Who Will Get One Step Closer to Victory in Record-Breaking 2022 EPT Prague €5,300 Main Event?
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After extended play on the previous days, the record-breaking 2022 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague €5,300 Main Event has been whittled down from 1,267 entries to the final nine players. all with the hopes of winning their first-ever EPT Main Event title at the Hilton Hotel Prague. Throughout the next two days, the biggest portion of the €6,144,950 prize pool will be awarded and a new champion is to be crowned.
Canada's Jordan Saccucci leads the way with 9,560,000 (159 big blinds) to his name and he will face stiff competition from all over the world. Japan's Jun Obara also has more than 100 big blinds at his disposal with 6,240,000 and he is closely followed by Petar Kalev (5,845,000).
Luigi D'Alterio is in the middle of the pack with 4,730,000 while several hopefuls then follow closely bunched together. Paul-Adrian Covaciu (2,770,000) and former WSOP Main Event finalist Antoine Saout (2,740,000) are separated by a single big blind big blind, narrowly ahead of Spanish poker pro Javier Gomez Zapatero (2,585,000).
Furthermore, PokerStars ambassador Parker Talbot recovered from a very short stack on the final two tables and enters the nine-handed final table as second-shortest stack with 1,810,000 (30 big blinds). Last but not least, Istvan Pilhofer advanced with 1,530,000 (26 big blinds) and still has plenty of wiggle room.
2022 EPT Prague €5,300 Main Event Final Table
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petar Kalev | Bulgaria | 5,845,000 | 97 |
| 2 | Jordan Saccucci | Canada | 9,560,000 | 159 |
| 3 | Javier Gomez Zapatero | Spain | 2,585,000 | 43 |
| 4 | Luigi D'Alterio | Italy | 4,730,000 | 79 |
| 5 | Paul-Adrian Covaciu | Romania | 2,770,000 | 46 |
| 6 | Parker Talbot | Canada | 1,810,000 | 30 |
| 7 | Antoine Saout | France | 2,740,000 | 46 |
| 8 | Istvan Pilhofer | Hungary | 1,530,000 | 26 |
| 9 | Jun Obara | Japan | 6,240,000 | 104 |
The nine finalists have €97,450 guaranteed for their efforts so far. However, all have their eyes set firmly on the golden EPT Main Event trophy and €1,054,500 top prize that comes along with it. When the action resumes in real time at noon local time, there will be 64:54 minutes remaining in level 27 at blinds of 30,000/60,000 and a big blind ante of 60,000.
When the tournament reaches five players still in the mix, the level duration will be decreased to 75 minutes each and the final four then compete at a level duration of 60 minutes each. For the final three, the level duration is 45 minutes each and the same also applies going forward as of the next level after a deal has been made as well.
The penultimate tournament day is scheduled to play down to the the final four players and the live stream on the PokerStars YouTube and Twitch channels will run on a security delay of 30 minutes. All PokerNews updates will be published in accordance with the live stream in order to not spoil any of the action.
on the button and Petar Kalev three-bet to 500,000 with the 
in the small blind. Obara then four-bet to 1,150,000 and that sent Kalev into a brief tank. The Bulgarian then five-bet to 2,035,000 and Obara snap-folded.
in the cutoff and Kalev three-bet to 370,000 with the 
on the button, winning yet another pot off the Japanese without resistance.
in the big blind who made the call. 
. Obara checked, and D'Alterio decided to check behind. 
came out. Obara decided to lead for 280,000. D'Alterio made the call in position. 
, counterfeiting D'Alterio's pair. Obara bet 155,000. D'Alterio decided to raise the river to 525,000 after losing his showdown value. Back on Obara, he went into the tank, using a time bank. He made the call to take down the pot with the ace-high call.
. Action folded to Parker Talbot in the small blind with 
. He three-bet to 520,000. Kalev moved all in, and Talbot called for 690,000 effective. 
hit the flop. The turn came the 
and river the 
, and Talbot locked up the double.
, a terrible flop for Covaciu. The 
, ending Covaciu's tournament as the first final table elimination.
flop gave Gomez Zapatero an open-ended straight draw and the 
on the turn, bringing in a straight flush draw. 
made it official, and another shorter stack doubled.
