Hossein Ensan Making Another EPT Prague Main Event Deep Run as Just 41 Remain
Since July 16, 2019, everyone in the poker world undoubtedly knows who Hossein Ensan is. Those on the European side of the pond, though, knew all too well about the poker prowess of the German gentleman with the Iranian roots. Before conquering poker's biggest prize, another trophy has already been shining on his mantlepiece for years: the one from the 2015 EPT Prague Main Event.
Ensan and EPT success have been going hand in hand for many years, with a three-way chop in the 2014 EPT Barcelona Main Event being the first big score to kick his poker career into high gear. However, it was a year later in the Czech capital where he tasted his absolute biggest success up until the WSOP Main Event victory, and four years after that Cinderella run, he's right back where he started to try and achieve an improbable second victory.
Read all about Hossein Ensan's poker career right here on PokerNews!
Ensan is part of just 41 hopefuls out of a field of 1,154 in the PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague €5,300 Main Event that made it to Day 4. Each of the 41 survivors is already guaranteed a slice of €17,640 from the €5,596,900 total prize pool, but all eyes will be locked on the gargantuan first-place prize of €1,005,600 that awaits the winner on Tuesday right here in the Atrium Casino in Hilton Prague. Ensan will be back with 520,000 in chips to try and make magic happen again with one of the shorter stacks in the room.
2019 EPT Prague Main Event Top 5 Stacks After Day 3
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luigi Shehadeh | Italy | 2,287,000 | 143 |
| 2 | Gaby Livshitz | Israel | 2,053,000 | 128 |
| 3 | Norbert Szecsi | Hungary | 1,978,000 | 124 |
| 4 | Akin Tuna | Turkey | 1,919,000 | 120 |
| 5 | Alessio Di Cesare | Italy | 1,682,000 | 105 |
Shehadeh and Livshitz in the Lead
Leading the way after three days is Luigi Shehadeh from Italy, who bagged 2,287,000 in chips. Shehadeh gained piles of chips after knocking out Andreas Boelling with ace-king versus ace-queen to jump to the top, and extended his lead from there. The Italian has over $800,000 in lifetime winnings according to The Hendon Mob and finds himself in prime position to add a lot more on top of that.
Shehadeh is followed by Israel's Gaby Livshitz, who bagged the second-biggest stack with 2,053,000. Livshitz soared upwards after cracking aces with ace-king and rode that good fortune all the way to a top spot on the leaderboard. Following Shehadeh and Livshitz are Hungarian pro Norbert Szecsi (1,978,000), Turkish high roller Akin Tuna (1,919,000) and Alessio Di Cesare (1,682,000), the second Italian in the top five.
Notables that are still in contention include Day 1a chip leader Pierre Calamusa (1,500,000), who sits in sixth place, German high roller Dietrich Fast (989,000), Orpen Kisacikoglu (798,000), Sylvain Loosli (715,000), Stefan Jedlicka (701,000), Dominik Panka (559,000) and Gaelle Baumann (370,000). They'll all return on Sunday at noon to continue their quest for EPT glory.
Big Names Fall, Brutal River Sends Sammartino Packing
While plenty of big names advanced to Day 3 of the Main Event, a sizable number of notables ran out of chips today. Stephen Chidwick, Adrian Mateos, Timothy Adams and Steve O'Dwyer were among those to get eliminated during the first levels of the day, just in time to hop into the familiar waters of the €25,000 Single-Day High Roller.
Other notables departing on Day 3 included Bart Lybaert, whose flopped set got cracked by Norbert Szecsi's backdoor straight draw. Bryan Paris, 2017 PokerStars Championship Barcelona winner Sebastian Sorensson, Thomas Boivin, Juan Pardo, Erwann Pecheux, Triple Crown Champion Davidi Kitai, last year's third-place finisher Aleksandr Merzhvinskiy and the last remaining PokerStars ambassador, Kalidou Sow also tapped out during the day. The Hendon Mob's all-time money leader, Bryn Kenney, was the last elimination of the day and finished in 42nd place.
And while Ensan was able to make it through, Day 3 became the end for the last man standing up to him on that scorching summer night in the Vegas desert, Dario Sammartino. It was a brutal cooler against Victor Bogdanov that ended it for the powerful Italian.
Having flopped middle set with a pair of sevens on a jack-high board, Sammartino check-called the flop before both players checked through an innocuous trey on the turn. When all the money flew in on the king river, Sammartino went aghast when Bogdanov flipped over pocket kings for the rivered set to end his run on the spot. The Italian had to settle for €14,550 for his 60th place finish.
Day 4 will kick off at noon local time with 41 remaining players coming back in Level 21, with blinds at 8,000/16,000/16,000. Play will continue until 16 players are left. Make sure to return to PokerNews as we get closer to crowning 2019's final EPT champion!