
Luke Porter
United Kingdom
696,000
139
5
Jacob Amsellem
France
695,000
139
6
Marian Virlanuta
Romania
586,000
117
7
Cesar Garcia
Spain
585,000
117
8
Konstantinos Nanos
Greece
555,000
111
9
Alexander Ivarsson
Sweden
539,000
108
10
Josef Schusteritsch
Austria
536,000
107
Action of the Day
Day 2 began with 69 new entrants joining the 464 returning players from both starting flights with hopes of quickly running up a stack. While most fizzled out early, including Thomas Santerne, Juha Helppi, Fabrice Bigot, and Parker Talbot.
PokerStars ambassador Fintan Handgot off to a hot start after eliminating Alessandro Siena early on. Meanwhile, fellow PokerStars ambassador Sam Grafton spent a good part of the day on the feature table and even managed to flop quads to bust Thomas Swensen. It was a bumpy road for Grafton, however, as he only mananged to bag a below-average stack worth 93,000. Grafton shared a few words on his EPT Prague experience thus far and poker in general at the end of the day:
"It's a deluxe tournament, so it takes a lot, being on the feature table with a lot of really good players. I'm used to playing tournaments where if you make Day 3 you're either down to the last three or four players or you've won it! So this is really a long haul, but I'm just excited for a deep run."
"There's a huge appetite for live poker and I think that people want two things: good tournaments with good structures. Plus reasonable rake, good dealers and then a great location to go to — and Prague has all of that. It sounds simple, but it's hard to get those."
Sam Grafton
While Grafton was able to earn a Day 3 berth, many other notables were not so fortunate. Among those who were present in Day 2 but fell short of the money include Vanessa Kade, Kenny Hallaert, Robin Ylitalo, and William Kassouf — who ran jacks into aces in the second level of the day.
The money bubble didn't take long, as two players busted at two separate tables just a few rounds into hand-for-hand play. Bogdan Munteanu was the first player to bust in particularly brutal fashion after getting all in with kings against Luke Porter's aces. Munteanu flopped a set of kings to take the lead, but Porter turned a set of aces to end Munteanu's run. At another table, Adi Rajkovic suffered a milder beat after getting all in with ace-jack and getting outflopped by Anton Kraous' king-ten. The simultaneous elimination meant that both players split a min-cash for €4,275 each.
Bogdan Munteanu
A handful of other notables were awarded a min-cash of €8,550 after getting eliminated in the half-hour between the bubble bursting and Day 2 ending, including Merijn Van Rooij, Morten Klein, Duco ten Haven, and Hand, who suffered a bad beat on the river against Scott Hall with just a few hands remaining.
Other notables to watch out for in Day 3 include Jerry Odeen (495,000), Max Neugebauer (363,000), Leo Margets (227,000), EPT Main Event champions Davidi Kitai (194,000) and Padraig O'Neill (134,000), and WSOP Main Event champion Espen Jorstad (124,000).
Day 3 will get underway tomorrow at noon local time on Level 16, which features 2,000/5,000 blinds with a 5,000 big-blind ante. A 30-second shot clock will be implemented from Day 3 onwards, with each player receiving six time bank cards to use at their discretion.
Everyone remaining has already locked up a cash of at least €8,550, but with a seven-figure payday awaiting the eventual winner, the action is sure to be fierce as players continue to navigate their way to the final table.
Be sure to get all the latest updates from PokerNews as we continue to cover the action right up until the latest EPT Main Event champion is crowned!
