Stanislav Tishkevich opened to 4,000 from early position, but Alexander Tkatschew to his left three-bet to 12,500. All the other players folded to Tishkevich again, who called.
Tkatschew continued with a bet of 7,500 on the 7♥5♦A♦ flop, and Tishkevich eventually called. But the 5♠ on the turn slowed down the action as both players checked.
The 2♥ came on the river, with Tishkevich leading out for 25,000. Tkatschew snap-called, but mucked his cards as Tishkevich revealed A♠Q♠ for top pair.
Dimitar Danchev had already three-bet an open from Omar Eljach to 15,000 on the button. Eljach, who was in the hijack, responded with a four-bet to 32,000 and Danchev called.
Eljach continued for 25,000 on the 5♠2♥4♣ flop and Danchev called.
The A♣ fell on the turn and Eljach check-called a 45,000 bet from Danchev.
Eljach checked once more on the 5♣ river and Danchev tanked for a while before checking back. Eljach tabled K♣K♥ and Danchev mucked upon seeing it — sending the sizable pot Eljach's direction.
There has been another record-breaking entry field at EPT Prague, with the 2023 €5,300 Main Event being the biggest it has ever been.
Last year, the Hilton Prague saw, a then-best, 1,267 entries as players from all over the world took their shot at EPT glory. This time around, the entry figure grew once more setting the bar even higher with 1,285 entries. The field was made up from 936 unique players.
The prize pool is also the largest ever, hitting €4,233,250 and paying out a total of 191 places. €1,030,000 awaits the winner while the min-cash has been set at €8,420.
Nationality Stats
From the mammoth-sized field, 64 countries have been represented in the series' showstopper, with Italian players turning out in force with 79 players (8.4% of the field). Players from France also rocked up in droves, with 78 players making the journey from the tricolor state.
Germany and the United Kingdom have 68 and 48 players flying their flags while 44 have travelled from Sweden. Below is a complete breakdown.
Leo Worthington-Leese and Duco ten Haven were heads-up on the river with the board showing 8♣J♠Q♥8♦7♥ and around 50,000 in the middle.
Ten Haven, on the button, then moved all in sending Worthington-Leese deep into the tank from the big blind. The clock was eventually called after several minutes until Worthington-Leese eventually called for 115,000.
Ten Haven showed 10♠3♠ for a bluff and Worthington-Leese turned over Q♣9♦ for two pair as he doubled up.
Heads-up on a flop of 10♥3♦8♠, Arthur Thiriart bet 4,500 from early position before Filippo Gandini raised to 20,000 in the big blind. Thiriart moved all in and Gandini quickly called for his last 45,000.
Filippo Gandini: J♥9♠
Arthur Thiriart: Q♠Q♣
Thiriart was ahead with his queens, while Gandini had a straight draw. The 2♣ turn was no help to Gandini, while he also missed the 10♠ river as Thiriart scooped the pot to send Gandini to the rail.
On a completed board of 8♥7♠5♦10♠10♥ with several thousand already in the middle, Lee Jongwook shoved for a bit under 30,000 from middle position and was called by Cezar Laurentiu from the hijack.
Jongwook tabled 7♣7♥ for a full house and Laurentiu showed he held Jx10x for trip tens and mucked — scoring the double up for Jongwook.