PokerStars.com EPT Prague Main Event Day 1b: Amir Lehavot Leads Record-Breaking Field
The Season 10 European Poker Tour Prague Main Event continued on Friday with Day 1b action from the Hilton in the Czech Republic’s largest city. Day 1a attracted 389 players, and a staggering 609 showed up for the second starting flight to make for a combined field of 998 players — the largest EPT Prague ever! What’s more, that number could increase as late registration is open until the start of Day 2.
After eight 75-minute levels of play, the Day 1b field was whittled down to 369 players with 2013 World Series of Poker third-place finisher Amir Lehavot and his stack of 229,300 leading the way — which is quite a bit more than Day 1a chip leader Tiberu-Florian Georgescu, who will start Day 2 with 191,000.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amir Lehavot | USA | 239,300 |
| 2 | Sigurd Eskeland | Norway | 184,600 |
| 3 | Kirill Shugai | Russia | 169,100 |
| 4 | Ori Hasson | Israel | 157,600 |
| 5 | Bernard Latouff | Lebanon | 156,000 |
| 6 | Jonathan Roy | Canada | 149,800 |
| 7 | Valentino Konakchiev | Bulgaria | 149,000 |
| 8 | Sylvain Loosli | France | 148,000 |
| 9 | Jan Sjavik | Norway | 142,400 |
| 10 | Marius Heiene | Sweden | 141,900 |
It didn’t take long for action to heat up on Day 1b, and one of the game’s toughest players was among the first to go. At the end of Level 1 (50/100), WSOP bracelet winner Pascal Lefrancois was eliminated from the tournament. Our Live Reporting Team didn't come across the hand until things had played out, but they arrived in time to see Italy's Mustapha Kanit with the 4♠J♠ in front of him on a 4♥4♦5♦3♦A♥ board. Lefrancois looked a bit disgusted and chucked his cards to the muck unseen before making a hasty exit from the event.
In Level 6 (200/400/50) Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano won a monster pot and in the process eliminated Chris Moorman. It happened when Pagano raised to 900 from under the gun, both Kitty Kuo and Andrey Shaporin called, and Moorman raised it up to 4,200 from the big blind. Both Pagano and Shaporin called, the flop came down A♥J♦3♦, and Moorman continued for 4,700. Both his opponents called, the Q♥ turned, and Moorman moved all in for 13,500, Pagano isolated with a raise, which inspired the Russian to tank-fold the K♦Q♦ face up. Moorman turned over the 9♥4♥ whilst Pagano the J♣J♠ for a set. The river was the 4♦ meaning that Shaporin would've made the flush had he stuck around. Nonetheless, Pagano chipped up to 110,000 and knocked out Moorman.
Pagano would go on to finish the night with 137,600.
Others who failed to survive the night were Team PokerStars Pros Max Lykov, Martin Hruby, Liv Boeree, Marcin Horecki, Richard Toth, Ville Wahlbeck, and Isaac Haxton. Likewise, notables like Jason Duval, Joe Kuether, Fabrice Soulier, Jan Bendik, Mike “Timex” McDonald, Jake Balsiger, Ren Feenstra, Paul Berende, Will Failla, Ignat “0Human0” Liviu, and Jamila Von Perger all hit the rail.
Von Perger was purged in Level 7 (250/500/50) when she got her last chips in with the Q♦Q♥. Unfortunately for her, her neighbor woke up with the K♥K♦. The K♣10♠2♦ flop was disaster for Von Perger as her opponent spiked a set. She needed to catch running cards, and the A♦ turn gave her some hope to Broadway. The dealer burned one last time and out the 4♠. Von Perger, who went deep in EPT Barcelona (23rd for €34,950), was eliminated from the tournament and left to cheer on her boyfriend, Manig Loeser, who survived the day.
While many fell, a laundry list of notables made it through the Day 1b minefield. Among those who will return on Day 2 are former World Poker Tour Montreal champ Jonathan Roy; former EPT Prague champ Martin Finger (58,600); and reigning EPT London champ Robin Ylitalo (55,400). They’ll be joined by Team PokerStars Pros Eugene Katchalov (81,900), Dag Palovic (79,900), Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier (79,700), Daniel Negreanu (74,600), David Williams (50,500), Marc-Andre Ladouceur (48,500), Christophe De Meulder (40,100) and Mickey Petersen (37,800).
The surviving players from both starting flights will combine into one field on Saturday for Day 2 action. Cards will be in the air at Noon local time, and of course the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to bring you all the latest and greatest from the largest EPT Prague in history!.
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