As of 14:00 CET, the remaining 19 players out of a field of 251 entries in the €1,800 + €200 World Poker Tour National Main Event at the Corinthia Hotel in Prague will battle for the title and first-place prize of €105,000. Simeon Naydenov leads the field with 821,000 in chips, but the World Series of Poker Bracelet winner faces stiff competition from online legend Chris "Big Huni" Hunichen (794,000) and Zo Karim (615,000). Karim is no stranger at the tables and his largest-ever score came from a third place at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown in April 2013 for $252,190.
Other notables include tournament director Artur Voskanyan (564,000), WPT Cyprus 2014 champion and WPT Prague 2012 runner-up Alexander Lakhov (554,000), Alex Goulder (484,000), Sebastian Langrock (441,000) and former football star Sergej Barbarez (427,000). Jean-Philippe Piquette (99,000) and Vladimir Velikov (82,000) will be among the shortest stacks when play resumes in level 19 at blinds 4,000-8,000 / ante 1,000.
After the next bustout, the field will be redrawn to the final two tables and the official eight-handed final table will then be streamed live on the internet with a delay of 30 minutes. The minimum payout is €4,600 and the PokerNews team will be back at the King's Casino to bring you all the crucial hands until the winner is crowned.
It only took two minutes after the restart of Day 3 to reduce the field to the final two tables. In a battle of the blinds, Vladimir Velikov was all in and at risk preflop out of the big blind with and had a kicker advantage against the of Niclas Adolfsson. However, the board ran out and Velikov was sent to the rail in 19th place for €4,600.
Alexander Lakhov min-raised and Manuel Sanchez Morito moved all in for 92,000 out of the small blind. Fellow short stack Mathias Kürschner moved all in out of the big blind as well and Lakhov quickly folded, otherwise he said he would have snap-called also.
Kürschner:
Sanchez Morito:
The Spaniard was in desperate need of some help, but the flop was the exact opposite. It was all over on the turn and the meaningless river completed the board.
Alex Goulder raised to 18,000 and Simeon Naydenov three-bet to 45,000. Koray Aldemir moved all in for 234,000 from the hijack and Mathias Kürschner tank-folded in the small blind. Goulder called and that enforced a fold from Naydenov.
Goulder:
Aldemir:
There was no help on the and that sent the Austrian to the rail in 17th place for €5,200.
Zo Karim raised to 19,000 and received three calls from Artur Voskanyan, Andy Seth and Sergej Barbarez in the big blind. On the flop, Barbarez check-raised all in for 350,000 and Karim looked him up after he made a continuation bet of 34,000 and Voskanyan called that bet. Seth folded and so did Voskanyan after the shove of Barbarez.
Karim:
Barbarez:
The on the turn gave Barbarez a few outs less and the German was sent to the rail in 16th place when the river completed the board. He takes home €5,200 and the next payout step is already €6,100.
Zo Karim raised and Oliver Heidel three-bet to 54,000 out of the small blind. Karim moved all in with the superior stack and the German called off for almost 400,000 in chips. He had the better hand preflop in but Karim improved with on a board of . Heidel takes home €6,100 and a bad beat story.
Artur Voskanyan raised to 24,000 from under the gun and was called by Alex Goulder on the button and Zo Karim in the big blind. On the flop, Karim bet 32,000 and Voskanyan raised to 85,000. Goulder clicked it to 140,000 and Karim folded. Voskanyan now shoved all in and was snap-called by the Brit.
Voskanyan:
Goulder:
Two outs remained for the tournament director from Russia, but it wasn't meant to be as the turn and the river completed the board. Voskanyan takes home €6,100 and Goulder is now the new chip leader.
In the previous hand, Vladimir Malak had lost almost 180,000 chips to the of Zo Karim when the American raised to 24,000 preflop and then generated further action on a board of .
The next hand Karim opened again and Malak moved all in for 130,000 with . Karim snap-called with and won the flip with the board running out .
"I will eventually have to lose one of those," Karim said while stacking his chips. The American has regained the lead and Malak was the last local player. For his 13th place finish, he takes home €6,100
Jean-Philippe Piquette moved all in for 165,000 from the button and Alex Goulder called in the big blind. Both players tabled their cards and it was a classic coin flip.
Goulder:
Piquette:
Two over cards and the flush draw for the French-Canadian would not improve on a board of and Piquette takes 12th place for €7,500.
Sebastian Langrock raised from early position and called the all in of Salvatore Pepi on the button.
Pepi:
Langrock:
The Italian already grabbed his belongings after the flop was revealed and he would not improve anymore with the turn and the river as final community cards. Pepi receives a payday of €7,500 and the action is now frozen to do the redraw of the unofficial final table