Michele Guerrini raised from middle position to 8,000 before Ali Esmael shoved for 31,500 from the hijack. When it folded back to him, Guerrini called.
Ali Esmael: A♥9♠
Michele Guerrini: 8♣7♣
Esmael was ahead until the dealer fanned out a flop of 8♠J♣4♥, propelling Guerrini into the lead with a pair of eights. The 2♥ turn and Q♥ river didn't help Esmael and he was sent to the rail.
Kristian Dahl raised from middle position, Felix Schneiders three-bet jammed for around 15,000, from the button, and Dahl called.
Felix Schneiders: K♠Q♥
Kristian Dahl: A♣A♥
Schneiders had run into aces and the 6♥4♠9♠ flop meant his chances of survival were slim. The 9♥ turn confirmed the win for Dahl and Schneiders exited the tournament floor on the 10♥ river.
Mosjin El Yakoubi opened the action with an all in from early position. Espen Nikolaisen moved all in as well from late position, and Miki Garcia called from the small blind.
Mosjin El Yakoubi: Q♥10♥
Espen Nikolaisen: 9♠9♥
Miki Garcia: K♣K♥
Garcia was in prime position to scoop a massive pot just 20 spots away from the money when the flop came 3♠3♦5♠. However, the 9♣ on the turn shifted the momentum, giving Nikolaisen a full house. The Q♠ on the river sealed the hand for Nikolaisen, who raked in the pot, eliminating Yakoubi while Garcia took a major hit to his stack.
There were two all-ins on the bubble. One of them came from George Chiriac, who moved all in from the button and was called by Kevin Hasler in the big blind.
George Chiriac: Q♠8♠
Kevin Hasler: J♥10♠
The dealer put out a board of 5♦10♥A♠10x5x giving Hasler a full house and busting Chiriac.
Hand Two:
Christian Pedersen raised from early position. The action folded to Michail Manolakis in the small blind who did not see that Pedersen had raised. Manolakis covered the big blind by some margin and elected to move all in, thinking he was pressuring just one player on the bubble. The big blind folded and Pedersen snap-called.
Michail Manolakis: K♣2♠
Christian Pedersen: K♥K♠
Manolakis' misclick had run into kings. The board ran out 5♠3♥J♦2♣6♠; Pedersen's kings held to eliminate Manolakis.
With these two eliminations, all remaining players were in the money and advancing to Day 2.
The €1,100 Eureka Main Event’s Day 1f, the final starting flight of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour at the Hilton Prague, has officially wrapped up. This turbo flight attracted 839 entries, a considerable increase compared to the 543 from yesterday’s Day 1d. By the end of 20 levels of play, 125 players secured a bag at the end of play, locking up their spot in Day 2 and guaranteeing themselves a min-cash.
The full field for the tournament now totals 4,732 entries, setting a new record high prize pool of €4,542,720, with 709 players returning for Saturday’s Day 2 restart.
Vidar Oie bagged the top stack of the day, finishing the night with an impressive 760,000 chips.
Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Vidar Oie
Norway
760,000
127
2
Martin Kabrhel
Czech Republic
644,000
107
3
Ewen Trevidy
France
636,000
106
4
Alexandros Papadopoulos
Greece
604,000
101
5
Ryan Plant
United Kingdom
550,000
92
6
Christian Pedersen
Denmark
513,000
86
7
Pavel Binar
Czech Republic
440,000
73
8
Matthias Auer
Austria
425,000
71
9
Mateusz Dabkowski
Poland
418,000
70
10
Jack Sinclair
United Kingdom
415,000
69
Martin Kabrhel
Martin Kabrhel was undoubtedly the voice of the room, managing to bag the second biggest stack of the day. Kabrhel, along with other notables such as Jack Sinclair (415,000), Juha Helppi (220,000), Steve O'Dwyer (158,000) and others, will return tomorrow for their chance to advance to Day 3 and ultimately claim the trophy.
Niklas Astedt
On the other hand, Niklas Astedt was one of the notables who didn’t make it to Day 2. Astedt failed to hit the river in a hand against Matthias Auer and didn’t manage to survive. Others who fell short of making it to Day 2 include Barny Boatman, and Felix Schneiders.
Jerry Odeen claimed the overall chip lead after reporting 841,000 at the end of Day 1e.
Day 2 starts on Saturday, December 7, at 11 a.m. The blinds will be 3,000/6,000 for the first 21 minutes of play. Subsequent levels will be extended to 60 minutes each.
The PokerNews live reporting team will return tomorrow to bring you more coverage of the Eureka Poker Tour Main Event here at EPT Prague, so stay tuned.
