EPT Prague draws massive turnout; Gab Yong Kim scores career high € 622K; Grzegorz Glowny, Alejandro Lococo, Timothy Adams, Andras Nemeth win big

After two postponements, European Poker Tour Prague finally hit the tables with action taking place at King’s Casino from March 5 to 16. The sheer number of players in attendance demonstrated how the event was sorely missed. Over 13K entered across 38 completed events, roughly € 26.7 Million in cash was paid out, and six of the events amassed seven figures. 

Walking away the richest were Grzegorz Glowny, Timothy Adams, Alejandro Lococo, Andras Nemeth, Robert Cowen, and Jose Gonzalez. Although not many Asians made the trip, South Korea’s Gab Yong Kim represented with a 4th place finish at the € 5,300 Main Event. Also seen at the felt were Daewoong Song, Vivian Im, Nikita Luther, and Li Chen who won a spadie on the final day. Here are the highlights. 

Grzegorz Glowny wins the € 5,300 Main Event; Gab Yong Kim finishes 4th

The festival had two Eureka Main Events scheduled, each with a different buy in. The most expensive cost € 5,300 with 1,190 ponying up. This impressive turnout built a massive prize pool of € 5,771,500 making it the largest pot of the series. After a four way ICM deal, Poland’s Grzegorz Glowny went the distance to capture his first ever live title, trophy, and a career high € 692,252. Not much is known of Glowny other than he won his seat via a PokerStars € 530 online satellite which he turned 1,306 times over into a life changing payout. 

Glowny’s race to the throne didn’t start off well. He entered Day 2 ranked a very low 419th out of 454 players, however, by the end of that heat, he climbed into 14th position out of the 119 remaining players. During the next three elimination days, 2015 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event champion Adrian Mateos finished 40th and 2019 WSOP Main Event champion Hossein Ensan exited 14th. The final six was formed with Glowny ranked 3rd in chips and riding high up top was well known South Korean heavy hitter Gab Yong Kim. Kim was in prime form and hoped to finally bring it home having finished 9th at this same event back in 2019. 

The final table trimmed after Glowny eliminated Armin Rezaei (6th) and Demetrio Caminita (5th) to take the lead. Just before a break, Kim reclaimed it and from there a deal was discussed that Glowny rejected. When play resumed, Glowny lost pot after pot to drop to the shortest stack. In desperation, he put it all on the line with and was in danger of elimination against Kim’s . However the poker gods had other plans as the board ran for a full house. 

At the next break, another ICM deal was discussed, and this time everyone was on board. Chip leader Kim was guaranteed the highest pay followed by Glowny, Andrea Cortellazzi, then Symeon Alexandridis. Set aside for the winner was the trophy and an additional € 110,796.

Action proceeded with Kim’s stack taking a beating while Cortellazzi was on the rise. Kim crashed out in 4th place but still claimed a career high € 622,610 to send his total live earnings over US$ 1.3 Million. Alexandridis was out next with Glowny cleaning him out. The final chase saw the chip lead bounce from Cortellazzi to Glowny then back to Cortellazzi which he held until Glowny landed a monster double up with over . Cortellazzi was crippled and busted out on the next hand. 

Buy in: € 5,300
Entries: 1,190
Prize pool: € 5,771,500
ITM: 175 places

Final table payouts

1st Grzegorz Glowny – Poland – € 692,252*
2nd Andrea Cortellazzi – Italy – € 579,420*
3rd Symeon Alexandridis – Greece – € 497,278*
4th Gab Yong Kim – South Korea – € 622,610*
5th Demetrio Caminita – Italy – € 245,870
6th Armin Rezaei – Austria – € 181,800
7th Teun Mulder – Netherlands –  € 138,570
8th Valentino Konakchiev – Bulgaria –  € 98,750
*Four way deal

Alejandro Lococo wins € 1,100 Main Event and € 2,200 NLH Deep Stack

Argentina’s Alejandro Lococo is having a stellar return to the live felt. With just US$ 118K in total live earnings prior to November 2021, he finished 7th at the 52nd annual WSOP Main Event to pocket a life changing US$ 1,225,000. Early this month, Lococo carried his heavy bankroll and booming confidence to his first ever EPT and proceeded to ship the € 1,100 Eureka Main Event for another big payout of € 417,820. This was Lococo’s first major victory. He also went on to place 7th at the € 2,150 NL Hold’em event for € 11,940 then scooped up a second win at the € 2,200 NL Hold’em Deep Stack for € 88,560. 

The € 1,100 Main Event drew the biggest crowd of 3,155 entries for a prize pool of € 3,028,800. Among the Asians running deep were India’s Nikita Luther (109th), Japan’s Hiroki Nawa (144th) and Japan’s Masato Yokosawa (172nd). Yokosawa also cashed at the € 5,300 Main Event in 93rd place. Further down the rung were Vietnamese pro Thi Xoa Nguyen (392nd) and South Korea’s Daewoong Song (396th). Song cashed in a total of four events with a 3rd place finish at the € 10,200 NL Hold’em opener.

Buy in: € 1,100
Entries: 3,155
Prize pool: € 3,028,800
ITM: 469 places

Final table payouts

1st Alejandro Lococo – Argentina – € 417,820
2nd Bartolomeo Fulvio Tato – Italy – € 249,000
3rd Jakub Koleckar – Czech Republic – € 174,130
4th Jon Kyte – Norway – € 131,900
5th Yann Nasser – Luxembourg – € 99,920
6th Vile Jantunen – Finland – € 75,690
7th Nicolas Cottin Buracchio – Chile – € 57,340
8th Merijn Van Rooij – Netherlands – € 43,430

€ 50K Super High Roller: TIMOTHY ADAMS – € 742,200

45 of the world’s top pros came together at the € 50K buy in Super High Roller event for a prize pool of € 2,182,950. Out of the six players that reached the money, Canada’s Timothy Adams shipped the € 742,200 first prize making him the largest first place earner of the series. Adams also took 5th at the € 25K No Limit Hold’em for € 84,280. In turn, his already impressive live tournament portfolio increased to US$ 26.3 Million. 

Buy in: € 50,000
Entries: 45
Prize pool: € 2,182,950
ITM: 6 places

Payouts 

1st Timothy Adams – Canada – € 742,200
2nd Orpen Kisacikoglu – Turkey – € 512,990
3rd Nick Petrangelo – USA – € 327,400
4th Christopher Brewer – USA – € 251,040
5th Adrian Mateos – Spain – € 196,740
6th Yuri Dziivielevksi – Brazil – € 152,810

Andras Nemeth wins two € 25K NLH Re-entry events

Just like € 1,100 Main Event champion Alejandro Lococo, Hungarian pro Andras Nemeth cashed in three events while taking down two in the process. They were the only two players to win two events at the series. Both of Nemeth’s victories were at € 25K NLH Re-entry events for a combined score of € 393,280.

On the first catch, Nemeth topped a field of 21 entries, defeating Brazil’s Pablo Silva at heads up to claim the € 211,760 first prize. Five days later, Nemeth bagged his second win after besting an 18 entry field. This earned him € 199,162. He now has three EPT titles under his belt with the first one earned back in August 2018 in Barcelona. With his latest scores, Nemeth’s total live earnings on The Hendon Mob climbed to well over US$ 3.9M 

China’s Li Chen takes down the € 220 NL Hold’em event

One of the last trophies on the awards table was claimed by China’s Li Chen for his first ever career title. Chen championed the € 220 NL Hold’em, which was the cheapest event of the series. He outlasted the 139 entry field, defeating Australia’s Farhad Mohajerani at heads up to seize the coveted spade trophy and the € 6,388 first prize. Chen was the only Asian player to win at the festival. 

Buy in: € 220
Entries: 139
Prize pool: 26,688
ITM: 20 places

Niklas Astedt denied two € 10,200 NLH titles

Swedish online crusher Niklas Astedt hoped to add new EPT titles to his live portfolio. Prior to the series, Astedt boasted two wins, however, his bid for more was denied. Astedt was stopped at victory’s doorstep not once but twice this series, and both at € 10,200 No Limit Hold’em events. At the series opener he fell in 2nd place to UK’s Sam Grafton for a payout of € 58,130. The next day, against a larger field of 51 entries, Astedt missed the spadie once again with USA’s Christopher Brewer bagging the win. Astedt had to settle for a payout of € 112,540. 

Other big winners

€ 2,200 High Roller
Entries: 1,149
Prize pool: € 2,206,080
ITM: 167 places
Winner: JOSE GONZALEZ – Spain – € 396,450

€ 2,700 NLH Mystery Bounty
Entries: 655
Prize pool: € 1,588,375
ITM: 95th
Winner: RODRIGO SIRICHUK – Brazil – € 247,655 

€ 25K NLH Single Re-entry
Entries: 39
Prize pool: € 936,390
ITM: 6 places
Winner: RODRIGO SELOUAN – Brazil – € 318,370

€ 10,300 High Roller
Entries: 271
Prize pool: € 2,628,700
ITM: 39 places
Winner: ROBERT COWEN – UK – € 475,410*
2nd Adriy Lyubovetskiy – Ukraine – € 402,070*
*Heads up deal