Andre Winkler Bags the Lead; Sami Bechahed Trails Closely in Day 1a of Eureka Main Event
Poker players from around the globe have made their way to the 2024 European Poker Tour Prague, which got off to a lively start today after 352 entrants joined Day 1a of the €1,100 Euerka Main Event here inside the luxurious Hilton Prague.
By the time the Day-2 bubble had burst, Andre Winkler emerged as the chip leader of the 53 remaining players after amassing 396,000 through a bit over 16 levels of play. Not far behind him is Sami Bechahed (387,000), who won the PokerStars NAPT Main Event last year for a career-best $268,945 score.
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andre Winkler | Germany | 396,000 |
| 2 | Sami Bechahed | France | 387,000 |
| 3 | Henri Antikainen | Finland | 381,000 |
| 4 | Dimitrios Kilintaris | Greece | 364,000 |
| 5 | Humberto Jor Lopes Martins | Spain | 353,000 |
| 6 | Nicat Hasanov | Azerbaijan | 326,000 |
| 7 | Bartosz Jablonski | Poland | 324,000 |
| 8 | Adam Polek | Czech Republic | 305,000 |
| 9 | Ondrej Goetz | Czech Republic | 296,000 |
| 10 | Krzysztof Krawczyk | Poland | 295,000 |
Philip Joyce, who placed second in the UKIPT Nottingham Main Event last month, ended the day with an above-average stack of 235,000 despite being on the brink of elimination at one point. Joyce's good fortune continued after he found himself on the right side of a cooler with aces against Scott Margereson's ace-king for another double up shortly thereafter.
Other notables who made it to Day 2 include EPT Main Event Champion Robin Ylitalo (239,000), Petar Andreev (207,000), Conor O'Driscoll (172,000), and Alessandro De Michele (129,000).
Among the less fortunate who entered but fell short of a Day-2 berth include Vanessa Kade, Marle Spragg, Benjamin Spragg, Uri Gilboa, and Barny Boatman, who busted two bullets despite having some early success after making a big call early on.
The Day-2 bubble burst on just the second deal of hand-for-hand play after Daniel Doroteo got all in preflop with pocket kings against Anders Hansen's ace-king. Hansen ended up putting a beat on Doroteo after flopping an ace and Doroteo was unable to catch a miracle one-outer on the turn or river — concluding play for Day 1a much to the delight of all the remaining players.
All players who earned a Day-2 berth are automatically in the money, although the exact amount of a min-cash won't be calculated until after all starting flights have been played to completion.
Anyone who failed to make Day 2 still has several more chances as there are still four starting flights over the next couple of days. The next flight is Day 1c, which will get underway on Thursday, December 5 at 11 a.m. local time. Day 2 will get begin on Saturday, December 7 at 11 a.m.
Be sure to stick with PokerNews for continuing coverage as the Eureka Main Event is just getting warmed up!