Mateos and Thorel Eye Second EPT Prague Titles of the Week
They are two players in the richest of form at the top of the counts with six left in the PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague €50,000 Super High Roller.
Adrian Mateos, winner of the €10,300 High Roller, and Jean-Noel Thorel, winner of the €25,000 Single Day High Roller, are separated by just 90,000 chips after a 13-hour day here in the Czech capital.
The field is all in the money after Thorel sent Seth Davies to the rail in seventh. His king-eight rivered a straight to crack the kings of Davies to secure the remaining players €149,410.
However, the remaining players will all be looking to secure €725,710 and the trophy when the final table resumes at 12:30 pm on Thursday.
Final Table Draw
| Seat | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bertrand Grospellier | France | 1,200,000 | 30 |
| 2 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 1,920,000 | 48 |
| 3 | Ben Heath | United Kingdom | 615,000 | 15 |
| 4 | Steve O'Dwyer | Ireland | 1,770,000 | 44 |
| 5 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 2,795,000 | 70 |
| 6 | Jean-Noel Thorel | France | 2,705,000 | 68 |
Day 2 Recap
A total of 22 players from a field of 30 players advanced to Day 2, and by the end of late registration, the field had grown to 44 players. This included Jean-Noel Thorel, George Wolff and Pascal Hartmann, all of which jumped in before cards were in the air, along with Adrian Mateos, Sergio Aido and Bryn Kenney.
Stephen Chidwick and Michael Soyza both took advantage of the unlimited re-entry before registration closed and the payouts were confirmed.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize (EUR) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | €725,710 | $804,122 |
| 2nd | €501,590 | $555,786 |
| 3rd | €320,170 | $354,764 |
| 4th | €245,460 | $271,981 |
| 5th | €192,100 | $212,856 |
| 6th | €149,410 | $165,553 |
No sooner had the payouts been confirmed, we lost someone who knows full well how it feels to take home the lion's share of the prize pool. Defending champion Matthias Eibinger was flipped from the tournament by Kahle Burns after the latter turned a flush to beat Eibinger's flopped set.
Michael Soyza, €10,300 High Roller runner-up Derek Ip and Mikita Badziakouski were all eliminated, with Kahle Burns joining them after a spectacular fall from grace.
The Day 1 chip leader bluffed off 800,000 chips toSam Greenwood before handing over the rest when the Canadian picked up aces. Greenwood was the first player over two million, and also the chip leader by the time the tournament reached two tables.
The Thorel Show
Having already tasted glory this week in the €25,000 Single Day High Roller, Thorel seems to be on a heater and it was on full display from two tables on. He flopped a straight to eliminate Timothy Adams before dinner, and when play resumed picked up where he left off sending Vladimir Troyanovskiy to the rail.
Thorel held pocket jacks against the fives of Troyanovskiy to move over two million in chips. However, it was Stephen Chidwick who took over the chip lead just before play reached the final table in spectacular fashion.
Chidwick had flopped the nut straight but when a third spade rolled off on the river he tanked for his last one million chips before calling it off and was relieved when Greenwood turned over just top pair.
Final Table
Chidwick led from Thorel as short-stacked Greenwood exited in ninth. Bertrand Grospellier doubled twice through Thorel to clip his wings but got his own back after calling with ace-high against Grospellier to move back atop the counts.
Play was eight-handed two off the money for three hours with Thorel holding firm at the top. A late Adrian Mateos double saw him move back into contention and then ahead of Thorel.
Steve O'Dwyer eliminated Yuan Li in seventh before Thorel sent Davies out in sixth, but it wasn't enough as Mateos scooped the overall chip lead heading into the final day.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for full coverage of the final day as we find out who takes home the largest buy-in tournament of the festival! We will also be bringing you live updates of the final table of the EPT National which concludes tomorrow.