€5,300 EPT Main Event Jour 1a | 2023 PokerStars EPT Prague

2023-12-12 02:45 UTC+2

Joao Mestre Leads Day 1a as Yulian Bogdanov and Steve O’Dwyer Bag Big

DegenOnTour

Niveau 10 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

The first day of the €5,300 Main Event at the European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague wrapped up after ten one-hour levels in the Hilton Prague. A total of 412 entries were made and out of those, 131 found a way to Day 2.

It was Joao Mestre who collected the most chips throughout the day as he ended with a stack of 359,000 from a starting stack of 30,000. Others with a big stack include Yulian Bogdanov (315,000), Cheng Zhao (306,500), and Steve O'Dwyer (251,500).

Ramon Colillas (95,500) and Felix Schneiders (80,500) are waving the flag for the Red Spade brigade. The two PokerStars ambassadors managed both to survive the day. Leo Worthington-Leese collected a little over five starting stacks when he ended Day 1a with 156,500. The Brit had an incredible run at the 2023 EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event where he finished third for €397,450 and he’s looking to repeat his success.

Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank	Name	Country	Chip Count	Day 2 Big Blinds
1	Joao Mestre	Portugal	359,000	239
2	Yulian Bogdanov	Bulgaria	315,000	210
3	Cheng Zhao	China	306,500	204
4	Enzo Vito	United Kingdom	280,000	187
5	Steve O'Dwyer	Ireland	251,500	168
6	Pawel Krol	Poland	250,500	167
7	Ka Kwan Lau	Spain	250,000	167
8	Marcos Thielke	Spain	239,500	160
9	Gonzalo Veiga	Spain	237,000	158
10	Patrik Jaros	Czech Republic	209,000	139

Day 1a action

The day started at noon local time with plenty of hopefuls seated when the “shuffle up and deal” was announced. Some of the early faces in the field were Barny Boatman, Julien Sitbon, and Niall Farrell. Boatman managed to survive the day with a stack of 61,500. Sitbon wasn’t as fortunate as he tried his luck later on in the €10,200 Mystery Bounty.

Farrell also wasn’t fortunate enough to make Day 2. With about an hour left in the day he found pocket aces but the runout wasn’t in his favor when Brandon Leetz flopped a set of tens before the chips went in. A clean runout for Leetz followed and Farrell’s efforts weren’t awarded with a bag at the end of play on Day 1a.

Ka Kwan Lau ended the day with a top 10 stack of 250,000. Lau isn’t a stranger to success on the European Poker Tour. Earlier this year at EPT Barcelona, Lau had a deep run in the €5,300 Main Event finishing 31st (€36,100), only to take down the €10,300 EPT High Roller in Barcelona for €910,400 and the trophy a few days later.

The second flight of the EPT Prague Main Event starts on Tuesday, December 12 at noon local time with the same structure as Day 1a. Everyone starts with a fresh 30,000 stack and blinds begin at 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante. Registration is open until Day 2.

Stay tuned for more live coverage of the 2023 EPT Prague Main Event as the PokerNews live reporting team brings you all the action straight from the source.

Tags: Barny Boatman Brandon Leetz Cheng Zhao Felix Schneiders Hilton Prague Joao Mestre Ka Kwan Lau Leo Worthington-Leese Niall Farrell Ramon Colillas Steve O'Dwyer Yulian Bogdanov

2023-12-12 01:29 UTC+2

Schneiders Stays Alive

peter_robinson

Niveau 10 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Felix Schneiders having played the short stack for most of the day jammed all of his chips in 14,200 and found two calls from the sizeable stacks of Eugenio Bastos and Marcos Thielke.

The flop came 2♥9♦4♥ and Thielke bet 17,500 with Bastos making the call.

The turn brought the K♣ and again Thielke bet, this time 32,000 and his big stacked opponent made the fold.

Schneiders at risk turned over K♠K♦ for the turned set of kings and Bastos showed 8♣8♦ and was drawing dead on the river.

The PokerStars Ambassador stayed alive in the main event and his patience all day finally paid off.

Joueur	Jetons	Progression
Eugenio Bastos	180,000 -20,000	-20,000
Marcos Thielke	98,000 -37,000	-37,000
Felix Schneiders	46,000 15,000	15,000

Tags: Eugenio Bastos Felix Schneiders Marcos Thielke

2023-12-12 01:18 UTC+2

Zubeck's Small Blind Scoops

PatrickCole

Niveau 10 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Michal Zubeck was in the small blind and he checked the turn 2♠ of the Q♠7♦6♥2♠ board to Stefan Huber in the big blind.

Huber bet 1,500 which Zubeck called.

Zubeck checked again the 8♦ river to Huber who knuckled back.

Zubeck tabled K♥7♠ and he claimed the pot with a pair of sevens while Huber mucked.

Joueur	Jetons	Progression
Michal Zubeck	70,000 70,000	70,000
Stefan Huber	70,000 30,000	30,000

Tags: Michal Zubeck Stefan Huber

2023-12-12 00:24 UTC+2

Beresford Busts Kreft

PatrickCole

Niveau 9 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

After a preflop raise from Conor Beresford in middle position, Marcin Kreft called.

Beresford barreled the flop of 10♥A♣5♣ for 4,600, which Kreft called.

The 8♦ drew a bet of 12,500 from Beresford, Kreft called again but his stack was dwindling.

The dealer flipped the 2♥ river, where Beresford slowed down for a moment.

He then put Kreft all in for the rest of his chips and Kreft called.

Beresford tabled A♠K♣ and Kreft showed A♦J♦ and was sent to the rail.

Conor Beresford
Marcin Kreft

Joueur	Jetons	Progression
Conor Beresford	180,000 110,000	110,000
Marcin Kreft	Eliminé

Tags: Conor Beresford Marcin Kreft

2023-12-11 23:59 UTC+2

Lau Chipping Up

jnoy

Niveau 9 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

2023 EPT Barcelona €10,300 High Roller champion Ka Kwan Lau and Andrew Hulme were heads up on the 10♥K♥2♣ flop, with a bet of 10,000 and a call being dragged into the middle.

Lau checked the K♦ turn, making the call after Hulme fired 17,000. Lau checked one more time on the 4♠ river, with Hulme checking back.

Lau turned over Q♣Q♦ for two pair, good enough to take down a nice pot as Hulme mucked. Table 23 was then broken as the hand was completed.

Joueur	Jetons	Progression
Ka Kwan Lau	183,500 73,500	73,500
Andrew Hulme	104,000 -37,000	-37,000

Tags: Andrew Hulme Ka Kwan Lau

2023-12-11 19:04 UTC+2

Farrell Fires Twice

jnoy

Niveau 6 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

Brandon Leetz opened to 1,200 in the cutoff and was called by Vito Vella on the button and Sebastian Mortensen in the small blind.

Niall Farrell was next to act in the big blind, and he slid out a three-bet to 5,600. Leetz and Mortensen called while Vella got out of the way.

Mortensen checked the 9♦9♠3♠ flop before Farrell continued for 6,000. That produced folds from both opponents, as Farrell added another pot to his stack.

Joueur	Jetons	Progression
Niall Farrell	82,000 31,000	31,000

Brandon Leetz	24,200 24,200	24,200
Sebastian Mortensen	23,500 23,500	23,500
Vito Vella	17,500 17,500	17,500

Tags: Brandon Leetz Niall Farrell Sebastian Mortensen Vito Vella

2023-12-11 18:46 UTC+2

€2M and Counting...

jnoy

Niveau 5 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante

The field has seen 385 entrants so far on Day 1a. Along with the 46 players already registered for Day 1b tomorrow, the prize pool has climbed above the €2,000,000 mark.

Late registration for the €5,300 EPT Main Event remains open until the start of Day 2.

2023-12-11 16:50 UTC+2

Sitbon Survives, Then Busts

jnoy

Niveau 4 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Julien Sitbon moved his short stack of 2,400 all in from early position and found a call from Adi Neigauz in the big blind. "You want to bust me?" asked Sitbon as the hands were revealed.

Julien Sitbon: A♠8♦
Adi Neigauz: A♥7♣

Sitbon remained ahead on the A♦4♥2♠5♣4♣ runout, avoiding a chop as his kicker played. Unfortunately, his newly doubled stack did not last long as he hit the rail shortly after.

While the hands were playing out, Niklas Astedt took his seat at the table.

Joueur	Jetons	Progression
Adi Neigauz	80,100
Niklas Astedt	30,000
Julien Sitbon	Eliminé

Tags: Adi Neigauz Julien Sitbon Niklas Astedt

2023-12-11 16:12 UTC+2

Ilyukhin Cracks Kings

PatrickCole

Niveau 3 : Blinds 100/300, 300 ante

Victor Ilyukhin opened to 1,000 from middle position and Jennifer Frankenstein reraised to 2,200 from the hijack and Ilyukhin called.

The flop was dealt 5♣A♠6♠ and Frankenstein led out for 2,000, and Ilyukhin called. The dealer turned the 2♦ drawing a 3,000 bet from Frankenstein, which Ilyukhin called.

Frankenstein barrelled the A♦ river and was snap-called by Ilyukhin.

Frankenstein tabled K♠K♦ for two pair and Ilyukhin showed A♣7♦ for trip aces to take down the pot.

Joueur	Jetons	Progression
Victor Ilyukhin	45,000 45,000	45,000
Jennifer Frankenstein	27,000 27,000	27,000

Tags: Jennifer Frankenstein Victor Ilyukhin

2023-12-11 11:48 UTC+2

Chase for EPT Glory Begins on Day 1a of €5,300 Main Event

jnoy

The time has finally arrived at the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague, and the chill in the air outside will be matched in the main poker room at the beautiful Hilton Prague.

Players will take their seat for the €5,300 EPT Main Event, looking to earn a place in EPT history. Action will begin at 12 p.m. local time and many of poker's biggest names are expected to take their shot at glory.

The most recent player to join the list of EPT champions is Gilles Simon, who took down the 2023 EPT Cyprus Main Event. Simon topped a field of 1,320 entrants to take home a career-defining trophy along with the first-place prize of $1,042,000.

Previous champions of this prestigious event in Prague include Hossein Ensan, who conquered a field of 1,044 entries back in 2015 to earn €754,510.

Recent EPT Prague Main Event History

Year	Prize Pool	Entries	First Place
2022	€6,144,950	1,267	€913,250
2021	€5,771,500	1,190	€692,252
2019	€5,596,900	1,154	€1,005,600
2018	€5,693,900	1,174	€840,000
2017	€4,146,750	855	€675,000
2016	€5,781,200	1,192	€699,300

Day 1a will play a total of ten 60-minute levels, with breaks after every two hours and a 75-minute dinner break after Level 6. Action begins with blinds of 100/100 and a 100 big blind ante. Players will start with 30,000 chips and can reenter the tournament once across both opening flights.

Day 1b will run on Tuesday, December 12 with the same structure as today's flight. Late registration will remain open until the start of play on Day 2.

€5,300 EPT Main Event Day 1 Structure

Level	Duration	Small Blind	Big Blind	Ante
1	60 min	100	100	100
2	60 min	100	200	200
		20-minute Break
3	60 min	100	300	300
4	60 min	200	400	400
		20-minute Break
5	60 min	200	500	500
6	60 min	300	600	600
		75-minute Dinner Break
7	60 min	400	800	800
8	60 min	500	1,000	1,000
		20-minute Break
9	60 min	600	1,200	1,200
10	60 min	600	1,200	1,200

The PokerNews team will be busy bringing you action from five different events on Monday here in Prague, including the exciting opening day of the signature €5,300 Main Event.

Tags: Gilles Simon Hossein Ensan