Anatolii Zyrin had returned from the dinner break with around half a million in chips and just ended all-in via three-bet jam and he was called by big stack Nazar Buhaiov.
Anatolii Zyrin:
Nazar Buhaiov:
The short stack ride of the 2019 WSOP bracelet winner came to an end after a board as Buhaiov dragged in the pot and Zyrin had to settle for 59th place.
At the same time on different tables, Mehdi Violleau and Erwann Pecheux were eliminated and tournament staff announced to them that the pay jump between 56th and 55th place would be chopped.
Violleau was ousted in a battle of the blinds with Giorgiy Skhulukhiya when his last 955,000 went in with versus . The board came and Skhulukhiya flopped his ace, he had the Frenchman covered ba one big blind.
Pecheux was all in with against the of Nazar Buhaiov and the flop left him drawing dead right away on the flop.
Andrei Konopelko saw action folded to him in the hijack and opened to 90,000. Fidan Zahiti was next to act in the cutoff and three-bet to 240,000. Michal Janczarski then called all in for less from the button for around 170,000 total, and Yiannis Liperis went all in over the top of everybody for 865,000. Konopelko called to put Zahiti in the tank, and eventually he vocalized that he had to fold.
"You have kings, right?" asked Zahiti. Janczarski and Liperis were hoping Zahiti was wrong, but he wasn't.
Michal Janczarski:
Yiannis Liperis:
Andrei Konopelko:
Konopelko picked up a small sweat for the main pot on the turn as the board ran out , but ultimately held to scoop everything and vault him over 3 million in the process.
Simon Burns opened to 85,000 in the hijack and was three-bet to 300,000 by Giulio Mascolo out of the cutoff. The next two players folded to put action onto Lyudmil Ivanov, who cold four-bet all in for 505,000. Burns went over the top for 1.105 million and Mascolo called quickly called.
Lyudmil Ivanov:
Simon Burns:
Giulio Mascolo:
Mascolo found himself hoping for a queen to score the double knockout and chip up tremendously; meanwhile, Ivanov had his sights set on a share of the main pot. Burns did as well, but also was in great position to take down the side pot for a sizeable increase to his stack.
The board ran out , missing the possibility at two pair coming on board for a three-way chop. Stacks and pots were divided accordingly and both Burns and Ivanov saw big increases to their stacks at the expense of Mascolo.
Jussi Mattila raised to 125,000 from the middle position and Borge Sandsgaard shoved from the hijack for 455,000. Action folded to Giorgiy Skhulukhiya in the small blind who made the call. Mattila took some time and then opted to fold.
Borge Sandsgaard:
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya:
The board ran out for Skhulukhiya to hit the flop for a pair of jacks to eliminate Sandsgaard in 43rd place.
There was around 950,000 in the middle on a board reading and Philipp Heinke had bet 325,000 from the small blind. Action was back on him facing an all-in shove for 995,000 by Wei Huang, who was in middle position.
Heinke spent over three minutes thinking through his decision, uncertain what Huang could have. Eventually, he decided to make the call.
Wei Huang:
Philipp Heinke:
"Ace-eight. Sicko," said Heinke. He then came to terms with his situation: "I still have outs: queen or heart, dealer," asked Heinke. The dealer complied, bringing on the river to fill up Heinke to a flush.
"Yes!" said Heinke again on the quiet side, getting up and fist-pumping a few times as he paced a few steps away from the table. Moments later, he was sitting back down, adding another, "Let's go!" before sitting down and stacking his chips.
"You've been getting lucky," said another player at the table. Heinke responded along the lines of uncertainty, saying he never once put ace-eight in Huang's range.
Heinke then filled in the details from before the turn, saying that Huang had opened and was called by Giulio Mascolo on the button. Heinke three-bet and only Huang called, with both players checking the flop to bring action to the turn where stacks ended up going into the middle.
The second-biggest €1,100 EPT National Prague is one step closer to crowning a champion at the 2019 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague festival and just 32 players out of a field of 2,452 entries remain after 10 full levels of 60 minutes on Day 2. All remaining hopefuls are aiming for a big slice of the €2,353,920 prize pool and have €7,390 locked up for the efforts thus far while the winner can look forward to a payday of €375,000.
Leading the survivors after Day 2 is Germany's Philipp Heinke, who is one of two players that have bagged up more than five million in chips. Heinke doesn't have any live cashes to his name yet but ended up on top of the leaderboard with 5,855,000 in chips. Second in chips is Jasper Meijer Van Putten who claimed 5,135,000 to his name and has fond memories of previous trips to the capital of the Czech Republic.
The top four career results of Meijer Van Putten were all recorded at the Hilton Prague, highlighted by his victory in the EPT13 Prague Main Event in 2016 for a top prize of €699,300 after he cut a deal in heads-up with Marton Czuczor. His other three top scores in Prague are all final-table appearances and the Dutchman seems poised to make it five final tables within four years.
Jussi Mattila follows in third place with 4,980,000 and is one of two Finns in the top 10 as nine different nationalities are represented at the top of the leaderboard. Notables with big stacks include Nikita Kuznetcov (3,935,000), Gregory Armand (3,225,000), Andrei Konopelko (3,150,000), Alexandre Viard (2,900,000), 2019 EPT Open Sochi runner-up Giorgiy Skhulukhiya (2,860,000), and Jakub Oliva (2,580,000).
Top 10 Counts After Day 2
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Philipp Heinke
Germany
5,855,000
2
Jasper Meijer Van Putten
Netherlands
5,135,000
3
Jussi Mattila
Finland
4,980,000
4
Nikita Kuznetcov
Russia
3,935,000
5
Fidan Zahiti
Sweden
3,815,000
6
Gregory Telman
Israel
3,680,000
7
Gregory Armand
United States
3,225,000
8
Andrei Konopelko
Belarus
3,150,000
9
Alexandre Viard
France
2,900,000
10
Timo Laasonen
Finland
2,870,000
Other familiar faces of the European poker circuit such as Narcis Nedelcu (2,265,000), Micha Hoedemaker (1,900,000), Pierre Calamusa (1,300,000) and Grzegorz Wyraz (1,225,000) will also be in the mix when the action resumes on Tuesday, December 10th, 2019, as of noon local time. The recommencing blinds will be 40,000-80,000 with a big blind ante of 80,000 and ten levels are scheduled or down to the final six, whichever of the two comes first.
The Action from Day 2 at a Glance
In the first two hours of play, the field of 367 Day 1 survivors was quickly whittled down to fewer than 200 hopefuls and among those to head to the payout desk were the PokerStars ambassadors Ramon Colillas and Steve Enriquez, along with Triple Crown Champion Davidi Kitai, Felix Schulze, Antoine Labat, Marcin Horecki, Jussi Nevanlinna, and Artur Rudenkov to name just a few.
Jose Quintas, who had reached the final table of the EPT National during the previous festival at Casino Barcelona, came up short with king-jack against the ace-jack of Catalin Rusu and bowed out in the third full level of the day. The eliminations kept pouring in at a rapid pace and former EPT champion Jan Bendik, Simone Miracoli and 2018 EPT Prague Main Event finalist Carlos Branco were just some of the notables that busted early in the day.
Online legend Viktor "Isildur1" Blom ran with pocket fours into the pocket kings of Michael Kramer and exited in 84th place, just ahead of 2018 finalist Danilo Velasevic and minutes before Andrej Desset ran out of chips. Mihails Morozovs lost one of the biggest pots of the day when his gutshot and flush draw failed to get there against the top set of Gregory Armand on a seven-high flop, and the Latvian had to settle for 76th place.
In the late stages of the day, 2019 WSOP bracelet winner Anatolii Zyrin came up short when he lost a flip with ace-jack versus nines and former French player of the year Erwann Pecheux was left drawing dead on the flop when he was at risk with ace-king versus ace-king suited. For Yiannis Liperis, it was all over in a three-way all-in when his jacks clashed with the kings of Andrei Konopelko and Michal Janczarski could not find any help with ace-queen either.
Towards the end of the night, several players were gunning for the overnight lead. Philipp Heinke was the first above five million when he won a crucial hand to bust Wei Huang and he held onto the top spot eventually. Jasper Meijer van Putten and Jussi Mattila, one of the most talkative players left in the field, came close after raking in a lot of pots in the final two levels to assume a prime position for the race to the final table.
Tune back in tomorrow right here on PokerNews to find out who reaches the final day in the 2019 PokerStars EPT Prague €1,100 EPT National!