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.
