At noon local time Prague will once again be the place to be for all poker enthusiasts in Europe, as Day 1a of the 2017 PokerStars Championship Prague €5,300 Main Event kicks off at the stunning Hilton Hotel Prague. The PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) has previously visited "the City of a Hundred Spires" since 2007 and it is the 11th consecutive year that the PokerStars branded live tour finishes off the year in the Czech Republic.
The flagship tournament of the 43-event strong festival comes with a price tag of €5,300 and all players receive 30,000 in chips. Each Day 1 will play a total of eight levels of 75 minutes each with breaks every two levels and a 75-minute dinner break at the end of level six. Action concludes around midnight local time and the registration remains open until the cards are back in the air for Day 2.
Day 1 Level Structure
Level
Duration
Small Blind
Big Blind
Ante
1
75 minutes
50
100
-
2
75 minutes
75
150
-
Break
20 minutes
3
75 minutes
100
200
25
4
75 minutes
150
300
50
Break
20 minutes
5
75 minutes
200
400
50
6
75 minutes
250
500
75
Dinner Break
75 minutes
7
75 minutes
300
600
100
8
75 minutes
400
800
100
It is the seventh PokerStars Championship Main Event since the rebranding and previous winners include Christian Harder, Kenneth Smaron, Elliot Smith, Raffaele Sorrentino, Pavel Shirshikov and Sebastian Sorensson. Sorrentino almost became the first player to claim two titles in the very first year and finished third in Barcelona after cutting a three-way deal with Sorensson.
2017 PokerStars Championship Main Events at a Glance
PSC Stop
Buy In
Entries
Prize Pool
Champion
Prize
Prize (USD)
Bahamas
$5,300
738
$3,376,712
Christian Harder
$429,664
$429,664
Panama
$5,300
366
$1,775,100
Kenneth Smaron
$293,860
$293,860
Macau
HKD42,400
536
HKD20,796,800
Elliot Smith
HK$2,877,500
$370,245
Monte-Carlo
€5,300
727
€3,525,950
Raffaele Sorrentino
€466,714
$508,281
Sochi
RUB318,000
387
RUB150,000,000
Pavel Shirshikov
RUB29,100,000
$514,893
Barcelona
€5,300
1,682
€8,157,700
Sebastian Sorensson
€987,043
$1,160,285
Back in December 2016 it was Jasper Meijer van Putten that lifted the last EPT Main Event trophy here in Prague after emerging on top out of a field of 1,192 entries, taking home the lion's share of the €5,781,200 prize pool for a career-best score of €699,300. The Dutchman has extended his unbeaten run without being eliminated from a tournament in Prague to nine days in a row after topping a field of 49 entries in Event #2 €10,300 Single Re-Entry. Along with the second PokerStars trophy at the Hilton Hotel, van Putten added further €150,000 to his poker bankroll and will be back to defend his Main Event title in the upcoming days with the confidence at an all-time high.
The €50,000 Super High Roller will play down to a winner later today as well as Timothy Adams holds a commanding lead over Adrian Mateos and Mikita Badziakouski, while Georgios Vrakas leads the final eight in the 2,117-strong PokerStars National Championship €1,100 Main Event. Other finalists include Marco Regonaschi, Yan Shing Tsang and Ludovic Geilich.
The PokerNews live reporting team will provide updates from the following events in Prague:
Dates
Event
Live Updates?
Dec. 10-12
€50,000 PokerStars Championship Super High Roller
No, feature style content
Dec. 12-18
€5,300 PokerStars Championship Main Event
Yes
Dec. 13
€25,500 PokerStars Championship Single-Day High Roller I
Yes
Dec. 14
€25,500 PokerStars Championship Single-Day High Roller II
Winning one big tournament is hard enough, but Marti Roca de Torres was able to do that when he came out of nowhere — he had about $30,000 in live cashes — to win WSOP Europe Main Event last month for €1,115,207.
Now, Roca de Torres is back in action here at PokerStars Championship Prague, having showed up early for the €5,300 Main Event. The Spaniard hopes to make it to two majors in a row and establish himself as one of the breakout stars of 2017 on the felt.
From early position, Thomas Mjeldheim pushed all in for 13,400, a slight overbet into a pot of about 11,000. Saar Wilf stretched and sighed at the board.
"This is not a good card for me," he mused.
Mjeldheim smiled, but he wasn't smiling a few minutes later when Wilf slid some calling chips in. That's because Mjeldheim had for a missed draw. Wilf showed for tens up and Mjeldheim took his leave.
Jose Nunez Fernandez opened under the gun and got three-bet to 1,350 by his neighbor. Ali Reza Fatehi called in the cutoff, as did big blind Georgios Zisimopoulos. Fernandez fired in 6,600, chasing away his neighbor. Fatehi stuck around. Zisimopoulos thought awhile before leaving it heads up.
The flop came and Fernandez bet 4,800. Fatehi put in 11,700 and snap-called an all-in shove for his stack of just under 20,000.
Fernandez:
Fatehi:
The turn meant Fatehi had to sweat a few extra outs but the river assured him of a double. Fernandez whipped out his phone and grabbed a photo of the beat, muttering to himself.
Jaromir Hanel called a bet of 1,500 of Ghattas Kortas in the small blind on the river of a board and was good when Kortas showed , as the Czech on the button had . Soon after it was Helio Neves who claimed the spotlight on the table in two consecutive hands.
Hand 1
The flop 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.
Helio Neves:
Kjell Ove Dyb:
After the turn and river run out, Dyb started to celebrate but quickly fell silent as he noticed the full house of Neves, taking a big hit to his stack.
Hand 2
A raise by Hanel resulted in the three-bet to 1,500 by Neves in the small blind and Hanel called. The flop of was checked, and Neves' bet of 3,000 on the turn was called by Hanel. After the river, Neves made it 8,700 to go and Hanel called, but tapped the table in defeat when he was being shown for top two pair by Neves.
Those two hands vaulted Neves from a starting stack into the top spot in the third level of the day.
Luca Stevanato raised to 700 in the hijack and got three-bet to 2,250 by John Juanda on the button. Stevanato put in 6,950 and Juanda responded by jamming for about 20,000 effective. Stevanato quickly called with and was a big favorite over . However, the board left him asking for a queen on the river. It was an instead.
The media cards of Jose Nunez Fernandez and Saar Wilf ended up on the main registration desk, which meant that both were eliminated. A quick look at their former table quickly brought to light who had taken both stacks as Ali Reza Fatehi was sitting behind a mountain of chips.
According to Fatehi, it was a three-way all in with pocket aces for him, pocket jacks for Saar Wilf and pocket queens for Nunez Fernandez. Fatehi flopped a set while one of the opponents turned the nut flush draw. However, the river paired the board and the full house of Fatehi scored a double knock out.
In a battle of the big names and High Roller regulars, Steve O'Dwyer bested Nick Petrangelo to send the latter to the rail, though both may very likely meet again the next day in the €25,500 Single-Day High Roller.
With approximately 13,000 in the middle and the board reading , O'Dwyer bet 9,000 and Petrangelo called with another 22,000 behind. The fell on the river and O'Dwyer moved all in to see Petrangelo quickly call with for a flopped set of sevens. O'Dwyer had the best of it with for a turned set of jacks and that was it.
After an open to 1,100, Benjamin Chalot 3-bet to 3,200 from the hijack. Over on the button, Sam Greenwood cold 4-bet to 8,500 out of a 40,000 stack. The blinds and initial raiser folded, Chalot called.
Chalot checked on and Greenwood bet 4,000. Chalot shoved all in and after about half a minute or so, Greenwood called.
Sam Greenwood:
Benjamin Chalot:
The on the turn wasn't one of the cards that immediately helped Greenwood, and neither was the on the river. Greenwood done and dusted, Chalot up to 85,000.
Sergi Reixach opened for 1,400 in middle position and Anton Wigg defended the big blind. Both checked the flop, bringing a board of . Wigg check-called 1,800 and then checked the . Reixach jammed and Wigg snapped for his last 7,000 or so. He had to muck his though, when Reixach showed for top two.
"Good luck, guys," Wigg said with a sigh before grabbing his jacket.