Sorin Flutur pushed his last 37,000 to the middle from the cutoff and he was called by Xia Lin from the button. Diego Zeiter three-bet all in, covering both, and Lin folded. They had to wait until the other tables finished their hands and they opened up.
Sorin Flutur:
Diego Zeiter:
The flop gave both a serious sweat after the dealer put on the table. The turn was a very safe and the secured a double up for Flutur.
Online qualifiers who made Day 2 of the PokerStars EPT Prague Main Event were treated to a special opportunity as they got the chance to win a Platinum Pass via a crazy pineapple flip out.
Preflop action saw Sami Shokry get his last 21,000 into the middle from the big blind with action from the three players to his left. Those players were the under-the-gun Max Deveson, Johann Zeitoun in early position, and Yehuda Cohen in middle position.
At this point, action was held up as Nazim Shala was all in against Krasimir Yankov on another table and that runout was slated to go first. Shala locked in the double and it was time to get back to action with a three-handed side pot as the flop dropped . Deveson and Zeitoun checked over to Cohen and he fired out 20,000, which Deveson called.
Once Zeitoun folded to bring action heads up for the side pot, the turn came and Deveson checked again. Cohen fired out another 25,000 and Deveson put out chips to match it.
"Whoa!" said Cohen after seeing Deveson call. The river came and Deveson checked again.
"I think I win," said Cohen, checking behind. Eventually, players were instructed to table their hands.
Sami Shokry:
Max Deveson:
Yehuda Cohen:
Cohen's aces were best all along, fading the flush draw and top pair that Deveson picked up along the way. Meanwhile, Shokry's pair of sixes on the flop became two pair by the river, but it was the worst hand of the three and he found himself eliminated from the tournament in 168th place.
"Thanks for the game guys," said Shokry with nothing but the utmost class. "Good luck," he added, putting on his jacket and making his way from the tournament area as the announcement came that play had reached the money.
Action folded around to Yang Wang in the small blind and he raised to 10,000. Giorgiy Skhulukhiya three-bet to 47,000 in the big blind and Wang came over the top for around 300,000. Skhulukhiya called.
Yang Wang:
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya:
It looked as if Wang would find a double and a massive stack to leave Skhulukhiya with crumbs as the flop came and the turn came behind it. However, the river turned the tides, leaving Wang dry on chips as Skhulukhiya earned the massive pot and the knockout shortly before chips are set to go into bags for the night.
An exciting day of poker at the Hilton Prague has concluded as Day 2 of the 2019 PokerStars EPT Prague €5,300 EPT Main Event has come to an end after five levels of 90 minutes. Another 19 players entered with a fresh stack of 30,000 to boost the field size of the flagship event in the Czech capital to 1,154 entries, and the third-biggest EPT Prague Main Event in 13 years has subsequently created a prize pool of €5,596,900.
Before the cards got in the air, there was excitement in the tournament area as the PokerStars online qualifiers who made it to Day 2 took part in a Crazy Pineapple Flipout for a Platinum Pass. Russia's Evgenii Shibaldin, who has just one live cash for fewer than $2,000 to his name, was the fortunate winner but didn't fare as well in the Main Event after and busted well before the money.
Several hours later in the last level of the night, it was a different kind of excitement as the bubble burst and more than two dozen hopefuls headed to the payout desk while 141 survivors have made it one step closer to becoming the next EPT Main Event champion.
Roman Herold was a big stack throughout the day and bagged up 769,000 to his name, a single chip ahead of Xiaqing Ji (768,000) as the duo pulled ahead of Bryn Kenney (656,000) at the very end. Other notables with big stacks include 2019 EPT Open Sochi runner-up Giorgiy Skhulukhiya (634,000), Luke Marsh (626,000), Giuseppe Carbone (611,000), start-of-day chip leader Pierre Calamusa (601,000) and Teun Mulder (573,000).
Top 10 Stacks After Day 2
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Roman Herold
Germany
769000
154
2
Xiaqing Ji
China
768000
154
3
Bryn Kenney
United States
656000
131
4
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya
Russia
634000
127
5
Luke Marsh
United Kingdom
625000
125
6
Pierre Calamusa
France
601000
120
7
Teun Mulder
Netherlands
573000
115
8
Laurent Michot
France
550000
110
9
Fidan Zahiti
Sweden
543000
109
10
Akin Tuna
Germany
536000
107
Several former EPT champions had a strong showing on Day 2 such as Dominik Panka (497,000), Ognyan Dimov (313,000), Aliaksei Boika (220,000), Hossein Ensan (180,000), Mikalai Pobal (162,000), Sebastian Sorensson (148,000) Martin Finger (118,000), Steve O'Dwyer (101,000), Davidi Kitai (93,000), and PokerStars ambassador Kalidou Sow (70,000) kept their hopes of a second EPT Main Event title alive.
Among the big names that didn't make it through and bowed out before the money were former champions Jan Bendik, Arsenii Karmatckii, Sebastian Malec, Maria Lampropulos, Bertrand Grospellier, and former EPT finalists such as Parker Talbot, Per Linde, David Boyaciyan and Gleb Tremzin to name just a few.
The money bubble burst in the last level of the night and it was Sami Shokry that became the last player to leave empty-handed without anything to show for when he flopped top pair with jack-six suited in three-way action. Yehuda Cohen had the best of it with pocket aces and that secured all remaining 167 players a min-cash of €8,960.
Two former EPT champions were among those to settle for exactly that amount as Simon Brandstrom and Adrian Mateos were among the casualties before bagging and tagging. Mateos was primed for a double up with ace-king against the ace-queen suited of Tomas Paiva but a queen on the flop spelled the end for Spaniard, who had already won a High Roller event during the festival.
Ultimately, only 141 players bagged up for the night and will return to their seats at 12 p.m. noon local time for Day 3, which will recommence with blinds of 2,000-5,000 and a big blind ante of 5,000. Another five levels of 90 minutes each are expected to be played to whittle the field down further.
Stay tuned for all the action right here on PokerNews to find out who will lift the trophy on Tuesday, December 17th, 2019.