Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2017 PokerStars Championship Prague
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2017 PokerStars Championship Prague
Buy-in
€5,300
Prize Pool
€4,146,750
Entries
855
Level
31
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
20,000
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
It's already been a great year for Michal Mrakes in his home country of Czech Republic, and it could be still better if he can take down PokerStars Championship Prague €5,300 Main Event.
While there's a long way to go before he can make that a reality, Mrakes has taken the first step here on Day 1a, bagging a huge stack of 202,700 to rank first among the 77 players who bagged chips at the close of play. A total of 193 entries were logged in the first of two starting flights.
Mrakes has already his two nice scores in his home country this year. He got first in a €1K event here for €200,000 and then took 14th in the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event for €46,594. Overall, he's just shy of $1 million in cashes, so he'll be a player to keep an eye on going forward.
Mrakes got a huge stack early on, reportedly picking up aces against kings and then getting the blades again in a massive all in pot, this time holding against a player who tried jamming rags at the wrong time.
Another WSOPE headliner — actually, the WSOPE headliner — also made waves. Marti Roca de Torres, who took down the Main Event just a couple of hours to the west last month, sits unofficially in second with 170,900. He flopped top two with jack-nine suited in a three-bet pot against Steve O'Dwyer, and the super high roller, who had been looking like a favorite to finish among the leaders, sent Roca de Torres a full double when he couldn't get away from pocket tens.
O'Dwyer did manage to bag 52,800, though. Others making it through included Martin Staszko, €50K Super High Roller winner Timothy Adams, Sergi Reixach, Adrian Mateos and Dietrich Fast.
Anton Wigg, Sam Greenwood, Vladimir Troyanovskiy, David Peters, Juha Helppi — interviewed here by PokerNews — and PokerStars Team Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier are among those who will have to count on a side event or one of the remaining high rollers if they hope to add a trophy to their collections from here in the Czech capital.
Players who didn't bust out of Day 1a can fire Day 1b, expected to be the larger of the two starting flights, which starts Wednesday at noon. Come back to PokerNews then for more live coverage.
Top 10 Counts
| Player | Country | Chip Count | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michal Mrakes | Czech Republic | 202,700 |
| 2 | Marti Roca De Torres | Spain | 170,900 |
| 3 | Akin Tuna | Germany | 155,600 |
| 4 | Mikhail Rudoy | Russia | 142,400 |
| 5 | Anton Yakuba | Russia | 139,800 |
| 6 | Oleg Vasylchenko | Ukraine | 138,900 |
| 7 | Martin Staszko | Czech Republic | 133,100 |
| 8 | Morten Halvorsen | Norway | 131,800 |
| 9 | Erik Walfridsson | Sweden | 127,700 |
| 10 | Fidan Zahiti | Sweden | 125,500 |
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
202,700
-17,300
|
-17,300 |
|
||
|
170,900
900
|
900 |
|
155,600
2,600
|
2,600 |
|
142,400
142,400
|
142,400 |
|
139,800
87,400
|
87,400 |
|
138,900
138,900
|
138,900 |
|
||
|
133,100
-16,900
|
-16,900 |
|
131,800
131,800
|
131,800 |
|
127,700
57,700
|
57,700 |
|
125,500
80,500
|
80,500 |
|
124,800
-200
|
-200 |
|
120,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
120,000
-35,000
|
-35,000 |
|
118,900
-1,100
|
-1,100 |
|
115,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
113,800
113,800
|
113,800 |
|
106,100
-8,900
|
-8,900 |
|
105,800
-1,200
|
-1,200 |
|
||
|
105,400
105,400
|
105,400 |
|
104,700
-7,300
|
-7,300 |
|
|
||
|
|
104,300
104,300
|
104,300 |
|
103,100
103,100
|
103,100 |
|
101,400
21,400
|
21,400 |
|
98,200
-6,800
|
-6,800 |
|
96,800
-5,300
|
-5,300 |
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
During the last hands of the night, Boris Kuzmanovic three-bet to 6,200 out of the small blind and was called by Marti Roca De Torres as initial raiser. Kuzmanovic bet the 
flop for 5,300 and Roca called before the Croatian checked the 
turn. Roca bet 11,800 and Kuzmanovic called.
After the 
on the river, both players checked and Kuzmanovic turned over the 
as winning hand to put a small dent into Roca's big stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
170,000
-25,000
|
-25,000 |
|
|
125,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
Players will receive three more hands apiece and then hit the road, with survivors returning for Day 2.
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
A player in middle position bet 1,600 on a board of 
and Timothy Adams put in 5,500 on the button. His opponent made it 16,000 and Adams tanked awhile and called. On the river came a bet of 15,500 and Adams took some time before tossing the dealer his cards.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
112,000
-13,000
|
-13,000 |
|
|
||
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
Martin Staszko vaulted into a big stack after a quads versus flush hand against John Mooney and picked up pocket aces the next hand again to bust a player with pocket deuces. Another big stack is Ramon Miquel Munoz while Vladimir Troyanovskiy was spotted on the rail.
Ali Reza Fatehi, who had started very well into Day 1a, has since been reduced to slightly more than the starting stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
155,000
115,000
|
115,000 |
|
|
150,000
113,300
|
113,300 |
|
|
120,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
|
115,000
-6,600
|
-6,600 |
|
80,000
54,000
|
54,000 |
|
48,000
-5,000
|
-5,000 |
|
38,000
-12,000
|
-12,000 |
|
35,000
-60,000
|
-60,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
Three players saw a 
flop and the blinds checked to Akin Tuna in the cutoff, who bet 2,200. Only Oliver Weis (small blind) called. The German check-called 6,200 more on the turn and a 
river elicited a pair of checks. Weis tabled 
for a flush.
"You had something?" Weis asked.
Tuna nodded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
153,000
-2,000
|
-2,000 |
|
|
107,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
|
||
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
According to the PokerStars Blog team, recent World Series of Poker Europe Main Event winner champion Marti Roca De Torres has scored a big double through Steve O'Dwyer soon after being moved to the table.
Roca De Torres raised to 1,600 from the cutoff and O'Dwyer three-bet to 6,400. Boris Kuzmanovic called, as did the Spaniard, and the flop fell 
. It was O'Dwyer who bet 7,800 after it was checked to him and Kuzmanovic folded, while Rosa De Torres check-raised to 25,900. O'Dwyer called and the 
fell on the turn.
Roca De Torres moved all in for 61,300 and O'Dwyer called with the 
, while the Spaniard was ahead with 
for two pair. The on the river was a blank and Roca De Torres doubled into a massive stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
195,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
|
|
115,000
23,000
|
23,000 |
|
58,000
-82,500
|
-82,500 |
|
|
||
Level 8
: 400/800, 100 ante
We found Koray Aldemir getting his stack of 23,000 in from the button against big blind Clement Richez, though we didn't see who put in the last raise and who called.
Aldemir: 
Richez: 
The board ran out a thoroughly bland 
, enabling Aldemir to double with ease.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
47,200
22,700
|
22,700 |
|
||
|
41,200
29,200
|
29,200 |
|
|
||