The final table of the record breaking Eureka Prague main event is set. In what was a lightning quick day the field of 36 was reduced to the final eight in fewer than five levels.
That's not to say the players were fast and loose, it was more a case of the biggest stack having the best hand and holding up at showdown. When the dust had settled it's these eight who'll contest the final tomorrow and fight it out of the first prize of €140,000.
Eureka Prague Final Table
1.Marcel Buissink, Netherlands, PokerStars Qualifier, 1,064,000
2.Mariusz Klosinski, Poland, 891,000
3.Bogdan Ionescu, Romania, 435,000
4.Matias Knaapinen, Finland, 1,470,000
5. Ioannis Triantafyllakis, Greece, PokerStars Qualifier, 527,000
6.Menikos Panagiotou, Cyprus, PokerStars Player, 1,482,000
7.Robert Vukovic, Croatia, PokerStars Player, 1,857,000
8.Bernd Vogelhuber, Germany, 2,028,000
When play starts tomorrow it's Bernd Vogelhuber who'll start as chip leader. He came into Day 3 fourth in chips, but soon jumped out to the chip lead and was one of the first to cross the million chip mark. That he starts tomorrow with over two million, came down to a key hand where he scored a double knockout (of sorts).
He won a 1,400,000 chip pot with pocket aces against the pocket jacks of Team PokerStars Pro Ana Marquez. With that knockout went the last Team Pro and last female in the main event.
His nearest challenger tomorrow will be Robert Vukovic, he was the first Croat to earn Supernova Elite status on PokerStars. A double-up through Petr Targa with 12 left gave him momentum and he'll start tomorrow with 1,857,000.
In third place overnight is Menikos Panagiotou and the Cypriot also has the poker gods to thank for delivering him aces at a crucial time. He was the first player to cross the million-chip mark, largely thanks to finding aces at the same time as Andrew Hulme got dealt pocket kings. He'll start with 1,482,000 tomorrow, whilst Hulme was out soon afterwards in 22nd.
The two other players who'll start with a million plus tomorrow were both fairly active throughout the day. Finland's Matias Knaapinen eliminated Greg Livshits in ninth to set the final table and will start with 1,470,000. Whilst Marcel Buissink took care of Day 1B chip leader Marc Daubach, with [8h][5h] when he turned two pair. Don't expect either to be shy about playing pots tomorrow.
The League of Nations at the final table (all eight are from different countries) is completed by a Pole (Robert Klosinski), a Greek (Ioannis Triantafyllakis) and a Romanian (Bogdan Ionescu). Whilst all have a below average stack, even Ionescu, the shortest stack, has over 20 big blinds. There's plenty of play left in this tournament yet.
The final table starts at noon tomorrow and this is what they'll be playing for:
1st. €140,000
2nd. €91,700
3rd. €55,400
4th. €42,800
5th. €31,700
6th. €22,100
7th. €15,800
8th. €11,900
To catch up with all the action from today click on the links below, but until tomorrow that's it from Prague.
All photos are copyright of Tomas Stacha