As PokerNews picked up the action, Jason Wheeler had 72,000 in the middle from the big blind and Daniel Erlandsson responded by moving all in from the button for 145,000. Wheeler went deep into the tank.
"How can they do this to me everytime?," he pondered. "This must be the one that I win." He made the call and players flipped their cards.
Daniel Erlandsson: 10?10?
Jason Wheeler: A?K?
The board ran out 8?A?3?4?5? and Wheeler picked up a pair of aces on the flop. He held to win the pot and Erlandsson was eliminated just two away from the bubble.
Michal Schuh raised to 15,000 from early position and Gerard Carbo three-bet to 71,000 from the button, leaving just 28,000 behind. Schuh put him all in for the rest of his chips and Carbo called all in for around 105,000 total. He was at risk on the stone bubble as players turned their cards.
Gerard Carbo: 9?9?
Michal Schuh: 8?8?
Carbo was well ahead, but the board brought a brutal runout of Q?8?J?Q?10? and Schuh made a set of eights on the flop, improving to a full house on the turn. Carbo even made a straight on the river, if only to add insult to injury, as Schuh dragged in the pot.
Carbo was eliminated on the stone bubble and the other 177 players made the money.
Flight 1a, the first flight of the PokerStars European Poker Tour €2,200 Eureka High Roller, saw 1,177 players enter. Of those, only 177 players will be returning tomorrow afternoon at 12:30 p.m local time to the Hilton Prague for Day 2. Both flights combined have generated a total prize pool of €3,171,840.
Yehor Shumeiko, a Ukrainian player, has bagged the largest stack in this stacked field. After 17 levels of play, he has amassed 757,000 chips, putting him at the top of the chip counts heading into Day 2. Shumeiko, a potential dark horse in this tournament, will be looking to surpass his biggest live cash of $24,275.
Sitting in second place is Italian EPT regular Claudio Di Giacomo, who holds 717,000 chips. With over $2,100,000 in live earnings, Di Giacomo is no stranger to deep runs, having recently scored a €50,000 cash in Barcelona.
Close behind Di Giacomo is Czech player Michal Schuh, who will enter Day 2 full of confidence given his previous success in large tournament fields.
Also in the top ten, the UK's Arian "AK" Kashani, who recently secured the top prize at the UKIPT's Nottingham event for over $260,000, has amassed over 550,000 in chips for Day 2.
Jason Wheeler, from the USA, boasts over $5,000,000 in live earnings, with nearly $1,000,000 coming from his Prague tournament results. Wheeler bagged a whooping 533,000 stack. Morten Klein, a seasoned high roller regular, will be looking to leverage his 461,000 chip stack and vast experience to apply pressure on his opponents.
Position
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Yehor shumeiko
Ukraine
757,000
95
2
Claudio Di Giacomo
Italy
717,000
90
3
Michal Schuh
Czech Republic
697,000
87
4
Felix Rabas
Austria
619,000
77
5
Bogdan Munteanu
Romania
553,000
69
6
Arian Kashani
United Kingdom
550,000
69
7
Jason Wheeler
USA
533,000
67
8
Jan Krahulik
Czech Republic
514,000
64
9
Vito Vella
Italy
513,000
64
10
Morten Klein
Norway
461,000
58
Other notables returning for 2 day include- Simon Lofberg (391,000), Fabrice Bigot (201,000), Fabio Peluso (282,000), Davidi Kitai (234,000), Maria Lampropulos (119,00).
Play resumes at 12:30 PM local time with blinds at 4,000/8,000 and an 8,000 ante to start Level 18. Each level lasts 40 minutes, and all returning players are guaranteed a minimum payout. The tournament will continue to its conclusion tomorrow, with the winner receiving a trophy.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for ongoing coverage of the action from the capital of Czechia.