Joao Mestre Leads Day 1a as Yulian Bogdanov and Steve O’Dwyer Bag Big
The first day of the €5,300 Main Event at the European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague wrapped up after ten one-hour levels in the Hilton Prague. A total of 412 entries were made and out of those, 131 found a way to Day 2.
It was Joao Mestre who collected the most chips throughout the day as he ended with a stack of 359,000 from a starting stack of 30,000. Others with a big stack include Yulian Bogdanov (315,000), Cheng Zhao (306,500), and Steve O'Dwyer (251,500).
Ramon Colillas (95,500) and Felix Schneiders (80,500) are waving the flag for the Red Spade brigade. The two PokerStars ambassadors managed both to survive the day. Leo Worthington-Leese collected a little over five starting stacks when he ended Day 1a with 156,500. The Brit had an incredible run at the 2023 EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event where he finished third for €397,450 and he’s looking to repeat his success.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joao Mestre | Portugal | 359,000 | 239 |
| 2 | Yulian Bogdanov | Bulgaria | 315,000 | 210 |
| 3 | Cheng Zhao | China | 306,500 | 204 |
| 4 | Enzo Vito | United Kingdom | 280,000 | 187 |
| 5 | Steve O'Dwyer | Ireland | 251,500 | 168 |
| 6 | Pawel Krol | Poland | 250,500 | 167 |
| 7 | Ka Kwan Lau | Spain | 250,000 | 167 |
| 8 | Marcos Thielke | Spain | 239,500 | 160 |
| 9 | Gonzalo Veiga | Spain | 237,000 | 158 |
| 10 | Patrik Jaros | Czech Republic | 209,000 | 139 |
Day 1a action
The day started at noon local time with plenty of hopefuls seated when the “shuffle up and deal” was announced. Some of the early faces in the field were Barny Boatman, Julien Sitbon, and Niall Farrell. Boatman managed to survive the day with a stack of 61,500. Sitbon wasn’t as fortunate as he tried his luck later on in the €10,200 Mystery Bounty.
Farrell also wasn’t fortunate enough to make Day 2. With about an hour left in the day he found pocket aces but the runout wasn’t in his favor when Brandon Leetz flopped a set of tens before the chips went in. A clean runout for Leetz followed and Farrell’s efforts weren’t awarded with a bag at the end of play on Day 1a.
Ka Kwan Lau ended the day with a top 10 stack of 250,000. Lau isn’t a stranger to success on the European Poker Tour. Earlier this year at EPT Barcelona, Lau had a deep run in the €5,300 Main Event finishing 31st (€36,100), only to take down the €10,300 EPT High Roller in Barcelona for €910,400 and the trophy a few days later.
The second flight of the EPT Prague Main Event starts on Tuesday, December 12 at noon local time with the same structure as Day 1a. Everyone starts with a fresh 30,000 stack and blinds begin at 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante. Registration is open until Day 2.
Stay tuned for more live coverage of the 2023 EPT Prague Main Event as the PokerNews live reporting team brings you all the action straight from the source.