The WPT tournament director has just informed the players that this will be the last level for tonight. Thus, there are approximately 45 minutes left and Alexander Lakhov is still by far the chip leader.
Ka Kwan Lau opened the action with a raise and Felix Stephensen moved all in for 11,500. Martin Sousek isolated successfully, as Lau tossed his cards into the muck.
The November Niner needed some help with 
as his opponent had the better kicker with 
. The board ran out 
and Stephensen was gone half an hour before the end of Day 1a. The Norwegian was not 100% certain yet if he will be re-entering tomorrow or not.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
43,000
20,500
|
20,500 |
|
Busted |
Joining the action on the 
turn, Chris Hunichen bet 3,275 and was called by Manuel Hoffmann. The 
fell on the river and "BigHuni" now fired 8,575, which would be enough to avoid a showdown. The American then counted his stack and appears to be the only second player today to hit six digits.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
103,000
22,000
|
22,000 |
|
||
|
33,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
partypoker online qualifier James Leech raised to 1,400 and Anton Wigg three-bet to 3,800, which was called by the Canadian. On the 
flop, Leech check-called a bet of 4,400 and did so again after the 
turn for 7,600. The 
fell on the river and Leech checked, Wigg grabbed some chips and then made it 13,600 to go.
Leech was in the think tank for several minutes and Emil Mattsson then called time. Less than 20 seconds before the end of the consideration time, Leech called and his 
was only second best to the 
of Wigg. "I was gonna check-shove the river," the Canadian said.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
97,000
56,000
|
56,000 |
|
20,000
14,000
|
14,000 |
Three more hands will be played before all players bag and tag their chips. The color up of the T-25 chips will take place prior to this though and the chip leader of each table is asked to buy them off the opponents to speed up the procedure.
In the last hand of Day 1a, Martin Staszko got his last 12,000 chips in the middle with 
and Jean-Philippe Piquette looked him up with 
. The Canadian would see no upset and completed a nice comeback after being down to as low as 9,000 in chips earlier today.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
78,600
43,600
|
43,600 |
|
Busted |
In the very last hand of the day, a raising war developed between Frederic Bertolino and Stephen Chidwick. Bertolino was all in and at risk for more than 40,000 with 
and Chidwick was hoping for many diamonds or an ace, flipping over 
. The 
flop was no good, nor was the on the turn.
However, the 
on the river gave the Brit the better hand and a decent stack for Day 2 on Friday.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
111,400
68,900
|
68,900 |
|
|
Busted |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
182,900
12,900
|
12,900 |
|
||
|
|
139,000
42,000
|
42,000 |
|
|
111,400 | |
|
|
99,100
3,900
|
3,900 |
|
|
||
|
|
78,600 | |
|
63,700
24,700
|
24,700 |
|
62,400
17,600
|
17,600 |
|
||
|
|
61,500
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
60,900
7,900
|
7,900 |
|
57,900 | |
|
47,500
28,000
|
28,000 |
|
|
44,600
4,900
|
4,900 |
|
43,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
41,400
6,400
|
6,400 |
|
|
||
|
|
39,300
3,700
|
3,700 |
|
39,100
13,100
|
13,100 |
|
|
37,200
37,200
|
37,200 |
|
33,800
17,200
|
17,200 |
|
32,100
11,600
|
11,600 |
|
31,900 | |
|
|
||
|
28,500
6,500
|
6,500 |
|
|
28,500
4,500
|
4,500 |
|
25,100
100
|
100 |
|
|
||
|
|
19,400
600
|
600 |
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The first starting day of the World Poker Tour National Prague €2,000 Main Event attracted a total of 47 entries, of which only Shannon Shorr entered more than once. At the end of play, 24 players bagged up chips having made it through eight levels of 60 minutes each. Shorr was not among them, and the same also applied for the familiar names of Sam Cohen, Petr Jelinek, David Peters, Martin Staszko, Sergio Aido, Giacomo Fundaro, and Felix Stephensen.
Stephensen, the recent runner-up from the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event, had a kicker problem in the last level of play with the against the of Martin Sousek, and that sent the Norwegian to the rail.
Alexander Lakhov quickly built a big stack early on and then turned a set of kings and rivered the king-high flush against Georges Khoury to add even more. The Lebanese man check-called all in on the river with a set of sixes despite four spades on the board. With that pot, Lakhov, the 2012 WPT Prague runner-up and 2014 WPT Cyprus champion, moved into the chip lead. From there, Lahkov bagged up impressive 182,900 in chips and established a decent lead over Anton Wigg (139,000) and Stephen Chidwick (111,400).
Both Wigg and Chidwick ran hot in the last level of play to get their stacks, with Chidwick cracking the of Frederic Bertolino in the very last hand with the thanks to the falling on the river.
Other notables also made it through were Chris Hunichen (99,100), Marvin Rettenmaier (62,400), Jakob Karlsson (61,500), Ka Kwan Lau (60,900), Dylan Linde (41,400), and Seth Berger (39,100), and they will all be returning on Friday at 13:00 CET for Day 2. What's more is that the 24 survivors of Day 1a can even reenter on Day 1b when the second starting flight kicks off at 13:00 CET, with the option to take the bigger stack into Day 2 if they should bag up twice. All players that busted on Day 1a can also reenter once again with registration set to remain open until the end of Level 9 on Friday at 14:00 CET.
Many more players are expected for Day 1b, and the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be back on the floor to cover all crucial hands starting with the first pitch of the cards.
