Juan Pardo was the chip leader after Day 1, and with 1,350,000 chips, he managed to finish at the top of the counts again after Day 2 of the €10,300 EPT High Roller at the Hilton Prague.
The Spaniard leads the 24 remaining players out of a field of 240 entrants, which generated a total prize pool of €2,328,000. As the field gets smaller, players are getting closer to the first-place prize of €491,950. The battle for the win won't be easy on Day 3, as three players already bagged more than one million chips: Pardo, Tobias Peters (1,120,000), and Salih Atac who sits in third with 1,105,000 chips.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juan Pardo | Spain | 1,350,000 | 90 |
| 2 | Tobias Peters | Netherlands | 1,120,000 | 75 |
| 3 | Salih Atac | Switzerland | 1,105,000 | 74 |
| 4 | Natan Chauskin | Belarus | 760,000 | 51 |
| 5 | Diogo Coelho | Portugal | 675,000 | 45 |
| 6 | Anton Suarez | Sweden | 625,000 | 42 |
| 7 | Kubanychbek Abakirov | Kyrgyzstan | 610,000 | 41 |
| 8 | Nisad Muratovic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 585,000 | 39 |
| 9 | Tarmo Tammel | Estonia | 505,000 | 34 |
| 10 | Shyngis Satubayev | Kazakhstan | 490,000 | 33 |
Anton Suarez also reached the Top 10 with 625,000 chips, ahead of Kubanychbek Abakirov (610,000), Nisad Muratovic (585,000) and Tarmo Tammel (505,000), who bagged almost exactly the average stack.
Other players who will also be back on Day 3 with about 20 to 30 blinds, include Marcelo Manfredini (460,000), Christopher Nguyen (350,000), and Pascal Hartmann (300,000).
Antoine Saout also remains in contention with 275,000. After finishing second in last year's EPT Prague Main Event, Saout will be looking to get the trophy this year. He and another Frenchman, Alexandru Danes (245,000), will still have room to maneuver on Day 3 with a little less than 20 blinds.
Although short-stacked, 2022 EPT Barcelona Main Event finalist Scott Margereson will also be returning and going for another victory.
Day 2 action
Eighty-six players out of 210 entrants qualified for Day 2 through Day 1, and an additional 30 players joined the tournament before the start of Day 2, increasing the total number of entries to 240.
Among the players who registered on Day 2, PokerStars ambassador Parker Talbot, as well as Pablo Silva were eliminated from the tournament in the first level of the day. Sam Grafton was quickly sent to the rail too, with his ace-jack running into queens, leaving him short. He was eliminated in the next hand.
Peter Jorgne, Conor Beresford, Steve O'Dwyer, Arthur Conan and Jules Dickerson also lost their chips shortly after.
Juan Pardo lost his chip lead to Marcelo Manfredini at some point. In fact, Manfredini was up to almost half a million by the first break when he hit a flush against Jelle Moene. He ended up bagging 460,000.
PokerStars Ambassador Ramon Colillas and Gregoire Auzoux were among the next players to join the elimination list.
2022 ESPT High Roller champion Miroslav Alilovic couldn't get much to go his way either and was eliminated when he shoved with top pair on the flop, only to be called by Christopher Nguyen who had aces. He was followed by Ognyan Dimov, Bruno Volkmann and 2023 PSPC champion Aliaksandr Shylko.
The action slowed down as the bubble was approaching. However, with Aliaksei Boika having his aces cracked and Stefan Dimitrov then Dimitar Danchev running into aces, the eliminations were unpreventable.
Eventually, Anton Suarez ended up hitting a set on the river to beat Antoine Labat's queens, and that initiated the hand-for-hand phase of play. Bursting the bubble didn't take long, as Diego Montone was eliminated after just a few hands to become the bubble boy.
Being in the money was a relief for Tsz Him Chan, who was very short on the bubble and became the first player to secure the minimum cash prize of €20,000.
Other players who cashed but couldn't make it to Day 3 include Mathieu Selides (€20,000), Ersin Sancak (€20,000), and Jean-Vincent Lehut (€23,050).
The remaining 24 players have already locked up €23,050 for navigating their way this far. Tomorrow they’ll play down to a winner who will collect the first-place prize €491,950.
The action resumes on Sunday, December 17th at 12 p.m. at Level 21, with blinds of 10,000-15,000 and a 15,000 big blind ante. Levels will continue to increase every hour until one player lifts the trophy.
PokerNews will follow along Day 3 of the €10,300 EPT High Roller tomorrow until the end of the tournament.
