Seat 3: Istvan Pilhofer (Hungary) - 10,600,000
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 Si��fok, 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)