€5,300 EPT Prague Main Event
Day 2 Completed
€5,300 EPT Prague Main Event
Day 2 Completed
It's been a record-breaking festival at the 2022 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague being held at the Hilton Hotel Prague and that trend continued on Day 2 when late registration closed for the €5,300 EPT Prague Main Event. A total of 1,267 entries were recorded before the action began on Day 2 and just 117 players remain after a full 12 hours of poker.
Bursting through to the top of the leaderboard was Jaesung Lee who bagged up a monstrous stack of 1,132,000, the only player to end the day in the seven-figure category. Lee started to emerge as one of the big stacks in the early levels and continued an upward trend throughout the day, including doing his part to burst the money bubble.
Lee managed to pick off a bluff from Yulian Bogdanov in order to double up and position himself well for the money bubble that was quickly approaching. On the bubble, Lee got involved in a heavily weighted side pot with fellow big stack Robert Cowen. The Korean flopped a set of tens in a four-bet pot and cracked the pocket aces of his opponent while eliminating one of the short stacks to push the field into the money.
Lee, who doesn't have many live tournament scores recorded on his resume, has already locked up the largest of his career heading into Day 3. This will be his first five-figure result but he is hoping to turn that into even more as the following days progress.
There are two PokerStars ambassadors remaining in the field heading to Day 3 and they currently sit on opposite ends of the chip counts. Parker Talbot finished the night at the feature table and put 960,000 chips into the bag, good enough for second place. Ramon Colillas is the other ambassador but will be heading into Day 3 as one of the short stacks with just 62,000 chips.
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 2 of EPT Main Event Prague
Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jaesung Lee | Korea | 1,132,000 | 189 |
2 | Parker Talbot | Canada | 960,000 | 160 |
3 | Javier Gomez Zapatero | Spain | 891,000 | 149 |
4 | Luigi D'Alterio | Italy | 870,000 | 145 |
5 | Simon Lofberg | Sweden | 813,000 | 136 |
6 | Timothy Adams | Canada | 759,000 | 127 |
7 | Bleron Maliqi | Switzerland | 669,000 | 112 |
8 | Laurent Cessy | France | 665,000 | 111 |
9 | Jerry Odeen | Sweden | 654,000 | 109 |
10 | Pierre De Almeida | France | 646,000 | 108 |
Day 2 Action
There were 397 players that returned to their seats from Day 1a/b and they were joined by 40 late entries who started the day with a fresh stack of 30,000 chips. A total of 918 unique entries were recorded along with 349 re-entries, bringing the total to 1,267 entries that created a prizepool of €6,144,950.
The action was fast and furious right from the start with over 100 players being eliminated in the opening level. Some of the notables that fell by the wayside in the early going included PokerStars ambassadors Sam Grafton, Alejandro Lococo, and Benjamin Spragg. While the money bubble wasn't expected to burst until the end of Day 2, it actually happened rather painlessly before the dinner break.
Upon returning for the fifth level of the day, the field was just three eliminations away from bursting the bubble. On the very first hand, three players were eliminated including Saar Wilf, Felix Weis, and Auez Yeltubayev. Without even having to go hand-for-hand, the field broke into the money and the remaining 183 players were all guaranteed a min-cash of €8,550.
Over the course of the final two levels on the day, many of the short stacks were forced to the payout desk including Jason Wheeler, Cowen, Sam Greenwood, Pablo Brito Silva, and Julien Sitbon. Heading into Day 3, the final 117 players have locked up €11,450 but will have their sights set on the first-place prize of €1,054,500 and the infamous EPT trophy.
Some familiar faces to keep an eye on going forward include Javier Gomez Zapatero (891,000), Timothy Adams (759,000), Jerry Odeen (654,000), Conor Beresford (523,000), Gaelle Baumann (401,000), Juan Pardo (188,000), and Mike Watson (158,000).
The action is scheduled to kick off at 12 p.m. local time tomorrow for Day 3 with another 5 or 6 levels expected to be played. The players will be returning to level 17 with the blinds at 3,000/6,000 and a 6,000 big blind ante. The levels will continue to be 90 minutes in length but the 30-second shot clock will be put into play at the start of Day 3.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the tournament floor to bring you all of the live updates from another thrilling day at the EPT Prague festival.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Jaesung Lee |
1,132,000
97,000
|
97,000 |
|
||
Parker Talbot |
960,000
180,000
|
180,000 |
Javier Gomez Zapatero |
891,000
441,000
|
441,000 |
|
||
Luigi D'Alterio |
870,000
-65,000
|
-65,000 |
Simon Lofberg |
813,000
233,000
|
233,000 |
Timothy Adams |
759,000
109,000
|
109,000 |
Bleron Maliqi |
669,000
-43,000
|
-43,000 |
Laurent Cessy |
665,000
42,000
|
42,000 |
Jerry Odeen |
654,000
-26,000
|
-26,000 |
Pierre De Almeida |
646,000
-100,000
|
-100,000 |
Abel Aspas
|
614,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
Istvan Pilhofer |
587,000
519,000
|
519,000 |
Nicola Grieco |
578,000
-147,000
|
-147,000 |
Maksim Shornikau |
572,000
322,000
|
322,000 |
Petr Svoboda |
561,000
11,000
|
11,000 |
Fabrice Bigot |
550,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
Petar Kalev |
534,000
104,000
|
104,000 |
Rui Milhomens |
526,000
-22,000
|
-22,000 |
Conor Beresford |
523,000
76,000
|
76,000 |
Yannick Cardot |
510,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
Arjel Daci |
502,000
132,000
|
132,000 |
Oddvar Brendo |
498,000
148,000
|
148,000 |
Benjamin Lebor |
493,000
173,000
|
173,000 |
Namhyung Kim |
492,000
27,000
|
27,000 |
Karol Bogusz |
491,000
61,000
|
61,000 |
After 12 full hours of play on the day, players are bagging up their chips for the night. A total of 117 players are left in the hunt after Day 2.
A full recap and updated chip counts will be provided shortly once available.
Action picked up on the river in a heads-up pot with 150,000 in the middle. The full board showed .
Out of position, Valeriano Toledano checked the final street after the landed. On his left, Erwann Pecheux moved all in for 104,000. Toledano snap-called and hands were tabled.
Pecheux showed for the rivered full house. That was better than the flopped full house of Toledano had in his hand for the losing end of the late-night cooler.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Valeriano Toledano |
380,000
325,000
|
325,000 |
Erwann Pecheux |
365,000
135,000
|
135,000 |
Jacek Medyk opened to 10,000 from under the gun and Lyudmil Ivanov shipped all in for 101,000 in the hijack. Rui Milhomens re-shoved all in on the button and Medyk got out of the way.
Lyudmil Ivanov:
Rui Milhomens:
There was a king in the window but it was quickly followed by a queen on the flop. The on the turn changed nothing and the on the river gave Milhomens quads to eliminate Ivanov.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Rui Milhomens |
548,000
165,000
|
165,000 |
Lyudmil Ivanov | Busted |
With 10:00 minutes left in Day 2, the tournament director has announced three hands remaining on the day before players bag up their chips.
Action folded to Alexandre Reard in the small blind. He moved all in for 87,000 in the big blind's stack. That was Julian Thomas, who looked down at a hand he was happy to call with and head to a runout.
Julian Thomas:
Alexandre Reard:
Thomas was in a great spot to get a double with the dominating hand. He stayed in the lead on the runout to lock up the late-day double.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Julian Thomas |
171,000
28,000
|
28,000 |
Alexandre Reard |
87,000
23,000
|
23,000 |
Jerry Odeen opened to 11,000 in the cutoff and Fabrice Bigot re-raised to 36,000 on the button. Odeen called and the dealer spread the flop of . Odeen checked to Bigot who continued for 45,000 and Odeen called.
The paired the board on the turn and both players checked to the on the river. Odeen slid out a bet of 110,000 and Bigot gave it some thought but eventually folded.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Jerry Odeen |
680,000
180,000
|
180,000 |
Fabrice Bigot |
470,000
-64,000
|
-64,000 |
Sonny Franco opened to 11,000 in middle position and was called by Bleron Maliqi on the button and Pablo Brito Silva in the big blind. The flop came and the action checked around to the on the turn.
Brito Silva led out with a bet of 25,000 which got Franco to fold but Maliqi called. The peeled off on the river and Brito Silva reached back for a bet of 125,000. Maliqi eyed up the stacks and then shoved all in for 311,000. Brito Silva reluctantly called and saw the bad news.
Maliqi rolled over for the nut straight while Brito Silva was left with for the second-nut straight and just 36,000 after the hand.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Bleron Maliqi |
712,000
332,000
|
332,000 |
Pablo Brito Silva
|
36,000
36,000
|
36,000 |