Velasevic Leads Final Six in �1,100 EPT Prague National
After just under seven levels of play, just six players remain in the PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague �1,100 National here at the Hilton Prague.
The six are all guaranteed �71,800, but when play resumes tomorrow they will all be eyeing up the �382,750 in prize money that awaits the winner of this event.
Leading the way is Danilo Velasevic after the last hand of the night saw him soar to the top of the chip counts. The Serbian slow-played aces, just calling a three-bet. He flopped a set and then got it in on the turn against the pair and flush draw of [Removed:354]. The river bricked out allowing Velasevic to move over twenty million in chips.
| Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ali Al Saidy | Norway | 14,850,000 | 59 |
| 2 | Walter Treccarichi | Italy | 16,725,000 | 67 |
| 3 | Ondrej Lon | Czech Republic | 8,975,000 | 36 |
| 4 | Danilo Velasevic | Serbia | 20,675,000 | 83 |
| 5 | Boris Mondrus | Israel | 9,525,000 | 38 |
| 6 | Ut Tam Vo | France | 5,400,000 | 22 |
"It was an up and down day," Velasevic told PokerNews. "I played really good, I think. I made a few bluffs, and just now that last hand was so sick. I saw this guy three-betting too much and I just thought he was fooling around. That's why I just called.
"I prefer having a big stack going into the final day. I'll try to put some pressure on people and I hope to win!"
For large portions of the final table, it looked like either Walter Treccarichi or Ali Al Saidy would bag the chip lead. Treccarichi recovered from two early doubles to come into the unofficial final table as chip leader, with Al Saidy eliminating two players back-to-back in 12th and 11th, and continuing to chip up at the final table.
However, it will be Velasevic who goes to bed tonight as the chip leader, no doubt dreaming of the title, trophy and over �300,000 in prize money.
Day Recap
There were a series of doubles to start the day before Charlie Carrel became the first elimination, immediately jumping into the �50,000 Super High Roller. That trickle became a flood, as seven more players exited, bringing the tournament to three tables within the first level's play.
Overnight chip leader Iliya Iliev was still in the lead at this point, with Preben Stokkan not far behind. However, not long later Stokkan would hand over almost three million in chips to Boris Mondrus after the Norwegian bet flop and turn with a straight draw, and then bluffed the river when his draw missed. Mondrus called with ace-high, pushing him to the top of the counts.
Like Stokkan, Jean-Noel Thorel had come into the day with a big stack, but lost a big pot to Al Saidy's kings, and would lose a flip against Ut Tam Vo to bust in 18th, narrowly missing out on the two table redraw.
By the redraw, it was Al Saidy in the lead with Mondrus and Tam Vo in second and third respectively. However, by the time the next break came around it was Treccarichi into the lead after securing a big double with ace-king when he rivered a king to crack fellow Italian Alessandro Mazzilli's nines.
Start of day chip-leader Iliev got it in with a suited ace against the pocket tens of Ondrej Lon, only to come out second best. He was soon eliminated in 13th place as the tournament barrelled ever onwards.
Czech bracelet winner Lukas Zaskodny was eliminated in 11th place after ace-nine failed to catch up against the ace-queen of Velasevic, and Florian Duta was out in 10th bringing the tournament to an unofficial final table of nine.
Treccarichi was still in the lead, with Mondrus, Lon and Al Saidy the other three players with seven-figure stacks. Bringing up the rear was Canadian Harpreet Padda who got it in good against [Removed:355], only to emerge second best and bust in eighth place.
Al Saidy had a late surge with just two eliminations remaining in the day, moving to the top of the chip counts as Treccarichi dropped back despite eliminating Vasileios Tsaknis in eighth place, but [Removed:355]'s elimination meant that Velasevic (pictured above) overtook him and will be in pole position when play resumes at midday tomorrow.
Stay tuned to PokerNews.com to see who wins the �1,100 EPT Prague National.