In the Czech Republic, at the annual end-of-year winter running of the European Poker Tour Prague series, there are two quite different tales unfolding at the city’s Hilton Hotel.
The venue is playing host to the EPT for the 17th time, and while turnout has been impressive for the lower-priced events on the schedule, the more expensive end of the spectrum has drawn a significantly smaller band of players.
Firstly, the events worth celebrating: The €1,650 PokerStars Open Main Event attracted an enormous field of 3,024, with the €2,700 PokerStars Open High Roller also drawing a healthy 1,115 runners. The €3,250 EPT Mystery Bounty, where Day 2 is being played at the time of writing, has brought in 636 entries.
And then, more than worthy of note, there’s the €5,300 Main Event, for which the final tally of 1,224 entries represents the fourth-biggest Main Event ever held at the Hilton in Prague.
But with much of the high roller community currently to be found in The Bahamas, where Triton events and the $25K Super Main Event are taking place at WSOP Paradise, the major live series taking place on the eastern side of the Atlantic has seen lower attendance for its higher-priced offerings.
The €10,200 EPT Mystery Bounty and PLO events drew 32 and 49 entries, respectively, while the €20K and both €25K NLHE events all drew only a single table of players.
The €50K Super High Roller, which traditionally attracted 30 or more runners in the years prior to the 2023 launch of WSOP Paradise, was cancelled.
Two-time winner, times two
Two players who may not be lamenting the absence of a large high roller field are Enrico Camosci of Italy and Bulgaria’s Yulian Bogdanov, who have each picked up two tournament wins at the series so far.
Camosci, who is chasing down top spot on the PokerStars Live League High leaderboard, has won both the €20K and €25K NLHE events, though as mentioned above neither event drew more than 8 entries.
Bogdanov’s double victory was somewhat harder fought, as he topped a field of 32 for the win in the €10,200 Mystery Bounty before emerging triumphant from a pack of 3,024 in the PS Open Main Event.
Both players are out of the busy €5,300 Main Event, which at time of writing is partway through Day 3, though Camosci did manage a cash picking up €11,050 for a run to 104th.
The Italian is one of many casualties of Thursday’s third day, with all 163 who began the day in the money. Top of the chip counts at present is India’s Paawan Bansal, the Day 2 chip leader, though there are plenty of dangerous players remaining who could push on as the tournament continues.
Maria Lampropulos, Ole Schemion and Roland Rokita are just some of those snapping at Bansal’s heels as the tournament enters the final few days.
Can one of these celebrated players bag the win, or will the absence of so many top names leave the door open for an unexpected new hero of the EPT, and the €1,019,300 first place prize money?
We’ll know soon, but first there’s the matter of Friday’s Day 4, Saturday’s Day 5 and Sunday’s final table to look forward to.
Images courtesy of Eloy Cabacas/Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
