After seven opening flights in Event #5: €550 NLH Colossus at the 2024 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) and 2,799 entries, just 16 players remain in contention for the bracelet and the €171,350 first prize.
In pole position is Georgios Tsouloftas who bagged up 12,210,000 at the end of Day 2. Sitting in second is William Trumm with a stack of 10,370,000, and those two are well clear of Andrea Ricci who rounds out the podium places in third with 7,160,000 chips.
Finishing near the top of the pack seemed unlikely for Trumm, as he was down to less than two big blinds during Level 24 when he was involved in a twelve-minute hand that never even saw a flop. With exactly 100 players remaining and a €210 pay jump awaiting those who could hang on for one more elimination, Trumm folded his way to the higher payout and looked destined to bust soon after.
However, the spin-up of the series saw Trumm's stack start to swell after he sent Bogdan Roman to the rail with pocket nines, besting the Romanian player's ace-queen. In the penultimate level, Trumm's stack breached eight figures as he got three streets of value with two pair against Mousa Awad.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgios Tsouloftas | Cyprus | 12,210,000 | 76 |
| 2 | William Trumm | Germany | 10,370,000 | 65 |
| 3 | Andrea Ricci | Italy | 7,160,000 | 45 |
| 4 | Michal Schuh | Czechia | 6,000,000 | 38 |
| 5 | Paul Runcan | Romania | 5,630,000 | 35 |
| 6 | Pascal Pflock | Germany | 4,975,000 | 31 |
| 7 | Hong Pham | Viet Nam | 4,015,000 | 25 |
| 8 | Tomas Krivsky | Czechia | 3,275,000 | 20 |
| 9 | Mousa Awad | Romania | 3,200,000 | 20 |
| 10 | Vito Branciforte | Italy | 2,910,000 | 18 |
Tsouloftas had an excellent last few levels that saw him go from the middle of the pack up to the summit of the counts. First, Jan Krahulik shoved with king-six and ran into the ace-jack of Tsouloftas to depart in twentieth. Then he spiked an ace on the river with ace-queen to bust Daniel Frey, who held pocket queens. Finally, Clayde Terlaan also fell victim to the rampage that Tsouloftas was on to end the day with two tables remaining.
None of the surviving sixteen players have previously won a bracelet, which means a new entry will be made into the elite club of WSOP gold-strap winners. That feat seems unlikely for Zoltan Vrancsik as he only has 265,000 to play with once Day 3 begins — less than two big blinds — but with Trumm as motivation, anything can happen.
A total of 317 players had made it into Day 2 and well into the money with the likes of Ermanno Di Nicola (270th), Adrian State (243rd), Tobias Peters (187th), Sebastian Langrock (179th), Darius Samual (145th), and Martin Kabrhel (111th) all busting in the opening levels.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €171,350 | 8 | €29,050 |
| 2 | €117,350 | 9 | €24,750 |
| 3 | €88,350 | 10-11 | €21,650 |
| 4 | €67,850 | 12-14 | €19,250 |
| 5 | €53,150 | 15 | €8,900 |
| 6 | €42,450 | 16 | €7,100 |
| 7 | €34,650 |
*Top 14 places include a €10,350 WSOPE Main Event ticket
There is a mini bubble to deal with when play gets underway as a €10,350 WSOPE Main Event ticket will be awarded to the top fourteen payouts, meaning two unlucky players will miss out on a seat. The payout difference between fourteenth and fifteenth is over double, which will surely be a tense moment. All of the remaining players have locked up a payday of €7,100 for their efforts.
Play will resume on Day 3 at 2 p.m. with the blinds kicking off with exactly 15 minutes left in Level 32 — 80,000/160,000 with a 160,000 big blind ante. The average stack is almost 4,400,000, which is around 27 big blinds.
There will be a live stream once play begins which will have a delay. Live updates will be synchronized with the stream to ensure no spoilers are leaked.
Be sure to tune into PokerNews from 2 p.m. to catch the conclusion of the €550 NLH Colossus and see who can earn themselves their first WSOP bracelet at King's Resort in Rozvadov.
