Yuan Li opened to 45,000 and short-stack Sam Greenwood three-bet all in for around 170,000 from the big blind. Li called.
Yuan Li:
Sam Greenwood:
The flop changed nothing but the turn did give Li a gutshot straight draw and a chance at knocking out Greenwood. In the end, the did just that and Greenwood would bust short of the money.
Steve O'Dwyer raised it up to 43,000 on the button and Adrian Mateos defended from the big blind. The flop fell and Mateos check-called a bet of 70,000 from O'Dwyer.
The paired the board on the turn and Mateos led out with a bet of 85,000. O'Dwyer called and the completed the board. Mateos reached back for a bet of 444,000 this time and O'Dwyer dropped in a call. Mateos flipped over for trip nines and O'Dwyer couldn't beat it.
Since the elimination of Sam Greenwood, Bertrand Grospellier has been drifting at the bottom of the counts. He three-bet all in for 170,000 after Jean-Noel Thorel opened, and Thorel called.
Bertrand Grospellier:
Jean-Noel Thorel:
The board came offering no worries to Grospellier who doubled up.
In the last hand before the break, Stephen Chidwick opened to 60,000 in the hijack and Steve O'Dwyer three-bet to 210,000 from the small blind. Yuan Li four-bet shoved all in for around 400,000 in the big blind which got Chidwick to fold but O'Dwyer snap-called.
Steve O'Dwyer:
Yuan Li:
The flop came and O'Dwyer's queens still held a firm grip on the hand. The on the turn and the on the river would not save Li as he was eliminated.
Seth Davies opened to 100,000 and Jean-Noel Thorel defended the button.
The flop came and Davies moved all in for 410,000. Thorel called.
Seth Davies:
Jean-Noel Thorel:
It was an over pair versus a flush draw with Davies looking to stay alive. The turn was the and the river looked like a brick, but it completed a gutshot straight draw for Thorel who sent Davies to the rail.
The remaining players are all guaranteed €149,410 and are bagging up for the night.
They are two players in the richest of form at the top of the counts with six left in the PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague €50,000 Super High Roller.
Adrian Mateos, winner of the €10,300 High Roller, and Jean-Noel Thorel, winner of the €25,000 Single Day High Roller, are separated by just 90,000 chips after a 13-hour day here in the Czech capital.
The field is all in the money after Thorel sent Seth Davies to the rail in seventh. His king-eight rivered a straight to crack the kings of Davies to secure the remaining players €149,410.
However, the remaining players will all be looking to secure €725,710 and the trophy when the final table resumes at 12:30 pm on Thursday.
Final Table Draw
Seat
Player
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Bertrand Grospellier
France
1,200,000
30
2
Stephen Chidwick
United Kingdom
1,920,000
48
3
Ben Heath
United Kingdom
615,000
15
4
Steve O'Dwyer
Ireland
1,770,000
44
5
Adrian Mateos
Spain
2,795,000
70
6
Jean-Noel Thorel
France
2,705,000
68
Day 2 Recap
A total of 22 players from a field of 30 players advanced to Day 2, and by the end of late registration, the field had grown to 44 players. This included Jean-Noel Thorel, George Wolff and Pascal Hartmann, all of which jumped in before cards were in the air, along with Adrian Mateos, Sergio Aido and Bryn Kenney.
Stephen Chidwick and Michael Soyza both took advantage of the unlimited re-entry before registration closed and the payouts were confirmed.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize (EUR)
Prize (USD)
1st
€725,710
$804,122
2nd
€501,590
$555,786
3rd
€320,170
$354,764
4th
€245,460
$271,981
5th
€192,100
$212,856
6th
€149,410
$165,553
No sooner had the payouts been confirmed, we lost someone who knows full well how it feels to take home the lion's share of the prize pool. Defending champion Matthias Eibinger was flipped from the tournament by Kahle Burns after the latter turned a flush to beat Eibinger's flopped set.
Michael Soyza, €10,300 High Roller runner-up Derek Ip and Mikita Badziakouski were all eliminated, with Kahle Burns joining them after a spectacular fall from grace.
The Day 1 chip leader bluffed off 800,000 chips toSam Greenwood before handing over the rest when the Canadian picked up aces. Greenwood was the first player over two million, and also the chip leader by the time the tournament reached two tables.
The Thorel Show
Having already tasted glory this week in the €25,000 Single Day High Roller, Thorel seems to be on a heater and it was on full display from two tables on. He flopped a straight to eliminate Timothy Adams before dinner, and when play resumed picked up where he left off sending Vladimir Troyanovskiy to the rail.
Thorel held pocket jacks against the fives of Troyanovskiy to move over two million in chips. However, it was Stephen Chidwick who took over the chip lead just before play reached the final table in spectacular fashion.
Chidwick had flopped the nut straight but when a third spade rolled off on the river he tanked for his last one million chips before calling it off and was relieved when Greenwood turned over just top pair.
Final Table
Chidwick led from Thorel as short-stacked Greenwood exited in ninth. Bertrand Grospellier doubled twice through Thorel to clip his wings but got his own back after calling with ace-high against Grospellier to move back atop the counts.
Play was eight-handed two off the money for three hours with Thorel holding firm at the top. A late Adrian Mateos double saw him move back into contention and then ahead of Thorel.
Steve O'Dwyer eliminated Yuan Li in seventh before Thorel sent Davies out in sixth, but it wasn't enough as Mateos scooped the overall chip lead heading into the final day.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for full coverage of the final day as we find out who takes home the largest buy-in tournament of the festival! We will also be bringing you live updates of the final table of the EPT National which concludes tomorrow.