The Money Bubble Bursts on Day 2 of EPT Prague Main Event; Waigel and Kuliberda Lead 119 Survivors
Day 2 of the PokerStars EPT Prague €5,300 EPT Main Event in King's Casino at the Hilton Hotel Prague has come to a close after six levels of play. When the late registration period was over, there were officially 1,190 entries.
It is the second-largest field for an EPT Prague Main Event, just falling shy of the 1,192 entries that took place in 2016. This year's field generated a total prize pool of €5,771,500, with the top 175 players making the money.
Those who survived the bubble all locked up a payday of at least €8,830 and while the Main Event is a few days away from crowning its latest champion, those who made it through to Day 3 will do everything they can to take home the winner's prize of €1,033,520. All remaining 119 survivors have locked up a payday of €11,140 so far.
Day 2 of the Main Event saw the survivors of Day 1a and Day 1b combine into a single field, and they were joined by a host of late entrants to take the number of players at the begging of the day to 453. When play finished, just 119 players remained with Ezequiel Waigel as the Day 2 chip leader with a stack of 955,000 ahead of Dawid Kuliberda (909,000) and David Huspeka (871,000). The overnight top ten also feature former WSOP Europe Main Event champion Alexandros Kolonias (812,000) and Piotr Nurzynski (617,000).
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ezequiel Waigel | Argentina | 955,000 | 159 |
| 2 | Dawid Kuliberda | Poland | 909,000 | 152 |
| 3 | David Huspeka | Czech Republic | 871,000 | 145 |
| 4 | Andreas Boelling | Germany | 836,000 | 139 |
| 5 | Alexandros Kolonias | Greece | 812,000 | 135 |
| 6 | Leonardo Romeo | Italy | 804,000 | 134 |
| 7 | Andrea Cortellazzi | Italy | 655,000 | 109 |
| 8 | Piotr Nurzynski | Poland | 617,000 | 103 |
| 8 | Manuel Labous | France | 617,000 | 103 |
| 10 | Robert Heidorn | Germany | 585,000 | 98 |
Nurzynski is one of five former EPT Main Event champions still in contention to join Victoria Coren-Mitchell and Mikalai Pobal as the only two-time champions thus far. Hossein Ensan (510,000), Adrian Mateos (434,000), Dimitar Danchev (332,000) and Dominik Panka (245,000) will all be back for Day 3.
Rafael Moraes is the only PokerStars ambassador with chips at his disposal and bagged up 224,000. Steve Enriquez was among the early casualties on Day 2 while Alejandro "Papo MC" Lococo fell right before the dinner break. Former PSPC champion Ramon Colillas was eliminated by Martin Kabrhel just shy of the money bubble.
Day 2 Recap
Players such as Joni Jouhkimainen, Nick Petrangelo, Chris Brewer and 2021 WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir were early Day 2 casualties.
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, was another big name to bust before the money after David Huspeka flopped a full house against the two-time bracelet winner's pocket queens.
The money bubble would finally burst in the last level of day, with Henrique Gois being the unfortunate player. After his elimination, a further 56 players would hit the rail, but at least with some return on their investment.
Among those to finish in the money were the former EPT Main Event champions Sebastian Malec and Davidi Kitai, Gianluca Speranza, Robert Cowen, Niklas Astedt, Georges Hanna, Keith Lehr, Aleksandar Tomovic, Jason Wheeler, Alex Kulev, and Andy Wilson.
What's Next?
The 119 Day 2 survivors return for Day 3 on Sunday, March 13, picking up on Level 17 where the blinds will be 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante.
Play begins again at 12 p.m CET 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.
EPT Prague Main Event Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €1,033,520 | 16-17 | €45,540 |
| 2 | €608,890 | 18-20 | €39,770 |
| 3 | €428,250 | 21-23 | €33,990 |
| 4 | €320,900 | 24-27 | €28,510 |
| 5 | €245,870 | 28-31 | €24,070 |
| 6 | €181,800 | 32-39 | €20,890 |
| 7 | €138,570 | 40-55 | €17,780 |
| 8 | €98,750 | 56-71 | €14,720 |
| 9 | €76,650 | 72-95 | €12,350 |
| 10-11 | €63,540 | 96-119 | €11,140 |
| 12-13 | €57,080 | 120-143 | €9,930 |
| 14-15 | €51,310 | 144-175 | €8,830 |