Dimitar Danchev and Benjamin Chalot built a pot of around 120,000 as they went heads-up to a flop of 4♦7♥7♠. Danchev then bet 40,000 from the small blind, and Chalot raised to 85,000 on the button. Danchev came back with an all-in shove for 160,000, and Chalot quickly called.
Dimitar Danchev: A♠K♠
Benjamin Chalot: 9♦9♠
Danchev needed to improve against Chalot's two nines, but he missed the Q♥ turn and J♦ river, and the EPT champion was sent to the rail.
Fabio Muhr and Vitaliy Kryza went heads-up to a flop of 9♠7♥J♥ when Kryza moved all in for 90,000 from the button and Muhr put him at risk in the hijack.
Vitaliy Kryza: K♥10♥
Fabio Muhr: J♦J♣
Muhr showed top set, while Kryza had straight and flush draws. The 4♣ turn was no help to Kryza, while the river came the A♦ and Muhr held on to earn the early knockout.
Ole Schemion is one of the most decorated players in the history of the PokerStars European Poker Tour. His first-ever recorded live cash on The Hendon Mob is a side event victory at EPT Berlin in 2011, and the German poker mainstay has since racked up 11 more EPT trophies, highlighted by his seven-figure win in the €100,000 Super High Roller at EPT Monte Carlo 2016.
Yesterday, on Day 2 of the 2025 EPT Prague €5,300 Main Event, Schemion secured his 98th cash in an EPT tournament, guaranteeing himself a slice of the €5,936,400 prize pool as the bubble burst late in the evening at the Hilton Hotel Prague. His 12 previous cashes in the Main Event include two final tables, but his best-ever finish remains his fifth place at EPT Prague 2013. While the final table is still some ways away with 163 players remaining out of the 1,224 total entries, Schemion put himself in prime position for another deep run by amassing a stack of 728,000, good for 146 big blinds when play resumes today at noon local time.
Only four players gathered more chips in their hunt for the €1,019,300 top prize. India's Paawan Bansal captured the chip lead with a stack of 850,000, closely followed by Terry Jordon from the UK with 845,000. Canada's Jeffrey Sarwer rounds out the top three with 816,000 in chips, while long-time Dutch pro Tobias Peters continues his stellar 2025 and will return with 789,000.
Paawan Bansal
Start of Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Paawan Bansal
India
850,000
170
2
Terry Jordon
United Kingdom
845,000
169
3
Jeffrey Sarwer
Canada
816,000
163
4
Tobias Peters
Netherlands
789,000
158
5
Ole Schemion
Germany
728,000
146
6
Ryan Mandara
United Kingdom
694,000
139
7
Matan Krakow
Israel
673,000
135
8
Jaromir Hanel
Czechia
654,000
131
9
Ghattas Kortas
Sweden
618,000
124
10
Grzegorz Kozieja
Poland
614,000
123
Grzegorz Kozieja finished 21st at the previous EPT stop in Malta and secured a top-ten stack as he eyes a new career-best placement in an EPT Main Event. EPT Malta winner Tomasz Brzezinski still has a shot at going back-to-back, although he returns short-stacked with just 60,000 chips at his disposal. Four other EPT champions remain in the field; Uri Gilboa (456,000), Anton Wigg (223,000), Dimitar Danchev (215,000), and Davidi Kitai (74,000) are all looking to join the exclusive club of two-time winners. Meanwhile, 2018 PCA champion Maria Lampropulos will be bringing an above-average stack of 363,000 into the third day.
Maria Lampropulos
The Main Event will come back to blinds of 2,000/5,000 with a 5,000 big blind ante. Five 90-minute levels are scheduled for play today, though this may be subject to change. A short break will take place after every level. Day 3 also introduces a 30-second shot clock to the Main Event, and a cards-up feature table will be streamed live on PokerStars' YouTube and Twitch channels all day.
The 163 players have secured themselves the minimum cash of €8,350, with the first pay jump to €9,600 awarded to 143rd place. Five-figure payouts await the top 119, while the real big prizes will be dished out at the final table, with the top eight all receiving at least six-figure sums.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
€ 1,019,300
9
€ 94,150
28-31
€ 22,200
2
€ 636,405
10-11
€ 72,400
32-39
€ 19,300
3
€ 454,550
12-13
€ 60,300
40-55
€ 16,800
4
€ 349,650
14-15
€ 50,300
56-71
€ 14,600
5
€ 269,000
16-17
€ 41,900
72-95
€ 12,700
6
€ 206,900
18-20
€ 34,900
96-119
€ 11,050
7
€ 159,150
21-23
€ 29,400
120-143
€ 9,600
8
€ 122,400
24-27
€ 25,550
144-163
€ 8,350
PokerNews will continue its live coverage of the EPT Prague Main Event on Day 3, so stay tuned as the action will get underway shortly.
