Piotr Sztenkiel Claims Maiden Shard and €491,040 in €2,200 Eureka High Roller

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Dec 10, 2024 4 min read

After two starting flights and 14 hours of play on Day 2, a new champion emerged in the PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague €2,200 Eureka High Roller at the Hilton Prague. Piotr Sztenkiel claimed the prestigious Shard Trophy and a career-defining payday of €491,040, conquering a massive field of 1,652 entrants and securing the lion's share of the €3,171,840 prize pool.

This victory marks the pinnacle of Sztenkiel's poker journey, eclipsing his previous recorded cash of just €6,720 in the €2,200 FPS High Roller at EPT Monte Carlo in 2023. Despite describing himself as a recreational player who plays "for fun," Sztenkiel’s dominant performance over the past two days proved anything but casual.

Armed with an overwhelming chip lead, Sztenkiel swiftly closed out the tournament in a brief five-hand heads-up battle against Ukraine’s Konstantyn Holskyi, who walked away with €306,600 for his runner-up finish—his second six-figure score this year.

Germany's Friedrich Raez rounded out the podium, earning a personal-best €219,000 for third place. Remarkably, seven of the nine final tablists achieved their largest-ever live cashes at this event, a testament to the level of competition and stakes on offer.

In a brief comment to PokerNews, Sztenkiel said he would provide more remarks “after I go to the cashier's desk to sort out the money. I leave Prague today and need to catch a flight.” Trophy in hand, he was last seen walking briskly through the lobby, disappearing as swiftly as he rose to claim poker glory.

€2,200 Eureka High Roller Final Table Results

Day 2 Play

PokerStars Ambassador Parker Talbot came into the day with a stack of 405,000. However the Canadian ran into aces before busting. EPT champion Robin Ylitalo also came in with a decent stack (199,000) but found himself short early into the days play. He couldn't spin up his short stack and was sent to the rail.

From the early stages, everything seemed to be going the way of Hungary's Antal Hamza. He won a three-way all in with aces. Hamza appeared to be quite the character; after flopping a full house against Jason Wheeler in a preflop all in, he shot up out of his chair and wasn't seen for four or five hands. Some of his tablemates thought that Hamza thought he lost the hand. Wheeler believed that Hamza had "gone home to tell his mum about this."

Hamza's sun-run continued as he cracked the aces of Vito Vella who fell in 22nd place. He then went on to bust Claudio Di Giacomo in 11th place, who came into Day 2 second in chips.

Mariusz Golinski, another Polish national, scored multiple knockouts en route to the final table. He eliminated Thomas Graupner (23rd), Stefan Dimitrov, (17th) and Yehor Shumeiko (15th), who came into the field today as the chip leader.

Eventual second-place finisher Holskyi also had an eventful run to the final table, busting Giuseppe Dedoni (14th) and Vogel in (13th). Vogel was eliminated in dramatic fashion as Holskyi went runner-runner to make Broadway against Vogel's turned two pair.

One player had to miss out on the final table. Unfortunately for Christopher Brammer it was him. He fell to Raez after jamming a short stack from the button with jack-nine suited.

Final Table

Hamza came into the final table as the chip leader, with eventual winner Sztenkiel in third place. Holskyi came into the final table in second. The players seemed to be enjoying each other's company and even complimented each other's play on more than one occasion. A lively group of Brits joined the rail in support of their friend Christopher Wood, who was affectionately referred to as "Woody."

Ivan Burmistrov and Matteo Calzoni were first to fall at the final table. Golinski was next to depart after he found his ace-ten dominated against Wood's ace-king suited. In turn, Wood was next on the chopping block. He was all-in in consecutive hands but couldn't find an ace or a ten against Sztenkiel's pocket sixes.

Hamza's blistering run was extinguished when he was eliminated by Sztenkiel who then claimed the remaining stack of Vladimir Lipnitskii, with Sztenkiel having the majority of the chips in play by this point.

Sztenkiel then busted Raez from the tournament after he called Stenkiel's shove from the small blind.

Sztenkiel came into heads-up play with a massive advantage, and on the fifth hand of play, Holskyi's stack went into the middle. He was ahead preflop, but it was Sztenkiel's day, and he flopped best to take home the trophy. The players shook hands and exchanged social media details before going their separate ways.

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