Vitezslav Cech Eyeing Another Deep Run Going into Day 4 of EPT Prague Main Event
It's crunch time in the €5,300 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague €5,300 Main Event. Today, just 45 hopefuls from the 1,224-entry field will return to the Hilton Prague for Day 4 as they continue to battle for the lion's share of the €5,936,400 prize pool.
Four days ago, Vitezslav Cech came agonizingly close to making the final table of the €1,650 PS Open Main Event, finishing in tenth place on the final table bubble for a career-best score of €41,420. Today, Cech founds himself in a great spot to make another run at an EPT final table, this time on an even bigger stage in the Main Event, coming in with the second-largest stack at 2,025,000.
But there's still a long way to go before the final table is reached, with plenty of experienced players standing between Cech and the EPT Main Event glory. Among them is start-of-day chip leader Gianfranco Iaculli, who ended the night yesterday with 2,450,000. Iaculli has already surpassed his deep run in last year's edition of this event, where he placed 52nd for €19,800. To surpass his career-best score of €70,700, Iaculli will need to make the final table of this event, where all nine players will be guaranteed at least €94,150.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gianfranco Iaculli | Italy | 2,450,000 | 163 |
| 2 | Vitezslav Cech | Czechia | 2,025,000 | 135 |
| 3 | Vasyl Pidhrusnyi | Ukraine | 2,000,000 | 133 |
| 4 | Ding Fan | United Kingdom | 1,925,000 | 128 |
| 5 | Eyal Maaravi | Israel | 1,570,000 | 105 |
| 6 | Filippo Ragone | Italy | 1,340,000 | 89 |
| 7 | Paawan Bansal | India | 1,315,000 | 88 |
| 8 | Roman Stoica | Republic of Moldova | 1,270,000 | 85 |
| 9 | Matan Krakow | Israel | 1,065,000 | 71 |
| 10 | Jeffrey Sarwer | Canada | 1,055,000 | 70 |
Maria Lampropulos (905,000) and Lymor Davidson (400,000) return as the last two women remaining in the Main Event, each looking to become the fourth woman ever to win an EPT Main Event title, following Sandra Naujoks, Liv Boeree, and Victoria Coren Mitchell. Mitchell is the most recent woman to win an EPT Main Event, claiming her second title at EPT Sanremo in 2014. Lampropulos has plenty of experience on poker's biggest stages, and in 2018 she won the PCA Main Event for $1,081,100.
Other notables returning for Day 4 include Paawan Bansal (1,315,000), Fabian Bartuschk (950,000), Grzegorz Kozieja (770,000), Tobias Peters (505,000), and Fahredin Mustafov (410,000).
Action is set to resume at noon, starting at Level 21, with the blinds at 10,000/15,000 (15,000). The plan is to play five 90-minute levels or until 16 players remain. There will be either a 15 or 20-minute break after each level of play, and a possible dinner break later in the evening. All remaining players have secured at least €16,800, and the first pay jump of the day will occur when 39 players remain.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | € 1,019,300 | 12-13 | € 60,300 |
| 2 | € 636,405 | 14-15 | € 50,300 |
| 3 | € 454,550 | 16-17 | € 41,900 |
| 4 | € 349,650 | 18-20 | € 34,900 |
| 5 | € 269,000 | 21-23 | € 29,400 |
| 6 | € 206,900 | 24-27 | € 25,550 |
| 7 | € 159,150 | 28-31 | € 22,200 |
| 8 | € 122,400 | 32-39 | € 19,300 |
| 9 | € 94,150 | 40-45 | € 16,800 |
| 10-11 | € 72,400 |
Be sure to stay tuned to this page, as the PokerNews live reporting team will be on site to bring you all the exciting action from Day 4 of the EPT Prague Main Event.