All the players folded to Alejandro Lococo in the small blind. And between fold, call or raise, "PapoMC" decided to go all in for almost 350,000 chips to apply pressure on João Mestre Ferreira in the big blind. However, the Mexican player made the call for his remaining 233,000 chips.
João Mestre Ferreira: K♣K♦
Alejandro Lococo: Q♥4♦
Unfortunately for Lococo, Ferreira had a very strong hand in the big blind. And after the 9♠3♣6♦A♠8♠ board, Ferreira doubled up.
Adrian Ibanescu and Jakub Maryska pushed all of the chips in the middle before the flop, and Maryska was at risk for roughly 150,000.
Jakub Maryska: A♣K♥
Adrian Ibanescu: J♦J♥
It was the classic coin flip but Maryska couldn't connect as the board ran out 8♦6♦3♥9♠7♥, sending him to the rail.
At the same time on a different table, Conor Beresford raised in the hijack before Andrew Hulme jammed his remaining stack of roughly 38,000 in the middle from the small blind. Beresford made the call and both hands were tabled.
Andrew Hulme: Q♦Q♥
Conor Beresford: A♦J♦
Hulme had the lead until the dealer fanned a flop of J♥J♠9♠, giving Beresford trip jacks. Hulme couldn't find one of the remaining queens in the deck as the board completed with the 5♣ turn, and 4♥ river.
Maryska, Hulme plus Cyril Mira's eliminations left just 45 players remaining, which meant the bags came out as all 45 players are in the money and advanced to Day 2.
Running parallel to the live action at the Prague Hilton. The Mini EPT Prague Online series has its opening shuffle up and deal on Tuesday, December 12, and continues through to Sunday, December 17, offering a thrilling lineup of 18 tournaments over six action-packed days, with buy-ins starting at just $1.10.
This series is unmissable because of the staggering $40,000 in added value that PokerStars is injecting into the prize pools.
The highlight of the added value is found in the $5.50 and $55 Mini Main Events scheduled for December 17. The winner of each of these events will walk away with a prestigious Gold Power Pass valued at $10,300, offering the chance to experience the full EPT atmosphere at any future EPT stop.
After 15 levels of play and a few minutes into Level 16, 45 players have made it through to Day 2 of the €1,100 Eureka Main Event here at the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague which takes place in the beautifully decorated Hilton Prague. Day 1a attracted a total of 304 players to the first of four starting flights with Mircea Flutur grabbing the chip lead with a total of 772,000.
Flutur used his aggressive style to continuously build his stack including nearing the end of the night when he check-raised a multi-way flop and blasted all in to put Berthold Winz to the test.
Day 1b also got underway, reaching a total of 122 entries. Two more flights are on the schedule as Day 1c begins at 12:00 p.m. and Day 1d starts at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 7th.
Eureka Main Event Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Mircea Flutur
Romania
772,000
154
2
Christian Ly
France
571,000
114
3
Komil Khamidov
Poland
493,000
99
4
João Mestre Ferreira
Mexico
481,000
96
5
Joonas Helin
Finland
411,000
82
6
Tomas Chmela
Slovakia
363,000
73
7
Alejandro Vazquez
Spain
344,000
69
8
Adrian Ibanescu
Romania
316,000
63
9
Spiridon Apartoglou
Greece
305,000
61
10
Roberto Corbelli
Switzerland
295,000
59
Parker Talbot
Numerous notables have already found a bag to enter Day 2, including Conor Beresford (257,000), Daniel Budin (254,000), along with PokerStars AmbassadorsTalbot Parker (194,000) and Alejandro Lococo (155,000).
A host of poker's top names turned out for Day 1a, but were unable to make it into the final 15% of the field. The likes of Jason Wheeler, Benjamin Spragg, Marle Spragg, Felix Schneiders, Joao Sydenstricker and Daisuke Ogita all fell short of navigating the first hurdle.
Following Flutur at the end of the night was Christian Ly, bagging second in chips with 571,000. Ly continuously grew his stack throughout the day, including when his pocket queens sent Miguel Fluxa to the rail.
The bubble burst quickly, as two players were eliminated at the same time, advancing the remaining players to Day 2 without the hand-for-hand period. The 45 Day 1a advancers have all locked up the min-cash which will be determined when the rest of the Day 1s play out.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is on-site and will be back tomorrow for continued coverage of the €1,100 Eureka Main Event.
