Day 2 of the €1,100 Eureka Main Event at the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague has been played to its conclusion with Marcin Dziubdziela emerging as the chip leader after bagging 3,460,000 in chips. Not far behind him is Ercan Atmaca, who managed to end the day with 3,205,000 here at the Hilton Prague.
Dziubdziela, who was the Day 1c chip leader, appears to be relatively new to the live-tournament scene. His first and only recorded cashes, according to The Hendon Mob, came back in October at EPT Cyprus and totaled just over $60,000. Dziubdziela steadily increased his stack throughout the day and is now in pole position to make a run at his first EPT title and the lion's share of the €4,226,880 prize pool (resulting from a record-setting 4,403-entry field).
€1,100 Eureka Main Event Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Name | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcin Dziubdziela | Poland | 3,460,000 | 115 |
| 2 | Ercan Atmaca | Netherlands | 3,205,000 | 107 |
| 3 | Alexander Tkatschew | Germany | 2,815,000 | 94 |
| 4 | Ran Shahar | Israel | 2,800,000 | 93 |
| 5 | Niclas Mjelstad | Norway | 2,600,000 | 87 |
| 6 | Catalin Moraru | Romania | 2,495,000 | 83 |
| 7 | Pablo Silva | Brazil | 2,400,000 | 80 |
| 8 | Samuel Fournier | France | 2,380,000 | 79 |
| 9 | Candido Cappiello | Italy | 2,370,000 | 79 |
| 10 | Ahani Piroozi | USA | 2,325,000 | 78 |
Day 2 Action
The day began with 659 returning hopefuls, all of whom having already secured a min-cash of €1,690. They were all looking to make a deep run in the event, but eliminations came swiftly, and after an additional eight levels of play, just 125 of them bagged into Day 3.
Among the early casualties were Matthias Kribben (632nd - €1,690), Fabian Rolli (605th - €1,940), Juha Helppi (523rd - €1,940), Ole Schemion (425th - €2,240), and Jason Wheeler (279th - €3,420), who ran top pair into Ender Lacin's set to see his run come to an end.
Defending champion Pieter Theelen entered Day 2 with an above-average stack, but was unable to gain any momentum and eventually bowed out in 268th place for €3,420.
Of the five Team PokerStars ambassadors who sat down for Day 2, only Ramon Colillas (805,000) and Felix Schneiders (695,000) earned a Day-3 berth. However, Parker Talbot (384th - €2,580), Fintan Hand (212th - €3,390) and Alejandro Lococo (147th - €4,520) were all rewarded with cash for their efforts.
The remaining players will reconvene for Day 3 on Saturday, December 10 at noon local time. Play will resume on Level 24, which features 15,000/30,000 blinds with a 30,000 big-blind ante. An additional ten 60-minute levels will be played, with 25-minute breaks included after every two levels.
Be sure to stick with PokerNews as we continue to bring you all the action leading to the next Eureka Main Event champion!
