Danyel Boyaciyan In the Lead after Day 1 of the €10,300 EPT High Roller
While the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague Main Event is closer than ever to the final table, another opportunity to win big money began this Friday with the traditional closing €10,300 EPT High Roller.
Compared to the record-breaking Eureka and EPT Main Events, Day 1 of the EPT High Roller seemed small, with 255 entrants recorded. However, compared to last year’s 240 participants, the 2024 field is not that small, and players can still enter the tournament until the start of Day 2.
Among those who didn't wait for Day 2 to register, Danyel Boyaciyan made the right choice not to wait as he finished on top of the chip counts, with 538,500 chips. He already had a big stack during the last level, but extended his lead even more after he eliminated Diego Montone with aces. He leads the 93 remaining players ahead of Conor Bergin (385,000), Michael Sklenicka (348,500) and Joris Ruijs (309,500), who all reached the 300,000-chip mark.
Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rang | Player | Country | Chip count | Big blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danyel Boyaciyan | Netherlands | 538,500 | 359 |
| 2 | Conor Bergin | Ireland | 385,000 | 257 |
| 3 | Michael Sklenicka | Czech Republic | 348,500 | 232 |
| 4 | Joris Ruijs | Netherlands | 309,500 | 206 |
| 5 | Julien Sitbon | France | 299,500 | 200 |
| 6 | Armin Rezaei | Austria | 288,500 | 192 |
| 7 | Maksim Vaskresenski | Belarus | 273,500 | 182 |
| 8 | Elias Suhonen | Finland | 266,000 | 177 |
| 9 | Mykhailo Demydenko | Ukraine | 256,500 | 171 |
| 10 | Christian Pedersen | Denmark | 255,000 | 170 |
Julien Sitbon secured a big stack of 299,500 after winning with kings against jacks in the final minutes of the day. He is followed closely by Armin Rezaei (288,500), who consistently remained among the top spots throughout the day. Players such as Emil Mattsson (202,500), Enrico Camosci (198,500), and Ka Kwan Lau (197,000), the 2023 EPT Barcelona High Roller champion, will also return for Day 2 with more than 100 big blinds.
The 2019 EPT Barcelona winner, Simon Brandstrom (139,500), leads a group of five EPT champions, which includes Anton Wigg (126,300), Arsenii Karmatckii (51,000), Davidi Kitai (45,000), and Steve O’Dwyer (35,500).
Teun Mulder (96,500) and last year’s EPT Prague runner-up Jon Kyte (90,000) also bagged their chips, alongside Thomas Santerne (57,000), who could claim a fourth tournament win at the festival if he triumphs in this EPT High Roller. Santerne ended the day slightly above the starting stack.
Finally, PokerStars Team Pro Parker Talbot holds one of the shortest stacks with 24,000, narrowly ahead of Kuljinder Sidhu, who is the tournament’s short stack with just 19,000.
Play will resume tomorrow, Saturday, December 14, at 12:30 p.m. local time at Level 11, with blinds set at 1,000/1,500 and a 1,500 big blind ante. Levels will be shortened to 50 minutes each, but twelve levels are scheduled, with the bubble expected to burst during the day.
The PokerNews live reporting team will return to bring you more coverage of the EPT Prague High Roller, so stay tuned!