Antoine Saout opened to 300,000 from the button with . In the small blind Istvan Pilhofer three-bet to 1,050,000 with . Saout decided to take a flop and made the call.
That flop came down the , giving both players a pair. Pilhofer continued for 575,000. Saout raised to 1,400,000 in position. Holding middle pair, Pilhofer made the call.
The turn came the . Pilhofer picked up a gutshot and checked. Saout slowed with a check behind.
The river brought the , putting a four-liner on the board. Both players checked and Saout's pair took down the pot.
Antoine Saout raised it up to 300,000 with the and Jordan Saccucci came along from the big blind with . The flop went check, check, and Saccucci bet the turn for 350,000, Saout called.
Both headed to the river and Saccucci quickly checked, Saout checked it back to get shown the bad news.
Saccucci won the next battle of the blinds with a flop bet holding bottom pair and then opened the button to 350,000 with the . Istvan Pilhofer called with the and checked the flop. The Hungarian checked and Saccucci bet 250,000 to win the pot right there.
Jordan Saccucci opened to 325,000 on the button with the and Istvan Pilhofer called from the big blind with the . Both checked the flop and Pilhofer check-called a bet worth 200,000 on the turn. The river was checked and Saccucci won the pot with his two pair.
Antoine Saout opened to 350,000 on the button holding the and Pilhofer three-bet to 1,075,000 with the in the small blind to take down the pot.
Saccucci then made it 350,000 to go in the small blind with and Saout three-bet to 900,000 in the big blind with , which Saccucci called. Both headed to the flop on which Saccucci checked. Saout checked it back to the turn and Saccucci checked again, Saout bet 475,000 and took down the pot.
Istvan Pilhofer raised with the and Jordan Saccucci called in the big blind with the . The flop brought a bet worth 225,000 by Pilhofer and Saccucci called with the bottom pair. After the turn, Pilhofer upped his bet sizing to 650,000 and Saccucci folded.
On the next hand, Pilhofer opened to 350,000 from the button with . Saout called in the big blind with . Pilhofer flopped best on the flop and took down the pot with a continuation-bet of 250,000.
Antoine Saout limped the small blind with the and Istvan Pilhofer checked his option with the . The flop gave Saout a flush draw and he bet 150,000 for Pilhofer to call.
On the turn, Saout bet another 625,000 and Pilhofer folded.
On the first hand of the day, Jun Obara opened the cutoff to 300,000. Jordan Saccucci three-bet to 900,000 on the button. Obara decided to make the call.
The flop came . Obara checked, and Saccucci bet 1,000,000. With top pair and backdoor clubs, Obara moved all in. Saccucci called immediately and put Obara at risk.
Jun Obara:
Jordan Saccucci:
Obara was in rough shape, in big trouble to bust as soon as the day had got started. The turn came and river the to ship his chips over to Saccucci and he was eliminated in fourth place.
A champion will be crowned today. Sure, later today eyes will be on the World Cup FInal as France and Argentina battle for their title. But that's thousands of miles from the trophy that will be lifted here first at the beautiful Hilton Prague. Here, four players play down to a champion of the 2022 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague €5,300 Main Event.
Cards will fly at 10:30 a.m., so our coverage will begin at 11:00 a.m. in harmony with the livestream on the PokerStars YouTube and Twitch channels.
Just two teams left to play on the pitch later, there are still four left to battle it out here on the felt. It's Jordan Saccucci leading the pack with 12,925,000, or 86 big blinds. With a prize of €1,054,500 going to the champion, he'll look to stay in that spot at day's end.
Final Day Seating Assignments and Chip Counts
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Jordan Saccucci
Canada
12,925,000
86
2
Antoine Saout
France
10,400,000
69
3
Istvan Pilhofer
Hungary
10,600,000
71
4
Jun Obara
Japan
3,875,000
26
However, three other players look to overtake him for the largest share of the €6,144,950 prize pool. Two other threatening stacks sit just behind the chip leader, Istvan Pilhofer (10,600,000) and Antoine Saout (10,400,000). Rounding out the final four is Jun Obara with 3,875,000.
Main Event Final Table Results and Remaining Payouts
Place
Winner
Country
Prize (in EUR)
1
€1,054,500
2
€658,750
3
€470,500
4
€361,950
5
Parker Talbot
Canada
€278,450
6
Luigi D'Alterio
Italy
€214,150
7
Petar Kalev
Bulgaria
€164,750
8
Javier Gomez Zapatero
Spain
€126,700
9
Paul-Adrian Covaciu
Romania
€97,450
The action starts with 69 minutes left on the clock in Level 31 with blinds of 100,000/150,000 and a big blind ante of 150,000. Players have already locked up fourth-place money of €361,950.
Before we find out who lifts the trophy in Qatar, start the day with us here at PokerNews , and find out who lifts the trophy in the Czech capital and becomes the next acclaimed EPT Main Event champion.
The TV cameras and media attention of the European Poker Tour are nothing new for Jun Obara — although he’s more accustomed to being the other side of them. As well as owning a coaching business, the 34-year-old from Tokyo is a commentator on Japanese poker coverage — essentially Asia’s answer to James Hartigan.
Having taken up poker six years ago, he is already a regular player on the world scene and is making his seventh trip to the EPT. He has results from Barcelona, Las Vegas and here in Prague, where he picked up his previous biggest score — €102,040 for fifth-place in a €25K event in 2019. He has a wife and two daughters, aged 2 and 3, who are watching his progress from home. He also has a small group of friends and supporters here in Prague, who are filming what they hope is a run to a maiden EPT title for a player from Japan.
Obara’s chip count progression
Entering Day 2: 214,000 (16th out of 434 remaining)
Day 3: 435,000 (31/117)
Day 4: 2,780,000 (3/30)
Day 5: 6,240,000 (2/9)
Day 6: 3,875,000 (4/4)
He might be entering Day 5 as the short stack, but don’t rule out 39-year-old Istvan Pilhofer just yet. The Hungarian is on a hot streak at the moment, having recently taken down one of the biggest tournaments in Budapest, and while he’s had modest results on the EPT before, this is already his biggest career cash. Pilhofer played poker professionally for a couple of years but since 2017 he has owned and operated a hotel and restaurant in Siófok, a town on the southern bank of Lake Balaton.
“Obviously, there was a big downswing in the hospitality industry over the past few years,” he said. “It’s been hard but we’re in a good place now.” He’s done well to reach the final nine here in Prague, notably folding queens late on Day 4 when his opponents held pocket aces and pocket kings. Alas, a queen hit the flop, but he’s proud of the laydown. “It was the right decision at the wrong time,” he told us. “But as we always say, if I had called something else would have come!” Whatever happens today, he has his wife and young baby cheering him on.
Pilhofer’s chip count progression
Entering Day 2: 68,000 (245th out of 434 remaining)
Day 3: 587,000 (12/117)
Day 4: 1,050,000 (14/30)
Day 5: 1,530,000 (9/9)
Day 6: 10,600,000 (2/4)