Jack Sinclair took a big hit when he doubled up Marko Martinkovic a few hands again but has since climbed back after doubling through Marko Martinkovic in a hand that got all in preflop.
Jack Sinclair:
Marko Martinkovic:
Sinclair took a big lead in the flip as the flop landed to give him two pair and nothing changed on the runout to keep the EPT London Main Event runner-up in contention.
After the hand, another player joking tried to nick Sinclair's signature hippopotamus card protector that had made its way into the pot.
"Gonna need that for awhile," Sinclair laughed.
"Where did you get it?" the player asked.
"Subsaharan Africa," Sinclair replied dryly.
Sinclair must've won another big pot or two after the hand because there were a few million more chips in his stack by the time PokerNews returned to the table to put him at the top of the counts.
Action picked up on the flop in a three-way pot with 840,000 in the middle. The board showed .
Jack Sinclair checked from the small blind. Eleftherios Kavoukis led from the big blind for 450,000. Marko Martinkovic called on the button. Back to Sinclair, he check-raised to 1,100,000.
Kavoukis folded, but Martinkovic back-raised all in for 2,105,000. Sinclair snap-called.
Marko Martinkovic:
Jack Sinclair:
Sinclair did not three-bet preflop as the table reacted to his slowplay, and Martinkovic managed to flop trips. The board was completed with the turn and river, so Sinclair lost a big chunk while Martinkovic chipped up.
Alejandro Lococo was in a heads-up pot against Steponas Venckus and all of the chips got in the middle on a board of with Venckus being the shorter stack.
Steponas Venckus:
Alejandro Lococo:
Venckus was able to fade hearts to double up as the board finished out to earn him a double-up and put a dent in Lococo's stack.
Klas Krueger moved all in from middle position for 1,300,000. He found a call from Anton Suarez in the cutoff, the rest of the table got out of the way.
Klas Krueger:
Anton Suarez:
Krueger wasn't happy to see the hit the flop holding the ace magnets. The turn was just what he needed in the , though, giving him the set to take back the lead.
"Jack," called Suarez, just as the dealer dropped the on the felt, much to the roars of the table.
Suarez made the straight to send the cowboys into the much and Krueger out the door.
Alejandro Lococo opened from under the gun and was three-bet by Luis Rojas in middle position. Action folded back to Lococo who made the call.
The flop came rainbow. Both players checked the flop.
The turn brought a and put a flush draw on board. Lococo led with a large bet. Rojas moved all in, having Lococo covered. Lococo made the call for a pot of over six million.
Alejandro Lococo:
Luis Rojas:
Lococo flopped top set to cooler Rojas. The river was a blank and Lococo held for the massive pot.
Details of the hand were relayed by Rojas' brother, who was watching the hand down.
Fedor Holz was surviving the last hour or so by getting a shove through now and then, his short-stack shoves hadn't been called. Until he moved in against Andreas Vlachos.
Holz shoved 535,000 from middle position. In the cutoff, Vlachos moved all in himself for about 1,200,000. The rest of the table folded and the two revealed their cards.
Fedor Holz:
Andreas Vlachos:
Holz pulled ahead on the flop. The turn flipped the script when the hit. The river changed nothing, so Holz headed to the payout desk.
Jack Sinclair was in early position in a heads-up pot against big blind opponent Andrea Agnoletto on a board of .
With around 500,000 already in the pot, Agnoletto bet 160,000. Sinclair covered his mouth with his hoodie and announced "all in" before putting out a stack of chips with his hippopotamus card protector on top.
Agnoletto squirmed a bit in his chair and gave a frown. After a minute or two in the tank, he laid it down.
Leading the way is France's Quentin Guivarch, who bagged a stack of 4,335,000 as he chases the first-place prize of €496,760. Not far behind are fellow big stacks Waldemar Starostin of Germany (3,400,000), Elias Suhonen of Finland (3,300,000) and Eldiyar Janiev of Kyrgyzstan (3,005,000).
€1,100 Eureka Main Event Top 10 Chip Counts
RANK
PLAYER
COUNTRY
CHIP COUNT
BIG BLINDS
1
Quentin Guivarch
France
4,335,000
87
2
Waldemar Starostin
Germany
3,400,000
68
3
Elias Suhonen
Finland
3,300,000
66
4
Eldiyar Janiev
Kyrgyzstan
3,005,000
60
5
Leonardo Romeo
Italy
3,000,000
60
6
Anton Suarez
Sweden
2,930,000
59
7
Martin Stoyanov
Bulgaria
2,750,000
55
8
Pieter Theelen
Austria
2,700,000
54
9
Risto Ailamo
Finland
2,530,000
51
10
Joshua Boulton
United Kingdom
2,320,000
46
Another player on the hunt for the EPT Main Event trophy is German all-time money leader Fedor Holz. The Young Prince bagged 1,090,000 as he looks for his first EPT title and to add to his $36.3 million in live earnings.
Defending champion and PokerStars ambassador Alejandro Lococo, meanwhile brings a stack of 1,535,000 into Day 3 as he looks to go back-to-back after winning the March €1,100 Eureka Main Event for €417,820.
Some other notable names to look out for in the Day 3 field include Martin Stoyanov, Lukas Zaskodny, Day 1c chip leader Bart Fergiatakis and 2022 EPT London Main Event runner-up Jack Sinclair, who also finished second in the EPT Barcelona €1,100 Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event earlier this year for €377,120.
Day 3 wiill play for ten 60-minute levels and will kick off on Level 26 with blinds of 25,000/50,000/50,000. There will be 25-minute breaks every two levels and a 75-minute dinner break at approximately 6:50 p.m.
PokerNews is on-site here in Eastern Europe so be sure to check out the EPT Prague live reporting hub to follow along.