Arthur Thiriart Leads 175 Survivors Into Day 3 of the Record-Setting EPT Prague Main Event
The players found out today on Day 2 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague Main Event what they are playing for, a whopping first prize of €1,030,000. After five levels, just 175 dreams remain alive of taking down the largest EPT Prague Main Event in history.
Arthur Thiriart is in the best position heading into tomorrow, ending the day as the chip leader with 959,000. Thiriart won a big pot on the bubble when he made a flush to beat the set of sevens of Patrik Zidek. He had earlier eliminated Filippo Gandini with a pair of queens. His run to the top of the leaderboard is unchartered territory for the Belgium native, who had just $74,000 in live earnings and whose lone Main Event cash came in the Estrellas Poker Tour in Barcelona this summer.
Duco ten Haven (920,000), Dejan Jakovljevic (684,000), Jacob Amsellem (680,000), and Jovan Kenjic (679,000) round out the top five. Jakovljevic inflicted a bad beat on Diogo Veiga right at the end of the night as both players had ace-jack, but Jakovljevic hit a flush on the river. Amsellem, who took advantage of late registration and joined the field at the start of the day, doubled up with a rivered straight to stun Thomas Clack holding pocket jacks on his way up the leaderboard.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arthur Thiriart | Belgium | 959,000 | 192 |
| 2 | Duco ten Haven | Netherlands | 920,000 | 184 |
| 3 | Dejan Jakovljevic | Netherlands | 684,000 | 137 |
| 4 | Jacob Amsellem | France | 680,000 | 136 |
| 5 | Jovan Kenjic | Serbia | 679,000 | 136 |
| 6 | Jon Kyte | Norway | 615,000 | 123 |
| 7 | Grigorii Rodin | Russia | 602,000 | 120 |
| 8 | Andraz Gognjavec | Slovenia | 571,000 | 114 |
| 9 | Ferdinando D'Alessio | Belgium | 560,000 | 112 |
| 10 | Max Neugebauer | Austria | 559,000 | 112 |
Other big stacks include Jon Kyte (615,000), Max Neugebauer (559,000), EPT champions Robin Ylitalo (499,000) and Steve O’Dwyer (471,000), PokerStars Team Pro and inaugural PSPC champion Ramon Colillas (492,000), Omar Eljach (452,000), and Teun Mulder (445,000).
Marle Spragg (373,000), Patrik Jaros (295,000), 2018 PCA champion Maria Lampropulos (255,000), Leo Margets (252,000), Niall Farrell (233,000), Dario Sammartino (188,000), and Tamas Adamszki (176,000), who has already won two trophies here in Prague including in the €50,000 Super High Roller, are also still in the hunt. Grzegorz Glowny won the Main Event here last March and is back in contention for another run at a title as he takes 98,000 into Day 3.
The day began with 463 players out of a record-setting 1,285 total entries. Only the top 191 players would make the money, and it took until the final level of the night to reach the bubble. Notables to bust before the money included the last two EPT Barcelona champions, Giuliano Bendinelli and Simon Wiciak, PokerStars Team Pros Fintan Hand, Sam Grafton, Alejandro Lococo, and Felix Schneiders, as well as Jason Wheeler and PSPC champion Aliaksandr Shylko.
Play went hand-for-hand with 193 remaining, just two off the money. It took the better part of an hour of bubble play until Vitezslav Cech got his last chips in with two kings against Adamszki’s pocket queens, but Adamszki spiked a queen on the flop to send Cech to the rail. At the same time, Sebastien Matrige was all in with ace-queen but couldn’t connect against Boris Pesic’s pair of sixes to finish as the unfortunate bubble boy.
The action resumes tomorrow at noon local time on Level 16 with blinds of 2,000-5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante. A 30-second shot clock will be implemented starting on Day 3, with players receiving six time bank cards. Everyone still alive in the tournament is guaranteed €9,100 for having survived the money bubble, but the race for the big prizes, and ultimately the trophy, is on tomorrow.
Stay tuned as PokerNews will be back following all the action and providing live updates as the largest EPT Prague Main Event field continues to whittle down toward a champion.