Pedro Marques and Paul Runcan Headline Final 16 in Historic EPT Prague Main Event
The Christmas wish for all 1,458 entries in the record-breaking 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague €5,300 Main Event was to earn their seat on the final table. Now, that wish is in touching distance for the 16 players who return on Day 5, each vying to get their hands on the prestigious EPT trophy and life-changing €1,146,500 top prize.
Romania’s Paul Runcan leads the charge when play resumes at noon local time inside the luxurious Hilton Prague. Runcan bagged a stack of 5,040,000, thanks to a an immaculate Day 4 performance. He holds a narrow lead over Belarus’ Siarhei Alontsau who comes in second in chips with a stack of 4,745,000. Sweden’s Anton Bergstrom rounds out the top three with 4,570,000 chips.
Day 5 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Runcan | Romania | 5,040,000 | 101 |
| 2 | Siarhei Alontsau | Belarus | 4,745,000 | 95 |
| 3 | Anton Bergstrom | Sweden | 4,570,000 | 91 |
| 4 | Siegfried Kapeller | Austria | 4,440,000 | 89 |
| 5 | Barak Oz | Israel | 4,000,000 | 80 |
| 6 | Pedro Marques | Portugal | 3,970,000 | 79 |
| 7 | Tjenno Eskes | Netherlands | 3,160,000 | 63 |
| 8 | Danut Chisu | Romania | 2,900,000 | 58 |
| 9 | Georgios Vrakas | Greece | 1,760,000 | 35 |
| 10 | Alexander Sokolovsky | Serbia | 1,500,000 | 30 |
| 11 | Jaehyung Park | South Korea | 1,490,000 | 30 |
| 12 | Umberto Ruggeri | Italy | 1,440,000 | 29 |
| 13 | Vidar Oie | Norway | 1,305,000 | 26 |
| 14 | Joshua McSwiney | Australia | 1,280,000 | 26 |
| 15 | Sylwia Studniarz | Poland | 1,160,000 | 23 |
| 16 | Dimitrios Gkatzas | Greece | 990,000 | 20 |
Portugal’s Pedro Marques sits comfortably in sixth position with 3,970,000 chips. With over $4.7 million in live tournament earnings, Marques is no stranger to playing under the lights for enormous sums of money. His impressive resume includes a career-best score of $1,251,000, which came less than two years ago, two EPT titles, and a fifth-place finish at the EPT Barcelona Main Event in 2018. As he sets his sights on the final day, Marques is undoubtedly one to watch.
Sylwia Studniarz of Poland has the chance to make history at EPT Prague. Despite sitting near the bottom of the pack with a stack of 1,160,000, she is the last woman standing and could become only the fifth female EPT Main Event winner.
The day begins with 47 minutes remaining in Level 26 with blinds of 25,000/50,000 and a big blind ante 50,000. The plan today is to thin the field down to the final six players. The 16 returning today have secured a payday of at least €47,250, but a seat at the final table will guarantee them €137,900.
2024 EPT Prague Main Event Remaining Payouts
Stay tuned throughout the day as PokerNews provides all the live updates as this record field plays down to a final table.