It may not be the magical, snowy scene that often lights up the photographs this time of year in the Czech capital, but it is December and it is time for European Poker Tour Prague, starting with the €10,300 No-Limit Hold'em opening event to get the festivities rolling at Hilton Prague.
This one will just be a bit of an appetizer to the main courses to follow — stuff like the €50K Super High Roller and the €5,300 Main Event — but it has produced some strong fields and decent prize pools in the past. Last year, for example, Jasper Meijer van Putten took it down for €150,000 over Preben Stokkan and Timothy Adams, with the likes of Sam Greenwood and Ben Heath also gracing the final table.
A late start to the day — the first card isn't scheduled to come off the deck until 6 p.m. local time — means it's just eight 45-minute levels to be played. Players start with 50,000 in their stacks and tiny blinds of 100/200 with a 100 big blind ante on something of a double level to get things going as only the ante goes up on Level 2. Eventually, they'll make their way through 500/1,000/1,000, at which point the majority of players will undoubtedly see bagging time. Action should be fast-paced as a 30-second clock will be in use.
Should things go awry, players will have the option of a reentry throughout play and up until the beginning of Day 2.
Stay tuned here on PokerNews as the preliminary rounds of this one get played to kick off one of poker's very best and most long-running festivals.
