Askar Bekbayev opened to 4,000 from under the gun and Anton Wigg three-bet to 12,500 a couple of seats over. Tomas Jozonis spent 90 seconds in the tank on the button and eventually folded. David Petkovic also wasted 90 seconds in the big blind, gazing around the room, and eventually folded. Bekbayev four-bet shoved all in and Wigg quickly called off his stack of 46,000.
Anton Wigg:
Askar Bekbayev:
The flop fell with the queen in the window to give Wigg the lead. The on the turn changed nothing but it was the on the river that gave Bekbayev a bigger set and Wigg was eliminated.
With record fields in the €1,100 Eureka Main Event and €2,200 Eureka High Roller, it was not much of a surprise that the flagship tournament of the 2022 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague festival at the Hilton Hotel Prague also set a record as well.
The tournament drew a record-breaking field of 1,267 entries (from 918 unique players) and beat the previous record attendance of the 2016 edition. Back then, the event was held in a freezeout format and attracted an impressive 1,192 entries.
Only the top 183 finishers will receive a portion of the €6,144,940 prize pool and a massive top prize of €1,054,500 awaits for the eventual champion on Sunday, December 18, 2022. Until then, it is still a long way to go while it seems all but certain that the money bubble will burst on Day 2.
A total of 62 countries were represented and France leads the way with 95 players(10.4%), followed by Italy (90 players / 9.8%), Germany (75 players / 8.2%), the United Kingdom (46 players / 5.0%), and Spain (40 players / 4.4%).
The March edition of this very event which had been rescheduled due to the global coronavirus pandemic drew a total of 1,190 entries to narrowly miss out on a new record. It featured 885 unique players from 58 countries with France (99) leading the way ahead of Germany (81), Italy (77), the United Kingdom (46), the Netherlands and Poland (both 42).
All the updates of the €5,300 Main Event can be followed right here on PokerNews and the live stream action of the feature table is available on the PokerStars YouTube and Twitch channels as well.
On a flop of , Pablo Brito Silva checked to Preben Stokkan who bet out 4,500. Brito Silva thought for a moment before check-raising to 14,000 and Stokkan called.
Both players checked the turn and the river came .
Brito Silva carved out a bet of 12,000 and placed it over the line before Stokkan raised to 70,000 total. Brito Silva went into the tank for a few minutes before making the call and seeing the bad news.
Stokkan flipped for a rivered full house and Brito Silva tossed his hand into the muck.
A total of 1,267 entries consisting of 918 unique players and 349 re-entries generated a prize pool of €6,144,950. The top 183 spots will get paid and the min-cash is worth €8,650. Reaching the unofficial nine-handed final table comes with a payday of €97,450 and the winner will walk away with a top prize of €1,054,500 in this record-breaking EPT Prague €5,300 Main Event.
Robert Cowen raised to 5,000 and was called by Jaesung Lee from one seat over on the button. Yulian Bogdanov then tree-bet to 27,500 in the big blind and Cowen folded while Lee called. The flop saw a bet of 15,500 by Bogdanov and a call before the Bulgarian fired a hefty 70,000 on the turn.
Lee called once again and that led them to the on the river. Bogdanov motioned to see the stack of his opponent before he pushed all-in. Lee had more than the current average behind and quickly called to get shown the by Bogdanov, which he had beat holding the .
With bets of 10,500 and 18,000 already pulled in until the turn, Nicola Grieco checked and Renat Bohdanov moved all-in for the last 26,500. Grieco was deep in the tank for more than four minutes as he vaulted out of the chair and studied the board very carefully. The clock was called on him and Grieco called with three seconds left.
Renat Bohdanov:
Nicola Grieco:
Grieco was trailing but spiked the on the river to burst out in a rather timid celebration in his native language.
One hand later, Grieco used his standard opening size of 10,000 - four big blinds - once more. Daniele D'Angelo pushed all-in and already stood up, joked "I need a lot of luck against this guy". The dealer told D'Angelo to sit back down and once it folded back to Grieco, he snap-called.
Daniele D'Angelo:
Nicola Grieco:
This time, Grieco had the best of it and made a set on the runout to send the next opponent to the rail.
Robert Cowen opened to 6,000 from the cutoff and was three-bet to 20,000 by Jaesung Lee on the button and Cowen called.
Cowen check-called Lee's bet of 13,000 on the flop and the two big stacks took to the turn. Cowen checked again and Lee sized up betting 45,000 only for Cowen to fold.
Lee jested "I never bluff!" flashing as he raked in another pot and is now one of biggest stacks in the room.
Auez Yelyubayev was forced all in for 1,000 in the big blind and Robert Cowen raised to 8,000 in early position. Jaesung Lee three-bet to 20,000 on his left and the action folded back to Cowen who four-bet to 58,000. Lee called and they went heads-up on the side pot to a flop of .
Both players checked and the landed on the turn. Cowen check-called a bet of 40,000 from Lee and the peeled off on the river. Both players checked again and Cowen tabled . Lee held for a set of tens to claim the side pot and he also got the main pot when Yelyubayev showed .
At the table next door, Saar Wilf raised it up from under the gun and Lader Lijo three-bet all in from the big blind. Wilf instantly called and the hands were tabled.
Saar Wilf:
Lander Lijo:
The board ran out and Lijo spiked a set of queens on the river to also eliminate Wilf. With two eliminations occurring at the same time, the tournament dealers were told to hold up after the hand.
While play was paused at all tables, Felix Weis was also eliminated, bringing the field down to just 183 entries. When the action was completed at all of the tables, it was announced that the remaining 183 players all locked up a min-cash of €8,550.
Action arrived on the turn with two players having just got all the chips in the middle. The board showed . Robert Cowen in the big blind and Nicola Grieco in the cutoff were the players with their chips in the pot and Cowen was at risk with a slightly smaller stack. The pot held over 600,000 up for grabs.
Robert Cowen:
Nicola Grieco:
Grieco had Cowen dominated with better trips, but needed a clean river to finish the job. The hit the river, both players ended up with trips, but Grieco's kicker played, so Cowen was headed out the door.
Action folded around to Gaelle Baumann who opened the cutoff to 8,000, Daniel Menger folded the button and Juan Pardo three-bet to 30,000 from the small blind. After the big blind has folded Baumann called and the players went to the streets.
On the flop Pardo continued the aggression and led out for 39,000. Baumann sized up Pardo for a few moments before sliding out three stacks of chips and reraising all in. Pardo folded quickly and Baumann took down the pot.