On a board of 7♦9♥K♣5♦ with a sizable pot already brewing, Fintan Hand check-called a 22,000 bet from under the gun against Elias Abussamra, who was directly behind him.
The A♦ completed the board and Hand checked again. Abussamra announced he was all in and Hand snap-called having Abussamra covered.
Abussamra tabled 7♥7♠ for a flopped set of sevens, but they were no good against Hand's Q♦9♦ for a rivered flush and Abussamra was sent to reenter should he choose.
The action was opened by Benjamin Spragg to 3,500 from the hijack. Lococo called on the button before Jules Dickerson three-bet to 17,500. Spragg folded, while Lococo made the call sending it heads up to the flop.
It came 8♠7♠7♣ and Dickerson's 20,000 bet was called.
The turn was a 4♣. The Englishman again made it 20,000 and Lococo called.
With Lococo covering Dickerson jammed the J♠ river. Holding just A♥10♥, the Argentine made an impressive herocall and saw Dickerson table K♣Q♣. Lococo chipped up to put himself among the chip leaders.
Nozomu Shimizu opened to 6,000 from the cutoff and was called by Parker Talbot on the button.
Parker proceeded to call bets from Shimizu on every street. First for 6,000 on the 7♣10♠7♥ flop. Then for 16,000 on the A♠ turn. And finally for a hefty 65,000 on the Q♠ river.
Shimizu tabled J♠6♠ for a flush and Talbot mucked — sending the large pot Shimizu's way.
Kayhan Mokri opened to 18,000 from the cutoff and was three-bet to 53,000 by Alejandro Lococo in the big blind. Mokri called.
Mokri called a 42,000 bet from Lococo on the Q♣3♦6♥ flop and then Lococo bet enough to put Morki all in for his last 130,000 after the 4♦ came on the turn.
"I have ace-nine, but I really don't believe you," Mokri said as he pondered a call.
After a bit of chatter and using up mutliple time extensions, Mokri commited the last of his chips into the middle.
Kayhan Mokri: A♦9♥
Alejandro Lococo: K♠K♥
Lococo held the goods and Mokri was drawing to three outs. The 5♥ river bricked out and Lococo took the rest of Mokri's chips.
"F***. I don't wanna play poker with you," Mokri joked as he exited the tournament area.
Parker Talbot found himself all in against Elias Gutierrez. He saw his chances of remaining in the tournament diminish significantly as he tabled Q♥10♥, while the Spaniard showed aces.
Parker Talbot: Q♥10♥
Elias Gutierrez: A♦A♠
A flop of K♠8♠2♥ brought a backdoor flush draw for Talbot.
But a 6♠ on the turn put an end to any hope the Canadian had.
The 4♠ completed the river, and just like that we're down to the final table with nine players remaining.
After getting a shove through the previous hand, Alejandro Lococo tried again in middle position with exactly six big blinds. Dimitar Danchev re-shoved from the hijack, before every player behind folded. The Argentine tabled Q♥J♦ and had one foot out the door, with his opponent showing aces.
Alejandro Lococo: Q♥J♦
Dimitar Danchev: A♦A♠
The flop of Q♣9♥9♠ gave Lococo some hope, needing another queen to go ahead.
It didn't come on the turn, with the 4♠ landing.
A 7♠ on the river completed the board and sent Lococo to the rail in ninth place.
Day 1 of the €10,200 Mystery Bounty has concluded here at PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague with Oleg Vasylchenko bagging up the lead after amassing 1,665,000 in chips. The event drew a total of 56 entries, which generated a total prize pool of €263,200. After 19 levels of play, a final table of eight remained here at the Hilton Prague.
Vasylchenko is no stranger to poker success, having accrued over $450,000 in live-tournament earnings to date. A few months ago, Vasylchenko earned a third-place finish for €46,550 in a No-Limit Hold'em EPT Barcelona event and he now finds himself in pole position to make a run at his first EPT title. His closest competition headed into the final table is Elias Gutierrez (1,105,000), who was the only other player to bag over a million in chips.
Official Final Table of €10,200 Mystery Bounty
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Enrico Camosci
Malta
710,000
18
2
Dimitar Danchev
Bulgaria
810,000
20
3
Masato Kashiwabara
Japan
320,000
8
4
Paul Newey
England
200,000
5
5
Antoine Labat
France
400,000
10
6
Marcelo Bonanata
Uruguay
390,000
10
7
Elias Gutierrez
Spain
1,105,000
28
8
Oleg Vasylchenko
Ukraine
1,665,000
42
Day 1 Action
Day 1 started off with 12 entrants and it didn't take long for the action to heat up and for players to start busting each other. Team PokerStars ambassador Fintan Hand jumped out to an early lead after catching a flush against against Elias Abussamra's flopped set of sevens. Hand wasn't able to hang onto that momentum, however, and ended up busting two bullets before late registration ended.
Team PokerStars ambassador Benjamin Spragg also fired two bullets before ultimately falling short of the money, thanks in part to losing a flip against fellow PokerStars ambassador Alejandro Lococo.
Other notables to bust after the end of late registration include Niklas Astedt, Julien Sitbon, and Nozomu Shimizu, who bluff shoved and was called lightly by Marcelo Bonanata late in the day.
The unlucky run for Team PokerStars ambassadors continued after Parker Talbot bowed out just shy of the unofficial final table after running into the aces of Elias Gutierrez.
Play slowed considerably at the unofficial final table, with many of the short-stacked players shoving and stealing the blinds uncontested. Ultimately, it would be Lococo to burst the money bubble after losing the majority of his chips by doubling up both Vasylchenko and Enrico Camosci. Lococo shoved his remaining chips and ended up running into Dimitar Danchev's aces on the final hand of the day.
Players will reconvene for Day 2 on Tuesday, December 11 at 12:30 p.m. local time. Play will resume on Level 20, which features 20,000/40,000 blinds with a 40,000 big blind ante. Levels will last 45 minutes each and the final table will also be streamed on the PokerStars YouTube and Twitch channels on a delay.
The mystery bounty portion of the prize pool will come into play during the final table and specific bounty amounts will be announced at the start of Day 2.
Keep it with PokerNews as we continue to provide all the No-Limit Hold'em action leading to the next EPT Prague champion!