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* Prize-winners so far are on the prize-winners page
10pm: Final table line-up
After that extraordinary end to proceedings, the dust has just about settled and they have redrawn for the final. Here is how they will line up for the Eureka Prague final table, starting at noon on Thursday:
Seat 1 – Gianluca Speranza (Italy) – 4,750,000
Seat 2 – Martin Staszko (Czech Republic) – 6,430,000
Seat 3 – Meir Ben Shimon (Israel) – 1,670,000
Seat 4 – Mihaita Croitoru (Romania) – 3,120,000
Seat 5 – Cosimo Sabatini (Italy) – 1,875,000
Seat 6 – Javier Rojas Mederos (Spain) – 6,145,000
Seat 7 – Simon Persson (Sweden) – 12,565,000
Seat 8 – Vladas Burneikis (Lithuania) – 10,800,000
9.40pm: Two eliminations, final reached immediately!
Level 30 – Blinds 60,000-120,000 (20,000 ante)
There are, to use an understatement, scenes in Prague. Two players have just been eliminated at the same time, on neighbouring tables, taking us to a final table in a flash.
One pot was pretty small; one other was absolutely enormous and Simon Persson will be a huge chip leader tomorrow as a result.
So, let’s go through this.
On one table, Persson opened from under the gun and faced a three bet to 580,000 from Igor Untilov to his left. It came back round to Persson and he four bet to 1,030,000.
Untilov called and they went to a flop of 9♣ Q♠9♠.
At around this time, the action happened over on the other table. The short-stacked Torsti Kettula moved all in with 10♦ 10♣ and was picked off by Vladas Burneikis’s J♥ J♦ . There was no way either of them were doing anything different there and the board bricked, meaning Kettula bust in 10th and was still steaming about the pot before against Martin Staszko.
But that happened with the other pot still under way. In that one, we left it at a flop and Persson bet it, making it 640,000 to go. Untilov called that bet, taking them to a turn of 3♥ .
Persson was sitting with about 5.1 million behind; Untilov had 3.2 million back.
Persson wasn’t going to slow down and fired 925,000 at that. Untilov now went deep into the tank. There was total silence around the table, even though the tournament directors were now preparing to make everyone shift to a single table. But when Untilov emerged from the tank he did so with an all in shove, and Persson called instantly.
“You have a nine?” Untilov said, incredulous. Persson didn’t. He had pocket queens for the flopped boat and was now way ahead of Untilov’s K♥ K♣ .
The 10♣ on the river was meaningless and Persson had suddenly knocked out Untilov, ending the day and making himself a stack of more than 12 million.
9.30pm: Massive moment for home fans, Staszko doubles
Level 30 – Blinds 60,000-120,000 (20,000 ante)
Martin Staszko, who is already the Czech Republic’s most celebrated star, has just kept his Eureka dreams alive with a massive double up through Torsti Kettula. Kettula has been ice cool throughout this tournament, but just reeled away from the table in despair as his opponent rivered him.
Staszko opened to 250,000 from under the gun on what is now a five-handed table. Kettula, in the big blind, three bet to 710,000 and Staszko, as he tends to do very often, pushed all in for 3,255,000.
Kettula called and his J♣ Jâ™ were in great shape against Staszko’s A♥ J♥ . The first four cards were all blank: 6♣ 2♦ 6♥ 7♦ but lo and behold, there was the A♣ on the river to give the home-town hero a stack big enough to cause real menace on the final table tomorrow.
Kettula is now down to about 1.3 million.
9.20pm: Lithuanian down
Level 30 – Blinds 60,000-120,000 (20,000 ante)
The Lithuanian stronghold just took another blow as Vladas Tamasauskas hit the rail in 11th. The damage was done earlier in that enormous pot against his countryman, but Tamasauskas had mounted something of a fightback more recently.
However, he probably felt he had little option but to open shove for about 1.2 million when he found 9â™ 10â™ just into Level 30. It’s just unlucky for him that he smashed into Torsti Kettula’s pocket queens, and couldn’t catch up. Tamasauskas takes €19,460.
9.15pm: Pertsinidis? Saggysinidis more like
Level 29 – Blinds 50,000-100,000 (10,000 ante)
Maximos Pertsinidis is out in 12th, having never recovered from the huge hand just after the break against Simon Persson. Pertsinidis shoved for 250,000 from early position and Vladas Burneikis, who had posted 100,000 in the big blind anyway, was mandated to call.
He had ten-deuce and hit a deuce on the turn. That was the end of Pertsinidis, who picks up €17,330 and leaves us with 11 players.
We’re now going into Level 30, where blinds are 60,000-120,000 (20,000 ante).
9pm: Sabatini hanging around
Level 29 – Blinds 50,000-100,000 (10,000 ante)
Cosimo Sabatini has doubled his short stack, getting it all in with K♥ 8♥ and initially in trouble against Igor Untilov’s K♣ Q♦ . But the flop offered a glimmer of hope, coming A♥ 4♥ 2â™ and then he got there the hard way with the 8â™ on the turn. The Kâ™ on the river changed nothing.
Level 29 – Blinds 50,000-100,000 (10,000 ante)
9pm: The Internet is finite
Level 29 – Blinds 50,000-100,000 (10,000 ante)
It turns out the internet has run out of room. Who knew. Actually, I’m not sure if that’s the truth, but I can’t seem to get anything to save in the previous post, so I’m starting a new one. Enjoy!
