David Lappin had just sat down and the dealer asked him to post his big blind, which he did. There was an open and then a three-bet before the action was halted and confusion reigned. It turned out that it wasn’t clear where exactly the button should have been and Lappin appeared to be under the gun with chips in and substantial action behind him.
The floor was called and the initial ruling was that Lappin’s chips would stay in. “That’s not possible. This is ridiculous.” was Lappin’s considered verdict as he had done what the dealer told him to do, and he wanted another ruling as he was entitled to.
Luca arrived to sort things out and Lappin, spotting him, got ready to muck his cards joking, “I already know the ruling is going against me.”
Luca then established where the dealer had dealt the first card and ruled that the button should be moved and Lappin would indeed be the big blind and the action as it had so far happened would stand. Lappin mucked, the initial raiser mucked and the three-bettor looked somewhat pained to win the hand and showed his .
“It’s a random game.” Luca told him. Sometimes it really is.
After three limpers, Dmitry Nemirovsky raised from the button and Sabina Hiatullah just called before the player in seat one reraised to 5,125 with . Nemirovsky went over the top and Hiatullah got her stack in with pocket kings. The player in seat one got out of the way but Nemirovsky had an easy decision with pocket aces. Hiatullah spiked her two-outer and is the early chip leader.
We arrived at the table with the board reading and approximately 7,000 in the pot.
Dan Shak was in the small blind and threw out 6,000 in chips. His opponent on the button was Rasmus Edenfall. He made the call before the dealer produced the on the river.
Shak quickly reached for his chips and splashed out another 12,000. Edenfall then went into the tank for over a minute before making the call only to muck his hand when Shak rolled over his for a straight.
The full betting details escaped us, but PokerStars Team Pro Jan Heitmann was among the early eliminations just after the start of level two. Tomasz Wrobel had flopped the straight with on a board of and Heitmann had for the gutshot and nut flush draw. The remainder of the stack went in after the turn, but the river was no good to the German.
We received the following update from the European Poker Tour team, and thought it was too good not to share:
Prison warden Mike Neuens from Luxembourg has come close to winning his country’s biggest ever live poker tournament victory by taking down the first ever €300 Eureka Prague Cup. Neuen’s €78,400 prize increases his lifetime tournament winnings ten-fold and was only €2k short of the biggest ever live cash ever won by a player from Luxembourg. He has now jumped instantly from #17 in his country’s all time money list to the #2 spot.
Neuens, 34, beat 29-year-old Israeli international chess master Gaby Livshitz heads-up to take down the Prague Cup which attracted a staggering 1,546 entries over three start days. Luxembourg is a tiny land-locked country in the centre of Europe with a population of just over half a million; it has a close-knit online poker community but most players seem to head 150km north east to Namur in Belgium to compete in bigger live events. Neuen’s result is not only a personal best for him, it’s also the second biggest result ever achieved by any player from his country. Only Pit Hemmerling has had a bigger score – winning $100k in a $2,500 event in Cyprus five years ago. Neuens is also only the second Luxembourgian to win an EPT event of any kind after his fellow countryman Ken Geschwind won a €100 NL Turbo at EPT Vienna last season for €5k. Neuens’ biggest cash before today was runner-up in a €300 NL event at Kings Casino, Rozvadov nearly four years ago for €8k. A total of 231 players took a share of the €449,886 prize pool.
Six players have already lost their 30,000 starting stack. These unfortunate souls make room for more players who signed up a bit later. The clock mentions 591 total entries so far today, with 585 still playing. The tournament is expected to grow bigger during the day, a lot of people will come in a bit later.
Daphne van Dijk from The Netherlands qualified online, just like two years ago when she played the Main Event here in Prague as well. Van Dijk didn't make the money back then, but she started out rather good here this year.
She told us she's up to 40,000 already, a 10,000 improvement within the first level. First she won a non showdown pot where she had made a straight, later she won another pot where she made a flush on the river and did go to showdown.
.
. Nemirovsky went over the top and Hiatullah got her stack in with pocket kings. The player in seat one got out of the way but Nemirovsky had an easy decision with pocket aces. Hiatullah spiked her two-outer and is the early chip leader.
and approximately 7,000 in the pot.
on the river.
for a straight.
on a board of 
and Heitmann had 
for the gutshot and nut flush draw. The remainder of the stack went in after the turn, but the river was no good to the German.
