Mrakes Shines on Home Turf on Day 1a of PokerStars Championship Prague Main Event
It's already been a great year for Michal Mrakes in his home country of Czech Republic, and it could be still better if he can take down PokerStars Championship Prague €5,300 Main Event.
While there's a long way to go before he can make that a reality, Mrakes has taken the first step here on Day 1a, bagging a huge stack of 202,700 to rank first among the 77 players who bagged chips at the close of play. A total of 193 entries were logged in the first of two starting flights.
Mrakes has already his two nice scores in his home country this year. He got first in a €1K event here for €200,000 and then took 14th in the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event for €46,594. Overall, he's just shy of $1 million in cashes, so he'll be a player to keep an eye on going forward.
Mrakes got a huge stack early on, reportedly picking up aces against kings and then getting the blades again in a massive all in pot, this time holding against a player who tried jamming rags at the wrong time.
Another WSOPE headliner — actually, the WSOPE headliner — also made waves. Marti Roca de Torres, who took down the Main Event just a couple of hours to the west last month, sits unofficially in second with 170,900. He flopped top two with jack-nine suited in a three-bet pot against Steve O'Dwyer, and the super high roller, who had been looking like a favorite to finish among the leaders, sent Roca de Torres a full double when he couldn't get away from pocket tens.
O'Dwyer did manage to bag 52,800, though. Others making it through included Martin Staszko, €50K Super High Roller winner Timothy Adams, Sergi Reixach, Adrian Mateos and Dietrich Fast.
Anton Wigg, Sam Greenwood, Vladimir Troyanovskiy, David Peters, Juha Helppi — interviewed here by PokerNews — and PokerStars Team Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier are among those who will have to count on a side event or one of the remaining high rollers if they hope to add a trophy to their collections from here in the Czech capital.
Players who didn't bust out of Day 1a can fire Day 1b, expected to be the larger of the two starting flights, which starts Wednesday at noon. Come back to PokerNews then for more live coverage.
Top 10 Counts
| Player | Country | Chip Count | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michal Mrakes | Czech Republic | 202,700 |
| 2 | Marti Roca De Torres | Spain | 170,900 |
| 3 | Akin Tuna | Germany | 155,600 |
| 4 | Mikhail Rudoy | Russia | 142,400 |
| 5 | Anton Yakuba | Russia | 139,800 |
| 6 | Oleg Vasylchenko | Ukraine | 138,900 |
| 7 | Martin Staszko | Czech Republic | 133,100 |
| 8 | Morten Halvorsen | Norway | 131,800 |
| 9 | Erik Walfridsson | Sweden | 127,700 |
| 10 | Fidan Zahiti | Sweden | 125,500 |
. It was O'Dwyer who bet 7,800 after it was checked to him and Kuzmanovic folded, while Rosa De Torres check-raised to 25,900. O'Dwyer called and the 
fell on the turn. 
, while the Spaniard was ahead with 
for two pair. The 
on the river was a blank and Roca De Torres doubled into a massive stack.
turn.
fell on the river and Casiraghi checked. Adams moved all in for around 40,000 and the Italian called for slightly less. Adams rolled over the 
for the flopped nuts and Casiraghi mucked 
for the inferior straight to join the rail.
. Wigg check-called 1,800 and then checked the 
though, when Reixach showed 
for top two.
on the river. Greenwood done and dusted, Chalot up to 85,000.
fell on the river and O'Dwyer moved all in to see Petrangelo quickly call with 
and was a big favorite over 
board left him asking for a queen on the river. It was an 
instead.
and was good when Kortas showed 
and Neves bet 2,400 in the big blind. Kjell Ove Dyb called and Kortas raised to 7,100. Neves moved all in for 25,500 and Dyb shoved over the top, while Kortas reluctantly folded with fewer than one third of the starting stack behind.
turn was called by Hanel. After the 
river assured him of a double. Fernandez whipped out his phone and grabbed a photo of the beat, muttering to himself.
