Martin Kabrhel Bags the Chip Lead After Day 2 of the Eureka Main Event
Sometimes, shorter is better. That’s exactly what happened on Day 2 of the €1,100 Eureka Main Event at the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague at the Hilton Prague as tournament management decided to play only six levels today.
However, a shorter day than expected didn’t mean less action because of the 707 players who returned for Day 2, only 137 managed to bag chips by the end of the day. They are the remaining players out of a record breaking field 4,732 entries, which generated a total prize pool of €4,542,720.
At the start of the day, only one Czech player was in the top ten, and it was none other than Martin Kabrhel. After a successful Day 2, he now leads the field with a massive stack of 3,720,000 chips. He is followed by Martijn Kiers (3,250,000), Ryan Plant (3,200,000), and Matthias Auer (3,065,000), who are the only other players to surpass the three-million chip mark.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chipcount | Big blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Kabrhel | Czech Republic | 3,720,000 | 124 |
| 2 | Martijn Kiers | Netherlands | 3,250,000 | 108 |
| 3 | Ryan Plant | United Kingdom | 3,200,000 | 107 |
| 4 | Matthias Auer | Austria | 3,065,000 | 102 |
| 5 | Matthew Micallef | Malta | 2,960,000 | 99 |
| 6 | Magnus Persson | Sweden | 2,740,000 | 91 |
| 7 | Daniel Abrahamsson | Sweden | 2,550,000 | 85 |
| 8 | Jiri Havlena | Czech Republic | 2,370,000 | 79 |
| 9 | Andrej Desset | Slovakia | 2,345,000 | 78 |
| 10 | Adrian Cazacu | Romania | 2,290,000 | 76 |
Despite a massive field of 707 players qualifying for Day 2, all competing for the first-place prize of €517,730, it was expected that a significant portion of the field would be eliminated in the early levels of the day. Day 2 did not disappoint, with roughly 300 players eliminated before the first break. Among those who exited early were Vanessa Kade (700th), Gerard Carbo (677th), Jason Wheeler (665th), last year’s EPT Prague champion Padraig O’Neill (616th), Sami Bechahed (523rd), who attributed his exit to a “massive punt” according to his social media, and Steve O’Dwyer (490th).
On the other hand, Phil Gross took the chip lead early on, becoming the first player to surpass 2,000,000 chips. He was followed by Mehdi Bilem and Emil Mattsson who cracked aces with a set to scoop a massive pot. Of these three players, only Bilem advanced to Day 3, starting with 455,000 chips.
By the next break, Martin Kabrhel claimed the top spot on the chip counts and maintained his lead until the end of the day. Even in the final minutes, he eliminated Adam Wagner with ace-king to secure his chip lead even more.
Meanwhile, Gilles Simon (296th - €3,130), Fabrice Bigot (286th - €3,590), Conor Beresford (271st), Marle Spragg (262nd), and EPT champion Robin Ylitalo (189th - €4,130) weren’t as fortunate, as they were all eliminated.
The tournament continues for PokerStars ambassador Benjamin Spragg, who made a great call during the final level to bag 1,965,000 chips. Day 1b chip leader Felix Vu also advanced to Day 3 with 1,540,000 chips, along with Jack Sinclair (1,300,000), Patrik Jaros (740,000), and the Day 2 starting chip leader Jerry Odeen (630,000).
Finally, PokerStars Team Pro Simon Wiciak has 280,000 chips left, so nine big blinds for tomorrow's Day 3.
Day 3 is set to resume at 11 a.m. local time tomorrow, Sunday, December 8 at Level 17, with blinds at 15,000/30,000, with a 30,000 big blind ante. The 137 remaining players already secured a minimum cash-prize of €5,500 and are hoping for more.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €517,730 | 16-17 | €22,440 |
| 2 | €327,390 | 18-20 | €19,490 |
| 3 | €233,860 | 21-23 | €16,940 |
| 4 | €179,890 | 24-27 | €14,720 |
| 5 | €138,370 | 28-31 | €12,770 |
| 6 | €106,440 | 32-39 | €11,080 |
| 7 | €81,860 | 40-55 | €9,630 |
| 8 | €62,960 | 56-71 | €8,360 |
| 9 | €48,430 | 72-95 | €7,220 |
| 10-11 | €37,250 | 96-119 | €6,310 |
| 12-13 | €31,030 | 120-137 | €5,500 |
| 14-15 | €25,850 |
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the updates and highlights from the tournament floor until a winner is crowned!