Mihai Ciprian Hanu Leads 288 Surviving Players from Day 1b of the �5,300 Main Event at PokerStars EPT Prague
After 740 entries on Day 1b, Romania��s Mihai Ciprian Hanu leads 292 surviving runners in the return of the �5,300 Main Event to the PokerStars European Poker Tour in Prague.
With Day 1a attracting 418 entries, the total for the event sits at 1,158 entries so far, generating a prize pool of �5,606,600 with more expected as registration continues until the start of Sunday��s Day 2. Day 1a will send 134 players to Day 2, while 288 move on from today's flight, a total of 426 with more to come. PokerStars TV will feature a cards-up live stream of Day 2 that kicks off at 12:30 p.m. local time.
Hanu sits on top of the Day 1b runners with 304,700, and he is followed closely behind by Giuliano Bendinelli, Juan Pardo, and Piotr Nurzynski. Other notable Day 2 qualifiers include Jimmy Guerrero, Jareth East, and Chris Brewer.
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Country | Chips | Day 2 Big Blinds |
| 1 | Mihai Ciprian Hanu | Romania | 304,700 | 190 |
| 2 | Giuliano Bendinelli | Italy | 245,300 | 153 |
| 3 | Juan Pardo | Spain | 225,000 | 140 |
| 4 | Piotr Nurzynski | Poland | 208,300 | 130 |
| 5 | Leonardo Romeo | Italy | 208,000 | 130 |
| 6 | Matteo Calzoni | Italy | 203,100 | 126 |
| 7 | Peter Tschernigg | Austria | 201,800 | 126 |
| 8 | Rafael Wacha | Austria | 191,000 | 119 |
| 9 | Firat Baltaci | Netherlands | 190,000 | 118 |
| 10 | Georges Hanna | Lebanon | 189,100 | 118 |
Day 1b Highlights
Day 1b was the largest of the two opening flights, and it saw the most star power as other marquee high roller events wrapped up throughout King��s Casino Prague. Players like Brewer, Nick Petrangelo, Juan Pardo, Saar Wilf, and Adrian Mateos made their way into the second flight of the tournament after spending the early parts of the week batting it out in the higher buy-ins. Petrangelo failed to find a bag on Day 1b, but Mateos, Pardo, Wilf, and Brewer will return for Saturday's restart. Pardo found his way into the top three Day 1b chip counts after bagging 225,000.
Later in the evening, Jamie Flynn scored back-to-back knockouts to help the Irishman find a bag for Day 2. Georges Hanna also had a great Day 1b, bagging 189,100 after several crucial opportunities to win big pots and set the pace.
Elsewhere, 2015 EPT Malta Main Event champion Niall Farrell made a run into the later stages of the evening, but his night came to an end when he picked up pocket kings and ran right into the pocket aces of Andreas Vlachos.
Day 2 Coming Up
Players will return for Day 2 in Level 11 with blinds at 800/1,600 with a 1,600 ante. Day 2 will play six 90-minute levels with a 75-minute dinner break after Level 14. Late registration remains open until the beginning of Day 2.
Cards go in the air for Day 2 at 12 p.m. local time and the tournament's featured table will stream live on a 30-minute delay beginning at 12:30 p.m. on PokerStars TV.
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team all weekend long for live updates from the floor of the �5,300 Main Event at EPT Prague.