Kovachev Leads the Last 35; Jobmann and Petleshkov Among Biggest Stacks
Day 2 of the 2017 World Series of Poker International Circuit €1,650 Main Event at the King's Casino in Rozvadov is in the books and just 35 players remain in contention in Europe's biggest poker arena. Before the cards went back in the air, another 28 players opted to buy in with just shy of 20 big blinds in order to take a shot at the juicy prize pool. A field of 672 entries emerged and the min-cash for the top 71 spots was set with €3,639, while the winner can look forward to the WSOP Circuit ring, a payday of €184,812 and entry to the WSOP Circuit Championship Freeroll in 2018.
At the end of level 23, only 35 players bagged up chips and it was Viktor Kovachev who claimed the overnight spotlight with a stack of 1,739,000, followed by Jan Timo Jobmann (1,443,000) and Viliyan Petleshkov (1,423,000). Other chip millionaires include Asher Dahan (1,130,000), Aliaksandr Shylko (1,094,000) and Day 1b chip leader Pavel Stolar (1,031,000). Jobmann is currently second in the WSOP Circuit ranking after a cash in the Monster Stack, a victory in the €666 NLHE Event and a third-place finish in the €420 Bounty Hunter Event.
Other notables and big stacks still in contention include Michael Magalashvili (817,000), EPT12 Prague Main Event champion Hossein Ensan (690,000), Carlo Savinelli (448,000), Tomas Fara (420,000), Brandon Cantu (377,000), €5,300 High Roller third-place finisher Robert Schulz (249,000) and Jaroslaw Sikora (237,000).
Until the dinner break after the sixth level of play, only 85 players remained in contention. Among those to bust before the money were Vitaly Lunkin, Jan-Peter Jachtmann, Jan Bendik, Andre Difelice, Guy Goossens, Ivo Donev, two-time WSOP Circuit Rozvadov runner up Felipe Ramos, Artan Dedusha, Jeff Lisandro, 2016 November Niner Vojtech Ruzicka , Maxim Lykov and Fabrice Soulier.
Just before the money bubble, speech play expert Martin Kabrhel and Catalin Pop were sent to the rail. The bubble eventually burst when Anatoly Korochenskiy ran with pocket kings into the pocket aces of Carlo Savinelli and the Russian left the poker arena while everyone else started clapping.
Jan Timo Jobmann's rise to the top started when he scored a big double against Muhamet Perati with aces versus jacks and he also took the remainder of Perati's stack soon after. Phil Hellmuth, who went from smiling and high-fiving with opponents to emotional outbursts after losing pots, ran his stack up to half a million in chips before having to settle for 56th place. Down to a mere six big blinds, Hellmuth got it in with pocket eights against the pocket jacks of Viktor Kovachev and found no help from the poker gods.
Dutchman Sander van Wesemael was sent to the rail in the last level of the night and Vlado Sevo ended up second best with ace-eight against the ace-jack suited of Aliaksandr Shylko to become the last casualty of Day 2. Right after, the remaining hopefuls bagged up and have already locked up €4,788 for their efforts.
The action resumes tomorrow Monday October 16th 2017 as of 2 p.m. local time with level 24 and blinds of 10,000/24,000 with a running ante of 3,000. The tournament is scheduled to play down to a winner tomorrow, but an additional day may be added depending on the progress once the final table is reached.
Main Event Seat Day 3
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 1 | Tezer Cetindag | Germany | 187,000 | 9 |
| 19 | 2 | Brandon Cantu | United States | 377,000 | 19 |
| 19 | 3 | Daniel Smiljkovic | Germany | 198,000 | 10 |
| 19 | 4 | Jaroslaw Sikora | Poland | 237,000 | 12 |
| 19 | 6 | Aliaksandr Shylko | Belarus | 1,094,000 | 55 |
| 19 | 7 | Michal Štipský | Czech Republic | 459,000 | 23 |
| 19 | 8 | Hossein Ensan | Germany | 690,000 | 35 |
| 20 | 1 | Krzysztof Dulowski | Poland | 397,000 | 20 |
| 20 | 2 | Maciej Kondraszuk | Poland | 508,000 | 25 |
| 20 | 3 | Stefan Mital | Czech Republic | 654,000 | 33 |
| 20 | 5 | Pavel Stolar | Czech Republic | 1,031,000 | 52 |
| 20 | 6 | Carlo Savinelli | Italy | 448,000 | 22 |
| 20 | 7 | Jaromír Hanel | Czech Republic | 927,000 | 46 |
| 20 | 8 | Michael Magalashvili | Israel | 817,000 | 41 |
| 21 | 1 | Lukasz Szymon Grossmann | Poland | 225,000 | 11 |
| 21 | 2 | Ivan Kruljac | Croatia | 629,000 | 31 |
| 21 | 3 | Viliyan Petleshkov | Bulgaria | 1,423,000 | 71 |
| 21 | 4 | Robert Schulz | Austria | 249,000 | 12 |
| 21 | 6 | Adriano Scagnetti | Australia | 603,000 | 30 |
| 21 | 7 | Hubert Baran-Osinski | Poland | 565,000 | 28 |
| 21 | 8 | Luigi Micu | Romania | 546,000 | 27 |
| 22 | 1 | Daniel Nietrzebka | Poland | 256,000 | 13 |
| 22 | 2 | Aleksandr Nemtcov | Russian Federation | 128,000 | 6 |
| 22 | 3 | Davit Okropiridze | Georgia | 273,000 | 14 |
| 22 | 4 | Olaf Kühle | Germany | 200,000 | 10 |
| 22 | 5 | Raphael Wimmer | Austria | 301,000 | 15 |
| 22 | 6 | Jan Mach | Czech Republic | 338,000 | 17 |
| 22 | 8 | Jan Timo Jobmann | Germany | 1,443,000 | 72 |
| 23 | 1 | Karel Kovařík | Czech Republic | 391,000 | 20 |
| 23 | 2 | Rifat Gegic | Germany | 400,000 | 20 |
| 23 | 3 | Jan Juzek | Czech Republic | 276,000 | 14 |
| 23 | 4 | Tomas Fara | Czech Republic | 420,000 | 21 |
| 23 | 6 | Van Tiep Nguyen | Czech Republic | 822,000 | 41 |
| 23 | 7 | Asher Dahan | Israel | 1,130,000 | 57 |
| 23 | 8 | Viktor Kovachev | Bulgaria | 1,739,000 | 87 |
and the action was checked to Magalashvili who continued for 37,000. Schulz laid his hand down and Kuhle made the call. 
and Kuhle checked again. Magalashvili fired out another 70,000 and Kuhle continued to call. The river brought the 
and Kuhle led out for 133,000. Magalashvili ran a few scenarios through his mind, "Queen-nine? Pocket sevens?" he asked out loud. He didn't take long to throw in a chip to make the call and Kuhle turned over 
. Magalashvili showed 
and let out a sigh of relief as he raked in a pot to climb over 1,000,000 chips.
but was dominated by Kovachev's 
. The board ran out 
and Hellmuth was unable to come from behind. He battled with Kovachev and Jan Mach throughout the day, spewing words at them everytime he lost a pot. Unfortunately, he was unable to turn up any white magic today, hitting the rail in 56th place.
, Perati check-called a bet of 55,000 and checked again the 
turn. After the 
river, Perati checked and Jobmann bet 125,000 before the Italian check-raised all in.
and Perati only had pocket jacks. Only a few minutes later, Perati also sent over his remaining 15 big blinds to Jobmann, who closes in on the one million chips.
but was up against the 
and Stipsky checked his option. Kabrhel took his time to put the last 1,000 in the middle and Ponce moved all-in himself. Stipsky was left with a big decision and eventually made the call.
for a flopped flush. Kabrhel showed 
. The turn was the 
. Stipsky made the nut flush to scoop the whole pot and send Kabrhel to the rail.
and Abdi Ali found a full double up. Kabrhel was left with just a few big blinds after the hand and he did not approve of the way his opponent played the hand.
flop. On the 
on the turn.
