Javier Gomez Zapatero Bags Biggest Stack in Day 1a of �5,300 Main Event
With ten hours of play down, the first flight of the 2022 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague �5,300 Main Event has come to a close here at the Hilton Prague. Players from all over the world joined in this electric venue to get the special tournament kicked off.
A total of 402 entries took part in Day 1a here in the Czech capital. The number nearly matched the impressive attendance set at this same event earlier this spring, and holds promise for a spectacular turnout over the next few days. After ten hours of play, 124 players found bags and get to take tomorrow off before returning for Day 2 on Wednesday, December 14. As a single reentry event across both flights, those who missed the mark today can still take part in Day 1b tomorrow at 12 p.m.
When play was over, it was Javier Gomez Zapatero who found himself atop the leaderboard with an impressive 341,000. He'll bring 227 big blinds to navigate Day 2 with hopes of going wire to wire.
2022 EPT Prague �5,300 Main Event Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Position | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds for Day 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Javier Gomez Zapatero | Spain | 341,000 | 227 |
| 2 | Ramon Colillas | Spain | 312,000 | 208 |
| 3 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | 293,000 | 195 |
| 4 | Nicola Grieco | Italy | 289,500 | 193 |
| 5 | Julien Sitbon | France | 232,000 | 155 |
| 6 | Justin Steinbrenner | Germany | 220,000 | 147 |
| 7 | Jun Obara | Japan | 214,000 | 143 |
| 8 | Dawid Smolka | Poland | 209,500 | 140 |
| 9 | Conor Beresford | United Kingdom | 189,500 | 126 |
| 10 | Simon Lofberg | Sweden | 188,500 | 126 |
Other Leaders and Action of the Day
Hot on Zapatero's heels is another Spanish pro, PokerStars Ambassador Ramon Colillas (312,000). He made a big river raise in a very interesting hand towards the end of the day and rode that pot to a second-place stack at the end of the night.
Just behind him is the accomplished Canadian professional Sam Greenwood (293,000). Greenwood is coming off of a strong Triton Super High Roller series in Cyprus where he had ninth, second, second, and first-place finishes for nearly $2,000,000 in September. He's started this one strong as well, including a great call against a big river bet to really build his stack.
There are other ways to get a big stack in this tournament. Just ask Italy's Nicola Grieco (289,500). He played a pot of over 200 big blinds against king-ten offsuit because of an opponent's misclick and worked that stack into a fourth-place spot on the leaderboard.
A couple of other PokerStars Ambassadors took part in the action today. Benjamin Spragg found himself a bag of 89,500 to join fellow ambassador Colillas among those moving on. Alejandro Lococo wasn't as fortunate, busting midway through the day. Also failing to find a bag was former World Series of Poker Main Event Champion and EPT Main Event Champion Hossein Ensan.
Day 2 will pick back up on Wednesday, December 14th at 12 p.m. Players from both starting flights will return to Level 11 with blinds of 1,000/1,500/1,500.
PokerNews is just getting started with coverage of this Main Event and will be here all week long from start to finish. Come back tomorrow and follow along with Day 1b coverage that starts at 12 p.m.