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€5,300 Main Event
Day 3 Completed
2025 PokerStars EPT Prague
€5,300 Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info
2025 PokerStars EPT Prague
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 3
Buy-in
€5,300
Prize Pool
€5,936,400
Total Entries
1,224
Level
34
Blinds
150,000 / 300,000
Ante
300,000
Entries
163
Players Left
45
Players Left 1 / 1,224
Filter
Level 20
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Day 3 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague €5,300 Main Event has wrapped up inside the Hilton Prague, and it is Gianfranco Iaculli who will return as the chip leader after building his stack to 2,450,000 — the largest among the 45 remaining players. Close behind is Vasyl Pidhrusnyi, who also enjoyed a strong day and bagged 2,025,000 heading into Day 4.
Iaculli started the day sitting comfortably in the middle of the counts and slowly but steadily increased his stack throughout play. His biggest moment came in a major raising war against Aram Sargsyan, who ended up all in for 640,000. Iaculli’s kings held firm against Sargsyan’s ace-king, pushing him over the two-million mark for the first time.
The chase behind him remains tough, with several notable names still very much in the mix. Fabian Bartuschk (950,000), Maria Lampropulos (905,000), Grzegorz Kozieja (770,000), Lymor Davidson (400,000) and Marius Kudzmanas (380,000) all secured bags and will return with hopes of climbing further up the leaderboard tomorrow.
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 |
Day 3 Highlights
Day 3 began with 163 players already guaranteed €8,350, and the chips started flying the moment cards went in the air. More than 40 players hit the rail in the opening level alone, including Dimitar Danchev and former EPT champion Anton Wigg. They were soon followed by a string of notable exits such as Tomasz Brzezinski, Uri Gilboa, Davidi Kitai, Enrico Camosci, Day 1b chip leader Dimitrios Kilintaris, Roland Rokita and Ole Schemion.
Schemion entered the day well-positioned after a strong performance on Day 2 and continued to battle, but his run came to an end in 55th place for €16,800. After losing a key pot to Kozieja, he was left with five big blinds and could not recover.
Meanwhile, Day 2 chip leader Paawan Bansal kept himself near the top of the standings throughout much of the day. Slow and steady growth brought him to 1,315,000 by the end of play, putting him in seventh place entering Day 4.
It was a rollercoaster day for Matthias Auer, who started with 163,000 and worked his stack up before losing most of it against Roland Rokita’s aces. Auer battled back with several swings and even found a double holding kings against Chaofei Wang’s ace queen, but later doubled up Wang in one of the final hands of the night. He will, nevertheless, return with chips and a shot at a deep finish.
All eyes will also be on Merijn van Rooij, who survived one of the wildest moments of the day. He lost an all in to Traian Stanciu after Stanciu spiked a two outer on the river. Van Rooij had Stanciu covered by just 2,000 and survived the hand. With a chip race taking place before bagging, he was able to secure a bag with 5,000 chips, as players cannot be eliminated during a chip race. He returns tomorrow with a true “chip and a chair” situation that will be closely watched.
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 |
Day 4 resumes on Friday, December 12, at noon local time with blinds starting at Level 21, 10,000 and 15,000 blinds with a 15,000 big blind ante. Levels will continue to run for 90 minutes, with a 15-minute break at the end of each one and a 30-minute extended break after Level 24. Players will also receive a fresh supply of time bank cards at the start of the day.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for full live coverage as we continue tracking the action all the way toward the next EPT Prague Main Event champion.
Level 20
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Level 20
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Day 3 of the 2025 EPT Prague Main Event has reached its end after five full levels of play.
The field has been thinned to just 45 contenders who will return at noon tomorrow for the fourth day of the tournament.
Stay tuned for full chip counts and a recap of the day.
Level 20
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
During the final hand at the table, Chaofei Wang open-jammed his last 98,000 in the middle from the cutoff. Matthias Auer called in the small blind to put his opponent at risk.
Chaofei Wang: A♥Q♦ 
Matthias Auer: Q♠Q♣
It was looking like Wang would become the final elimination of Day 3 when the 4♦3♣7♥ flop and 7♣ turn remained free of aces.
However, the A♦ river gave Wang what he was looking for, making top pair to secure his double-up.
"See you tomorrow, guys," he said with a smile as he counted his end-of-day stack.
Level 20
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Merijn van Rooij was in the cutoff with a raise of 65,000 in front of him before Traian Stanciu reraised to 135,000 in middle position. Van Rooij then moved all in, and Stanciu snap-called.
Traian Stanciu: Q♦Q♣
Merijn van Rooij: A♣7♣
Stanciu was ahead with his queens, but Van Rooij found an ace on the A♦9♣3♦ flop to take the lead. The turn was the 6♠, but Stanciu spiked the two-outer Q♥ on the river to win the pot.
Stanciu's stack was counted down as 340,000, and Van Rooij had just two 1,000 chips remaining after paying off the double-up.
Level 20
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Paawan Bansal opened to 25,000 from under the gun and action folded around to Farbod Nazari in the big blind, who called.
The 3♠4♣9♥ flop was checked by both to the 7♣ turn. Nazari bet 25,000, and Bansal called, taking the players to the Q♦ river.
Nazari checked, and Bansal asked for 85,000. Nazari took some time before mucking his hand, passing the pot to his neighbor.
Level 20
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
In a blind versus blind battle, Pasi Laihinen and Fabio Muhr got all of their chips in the middle before the flop.
Fabio Muhr: J♦J♠
Pasi Laihinen: K♣K♥
Muhr found his jacks crushed against Laihinen's kings, and the board ran out 8♦2♣Q♠3♦5♣ to earn Laihinen the pot. The stacks were counted down, and Laihinen had Muhr's remaining 340,000 covered to send him to the rail.
At another table, Matthias Auer had opened to 25,000 in early position and Chaofei Wang called in the big blind.
The flop came 7♦8♣J♦ and Auer bet another 25,000. Wang then moved all in, and Auer called for 144,000.
Matthias Auer: K♥K♠
Chaofei Wang: A♦8♦
"Fair fight," Auer said as he needed his kings to hold on against Wang's pair and flush draw. The Q♣ turn was safe, while the river was the 6♥ and Auer doubled up, leaving Wang on a short stack.
Level 20
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Conor O'Driscoll opened to 24,000 in the hijack. Ghattas Kortas committed his stack of 220,000 on the button, which Fabian Bartuschk called in the big blind.
O'Driscoll gave it some thought, but ultimately decided to get out of the way to force a showdown.
Ghattas Kortas: A♠J♥
Fabian Bartuschk: 10♠10♦
Kortas added a flush draw to his arsenal on the 9♥6♥K♥ flop, but the 3♦ turn and 9♠ river offered no further help, meaning Kortas said his goodbyes with just a few minutes to play on Day 3.
Level 20
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Gianfranco Iaculli opened to 27,000 from the cutoff and Chady Ojeil defended the big blind.
The 10♦7♥8♣ flop was checked to the 2♥ turn. Ojeil bet 25,000 and Iaculli made it 90,000. Ojeil mucked and gave over more to the current chip leader.
