The 2011 PokerStars European Poker Tour is in Prague right now and the main event kicked off a couple days ago. A total of 234 players showed up to play in the main event on Day 1A and 488 players showed up on Day 1B. In all, there were 722 players that took part in the 2011 EPT Prague Main Event. This set a new record for the biggest poker tournament in the Czech Republic, as the previous record was only 584 players.
A lot more poker players have been traveling around the world to play on the live circuit due to problems with online poker. It’s nice to see that the tournament was able to set a new record for the biggest tournament in the Czech Republic and hopefully it’s a sign of more good things to come in 2012. Lots of PokerStars players and PokerStars Team Member’s showed up to Prague to play in the tournament and a number of them are still in the running for the prize money.
Day 2 was completed today and just over 100 players are remaining in the event. The chip leader at the moment is Garri Tevosov with 764K in chips, but one bad hand could put him near the bottom of the pack. Only 5 PokerStars Team Pros remain in the field including Jude Ainsworth (313K Chips), Liv Boeree (193,600 Chips), Juan Manuel Pastor (96,200 Chips), Dag Palovic (87,500 Chips) and Johnny Lodden (74,500 Chips).
The eventual winner of the main event in Prague this week will walk away with €775K, which is one of the biggest 1st place prizes awarded in a little while at an EPT event. A number of PokerStars Team Pros were unable to make it through day 1 or day 2 and they won’t have a chance at the huge prize pool. A few of the pros that played in the tournament, but were already eliminated include Bertrand Grospellier, Luca Pagano, Jonathan Duhamel, Ivan Demidov and Lex Veldhuis.
Most of the stars have been eliminated from the main event, but that’s good news for the rest of the field. There will still be some very tough competition in the tournament to get through. Mike McDonald and Chris Moorman are both in the event still, but they have a bit of work to do if they want to have a seat on the final table later in the week. There will still be some great cash games going on in Prague for the next couple days while the main event finishes up, so if you happen to be in Prague make sure you stop by for some great live cash game action.
This is the last major event of the year, but PokerStars will be back next year with the 2012 PCA in January. The PCA is always the biggest tournament and one the best way for a poker player to kick-off the New Year. Make sure you try winning a seat to the PCA at PokerStars during the holidays.
