To be honest, we're not sure if they actually just entered or were here all the time and we just noticed them. Anyway, there's some big name players here now we didn't report on before.
EPT Barcelona Season 7 champion Kent Lundmark is here and PokerStars Team Pro's Vanessa Selbst and Johnny Lodden also entered. Selbst has taken down the €5k EPT 10 PLO Championship for €100,700 already here this trip, after defeating a 71-strong field.
Last, but certainly not least, we just talked to Dutchman David Boyaciyan. Boyaciyan finished runner up to Martin Finger two years ago and finished third last year. He's going for three final tables in a row and aims for the top spot this time around. Master Classics of Poker champion Boyaciyan sat down half an hour ago and plays 28,000 at the moment.
She’s done it again! For the second time in a row, Team PokerStars ProVanessa Selbst has arrived early at an EPT and won a major tourney before the Main Event even starts. At EPT London in October, Selbst won the UKIPT High Roller for €67,499 after defeating a 177-strong field, including UKIPT Dublin champion Max Silver heads-up.
Now here in Prague, she has taken down the €5k EPT10 PLO Championship for €100,700 after defeating a 71-strong field that included opponents such as Fabrice Soulier and Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden.
Nine players were paid as below:
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1st
Vanessa Selbst
USA
€100,700
2nd
Sam Greenwood
Canada
€72,300
3rd
Nadar Kakhmazov
Russia
€47,300
4th
Niko Soinnen
Finland
€35,200
5th
Kory Kilpatrick
USA
€27,500
6th
Michael Fosco
USA
€21,300
7th
Francisco Izquierdo
Spain
€16,900
8th
Joni Jouhkimainen
Finland
€13,100
9th
Sampo Ryynanen
Finland
€10,050
Very few players have done as well as Selbst in 2013 — which has proven to be her second-best year with more than $2.5 million in winnings.
The outstanding year she is having began back in January when she proposed to her girlfriend, Miranda, and then went on to win the $25,000 High Roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) for over $1.4 million, becoming the female all-time money earner.
Robbie Bull, a PokerStars player from England opened from the hi-jack for 500 and got a caller in the cut-off, Ukrainian Albert Mykhaylyuta. The blinds folded and the flop dealt was . Check from Mykhaylyuta and a bet from Bull of 875 which was called. The Turn was the , Bull continued for 1,450 and was called once again. The river fell the .Both players checked and Bull reluctantly turned over his . He was behind to the of the Ukrainian.
Sal Al Fakih from the Lebanon is certainly making an impression on the table he just joined. Having won the previous hand PokerNews joined the table hearing an all-in and call on a final board reading . His at-risk opponent was Swedish PokerStars player Niklas Astedt who tabled but was behind to the of Al Fakih who commiserated with his felted opponent. Al Fakih was in the big blind the next hand and it was folded to Jake Cody in the small blind. Cody gave his opponent a walk and Al Fakih flashed . He raised the next hand too and showed the when he found no resistance.
Al Fakih was chuckling to himself. Across the table Sven Krieger piped up, “OK the winner of the tournament is here. Everyone else plays for second place.”
Steven van Zadelhoff, longtime grinder and nicknamed "The Caveman" these days because of his big beard, is up to 52,000. He started out dropping down to 20,000 but then he won all his losses back and then some.
First he saw a player raise it up to 1,000 and he was able to squeeze to 4,000 after someone else called. Just the initial-raiser made the call and both players checked the flop. The turn brought a into play and Van Zadelhoff called a 5,000 bet. The river was a and now Van Zadelhoff called an 8,000 bet. The player showed offsuit while Van Zadelhoff tabled for the best hand.
Not long after both players were tangled up in a big pot again. Van Zadelhoff had top-two and the nut flush draw on the turn with and won the big pot without further improving.
We're not sure how it happened, but we do know that EPT Season 7 champ Roberto Romanello has been eliminated here in the early stages of Day 1a. As you can see, he has some company on the rail.
. Check from Mykhaylyuta and a bet from Bull of 875 which was called. The Turn was the 
, Bull continued for 1,450 and was called once again. The river fell the 
.Both players checked and Bull reluctantly turned over his 
. He was behind to the 
of the Ukrainian.
. His at-risk opponent was Swedish PokerStars player Niklas Astedt who tabled 
but was behind to the 
flop. The turn brought a 
into play and Van Zadelhoff called a 5,000 bet. The river was a 
and now Van Zadelhoff called an 8,000 bet. The player showed 
offsuit while Van Zadelhoff tabled 
