Amsellem Claims Day 1b Chip Lead in the €5,300 EPT Main Event
The prestigious European Poker Tour Prague continues to operate on all cylinders with another successful Day 1 flight of the €5,300 EPT Main Event. The Hilton Prague welcomed a new field of 923 entries, all striving for their place in EPT history.
After ten levels of play, 316 survived to advance to the Day 2 restart, tomorrow, December 11 at 12 p.m. local time. This brings the total Day 2 field size to 464, but with registration still open until the start of play, this number is only expected to swell.
As the dust settled, the front runner of Day 1b was Jacob Amsellem of France, who managed to accumulate an impressive sum of 316,000 by the conclusion of play. This result puts Amsellem out in front of Day 1a chip leader Gianfranco Iaculli (294,000), ensuring he will be the largest stack in the room at the start of Day 2.
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob Amsellem | Israel | 316,000 | 211 |
| 2 | Ignacio Sole Aparicio | Spain | 267,000 | 178 |
| 3 | Darko Percic | Germany | 261,000 | 174 |
| 4 | Anton Bergstrom | Sweden | 253,500 | 169 |
| 5 | Pascal Vos | Netherlands | 247,000 | 165 |
| 6 | Vasyl Pidhrusnyi | Ukraine | 245,000 | 163 |
| 7 | Vidar Oie | Norway | 234,000 | 156 |
| 8 | Patrik Jaros | Czech Republic | 232,000 | 155 |
| 9 | Marian Virlanuta | Romania | 230,500 | 154 |
| 10 | Marco Di Persio | Italy | 229,500 | 153 |
Action of the Day
PokerStars Team Pros and their affiliate ambassadors came out in full force, showing exactly why they earned their place on the PokerStars roster.
Sam Grafton fired a single bullet in today’s Main Event, successfully converting his starting stack of 30,000 into a final sum of 133,000. Grafton's tournament journey was turbulent, losing some of his earnings to Birger Larsen who’d successfully bluffed the Team Pro member out of a sizable pot in Level 5. However, Grafton’s persistence paid off, continually retaining a top-ten stack through the day’s play, finally finding a bag by the night's end.
Those to rejoin Grafton on the felt tomorrow include the likes of Padraig O'Neill, Jason Wheeler, Leo Margets, and Alexane Najchaus. In 2023, O'Neill dispatched Jon Kyte in heads-up play to take the EPT Prague Main Event trophy, title and €1,030,000, meaning his stack of 133,000 firmly keeps the campaign for a title defense alive.
Benjamin Spragg was quick to show no fear, boasting a big bluff during Level 5. Although Spragg’s commitment of chips showed heart, the two pair of Lucia Navarro sent him to the rail on his first bullet. Spragg wasn’t able to spin his single reentry into a deep run, fizzling into a quiet exit in Level 8, while Navarro bagged a final sum of 82,000.
Simon Wiciak, Ramon Colillas and Parker Talbot all soon followed Spragg to the rail. A sickening set-over-set cooler was the demise of the online streamer; Talbot snap-called a turn raise for his tournament life and failed to improve to the unlikely hand of quads, allowing Marco Di Persio to claim the entirety of his stack.
Wiciak's departure came painfully on the last level of the day as his pocket tens had run into the kings of Stefan Egermann, ending his campaign for two EPT main event titles.
Play will recommence on Level 11 with blinds at 1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 big blind ante. Those to find their way to the felt will enjoy elongated levels of 90 minutes with a 20-minute break at the end of each level.
Remaining Schedule
| Date | Day | Time | Blind Levels |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 11 | Day 2 | 12 p.m. | 90 minutes |
| December 12 | Day 3 | 12 p.m. | 90 minutes |
| December 13 | Day 4 | 12 p.m. | 90 minutes |
| December 14 | Day 5 | 12 p.m. | 90 minutes |
| December 15 | Day 6 | 12:30 p.m. | 90 minutes |
The PokerNews live reporting team will return to bring you more coverage of the EPT Prague Main Event, so stay tuned.