Daniel Koloszar opened the action from early position to 4,000. Kostadin Mihaylov called directly to his left, and Loris Corbelli put out a three-bet of 12,500 from the button. When the action reached Patrick El Kallas in the big blind, he took his time before announcing all in for 50,000. Koloszar quickly moved all in as well, and everyone else folded.
Patrick El Kallas: 2♦2♠
Daniel Koloszar: A♣Kx
The flop came 10♣J♥4♣, giving Koloszar some additional outs. The 2♣ on the turn gave Kallas a set, but also opened up many new outs for Koloszar with his ace-high flush draw. The dealer then put out the case 2♥, and Kallas shouted with excitement as he collected the pot.
Sonny Franco rasied to 6,000 from middle position, Jose Roman called in the small blind, and Christos Triantaphyllou, in the big blind, squeezed to 24,000. Both players called.
The 9♥4♣4♠ flop saw the action checked to Triantaphyllou, who continued for 23,000. Franco put in a raise to 80,000 and Roman snap-folded.
Triantaphyllou, who was making a decision for his tournament life, went deep into the tank, eventually choosing to fold 10♥10♠ face up. As Franco raked in the pot, he flashed 10♦10♣ to the table.
Adam Chochola got his short stack into the middle preflop with Artsiom Lasouski making the call to try and bust him.
Adam Chochola: 9♦9♠
Artsiom Lasouski: 2♠2♥
Lasouski would need a deuce from the dealer to bust Chochola. The board came favorably for Lasouski as it fell 3♣6♣10♣2♦4♣ to give him the best hand with a set of deuces, sending Chochola to the rail.
Matheus Machado raised to 8,000 from early position with Nikolai Ogoltsov calling from the hijack before Cassandra Yong three-bet shoved for 46,000 from the button. Machado shoved over the top for roughly 80,000 and Ogoltsov folded.
Cassandra Yong: A♠Q♥
Matheus Machado: 9♦9♥
It was a classic flip that Yong needed to win to stay alive. However, the low runout of 2♦7♠5♣10♦6♠ didn't improve Yong and she was out of the tournament.
Matej Michalek opened the action with a min-raise from the cutoff, and Ryan Mandara put out a three-bet of 27,000 from the button. When the action came back to Michalek, he announced all-in, and Mandara snap-called.
Ryan Mandara: A♠A♣
Matej Michalek: K♥Kx
Mandara found himself in a great position to double up his stack, with just 12 players remaining before Day 2, and the board 8♣3♦10♠4♦4♠ presented no problems for him.
Rebelo Marques raised to 12,000 from early position and Simon Lofberg three-bet to 35,000 from a few seats to his left. When it folded back to Marques, he shoved for Lofberg's remaining 2,000, which Lofberg called.
Simon Lofberg: A♦Q♣
Rebelo Marques: J♣10♣
Marques needed to hit if he was to send the remaining players closer to Day 2. The flop of J♠10♥8♦ was great for Marques as he improved to top two pair. The 3♦ turn followed by the K♦ river gave Lofberg the winner with a straight, and he earned the much-needed double-up.
The action was caught as Milan Aloric, on the button, as all in and at risk for his effective stack of around 60,000, against Istvan Pilhofer, in early position.
Milan Aloric: 8♠8♥
Istvan Pilhofer: K♥Q♣
The board ran out K♣2♦9♠K♠9♥; Pilhofer made trips to burst the bubble.
Day 1d of the €1,100 Eureka Main Event, running as part of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour at the Hilton Prague, has now reached its conclusion. A total of 543 entries were made, up 343 from the Turbo Flight Day 1b yesterday. After 18 levels of play, 81 advanced to Day 2 and secured a minimum cash.
The overall field size now stands at a total of 2,306 entries with Saturday’s Day 2 now comprising of 346 hopefuls.
As this late-night turbo flight died down, Istvan Pilhofer bagged the overall chip lead taking through a total of 653,000 for the Day 2 restart. Pilhofer played a crucial role in proceedings as he eliminated Milan Aloric on the stone bubble to ensure the remaining 81 players, including himself, all progressed to Day 2 and were in the money.
Day 1d Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Istvan Pilhofer
Hungary
653,000
82
2
James Bagley
United Kingdom
582,000
73
3
Lazare Kalebashvili
Georgia
472,000
59
4
Michele Di Lauro
Italy
441,000
55
5
Pavel Cerveny
Czech Republic
438,000
55
6
Alexis Tremblay
France
437,000
55
7
Hassan Sleiman
Germany
414,000
52
8
Silviu Baltateanu
Romania
380,000
48
9
Rene Christener
Switzerland
371,000
46
10
Malcolm McKinlay
United Kingdom
364,000
46
Action of the Day
Day 1d welcomed some of the best players in Europe and beyond. Hailing from the United States, but residing in Prague, EPT regular and tournament veteran, Jason Wheeler, took to the felt in dramatic fashion. Wheeler secured an early double-up against opponent Sutharsan Ariyanayagam as a flopped two pair over two pair cooler saw his stack soar.
However, a cold deck late into the night saw Wheeler’s pocket queens run into both kings and jacks in a three-way all-in; Ariyanayagam hit a one outer to claim back some compensation from Wheeler, leaving him with fumes.
Wheeler managed to retain his short stack across the finish line, bagging a total of 65,000 by the end of play.
Jason Wheeler
Conor Beresford also made his presence known on the felt in today’s turbo flight. Beresford eliminated fellow Brit, Robbie Bull, early on in proceedings as his flopped full house also gave Bull trips, ultimately resulting in his departure. Beresford eventually bagged a stack of 59,000.
Conor Beresford
Those to join Bull on the rail included Vivian Saliba, Alexane Najchaus and Ivan Banic. However, the hope is not yet lost for these unfortunate few as they will have two more opportunities to progress tomorrow, December 6th, with flights Day 1e and, its turbo counterpart, Day 1f starting at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. respectively.
The PokerNews live reporting team will return to bring you more coverage of the Eureka Poker Tour Main Event here at EPT Prague, so stay tuned.