Seat 3: Michal Mrakes, 31, Czech Republic
31-year-old professional live tournament player Michal Mrakes had a tremendous start to the PokerStars Championship Main Event. Mrakes crossed 100,000 early into the first day, extracting the maximal value from pocket aces twice in a short span. Mrakes bagged the overall chip lead for Day 2 and then capitalized on his prime field position the following days.
He reclaimed the lead during Day 4, knocking out some of the biggest stars including Jack Sinclair, Dermot Blain, and Team PokerStars Pro Fatima Moreira de Melo. Mrakes also pulled out a massive call down with ace-high to prove his toughness in front of the PokerStars TV cameras.
Mrakes used to live in Sydney, Australia where his fellow Czech friend introduced him to poker. Mrakes returned home to Prague about five years ago and started pursuing a professional poker career. He has been a well-known local hero for several years now but 2017 has been a true breakout year for the Czech grinder who has finally delivered results on the top-shelf international scene.
Mrakes is guaranteed to break $1 million in lifetime winnings after collecting his Main Event cash, with the better half of his earnings coming in the past 12 months. He set his new personal best back in June, scooping the €1,100 partypoker MILLION event in Rozvadov for a €200,000 payday. A top-four finish here would secure him an even bigger reward.
Mrakes' Main Event run:
| Chips | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Ended Day 1 with | 202,700 | 1 / 415 |
| Ended Day 2 with | 333,000 | 14 / 140 |
| Ended Day 3 with | 1,032,000 | 2 / 49 |
| Ended Day 4 with | 4,945,000 | 1 / 15 |
| Ended Day 5 with | 5,010,000 | 3 / 6 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
5,010,000 | |
|
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