The European Poker Tour has returned to the Hilton Prague, and while the cameras are now fixated on the Main Event, the opening week has already generated enough action to fill a highlight reel. The festival is in full flow with a packed 70-event schedule that has delivered everything from seven-figure prize pools to high-stakes redemption stories.
Anyone arriving late to the party has already missed some colossal numbers. The side events have drawn thousands of entries, proving once again that Prague remains one of the most popular stops on the global circuit.
PokerStars Open Crushes Expectations
The PokerStars Open traditionally occupies the slot of Event #1, and it continues to be a massive draw. Organizers increased the buy-in to €1,650 this year, but the price hike did nothing to dampen enthusiasm. The tournament attracted a staggering 3,024 entries, a figure that includes 1,613 re-entries from players determined to spin up a stack.
That massive turnout created a prize pool heavy enough to promise €583,000 to the champion. The field has been whittled down significantly, with just 12 players surviving overnight to fight for the title and the half-million-euro payday today.
Four Players Turn €825 into Six Figures
The PokerStars Open Cup offered an even more accessible price point at €825 and drew a massive field of 2,140 entries. The tournament concluded in a way that perfectly illustrates the dream of tournament poker: turning a small buy-in into life-changing money.
When the field was reduced to the final four, the remaining battlers agreed to an ICM deal that guaranteed every single one of them a six-figure payout.
Finland’s Kai Lehto held the chip lead at the time of the chop. He locked up the biggest slice of the pie, taking home €162,000. The original first-place prize was set at €230,000, but the deal reduced the variance significantly for the survivors.
Paul Grummitt from the UK secured €145,000 for his second-place finish. Salvatore Falco of Switzerland banked €136,000 for third, while French player Jean-Baptiste Pano walked away with €112,500 for fourth place.
Camosci and Bogdanov Run Hot in High Rollers
At the other end of the buy-in spectrum, Enrico Camosci is cementing his status as one of poker’s breakout stars. The Italian pro added another title to his resume in the €20,000 No Limit Hold’em event. It was an intimate affair with just eight entries, but Camosci proved his skill by defeating Estonia’s Ottomar Ladva heads-up to claim the €85,690 top prize.
This victory is crucial for Camosci beyond just the cash. He is currently chasing points for the prestigious PokerStars Live League, making every deep run significant. He has been in fine form all week, having also finished third in the earlier €10,200 Mystery Bounty event for €36,900.
The winner of that Mystery Bounty tournament was Bulgaria’s Yulian Bogdanov. He navigated the field and ran purely in the bounty stage, pulling huge envelopes to boost his total winnings. Bogdanov cashed for a total of €147,000, with a staggering €90,000 of that coming from bounty payments alone.
Marina Mendy Finds Redemption in Women’s Event
The €330 Women’s Event confirmed the growing interest in the category, with the field size increasing year-on-year to 116 entries. For the winner, Marina Mendy, this tournament was personal.
The French player was fresh off a runner-up finish in the same event at EPT Barcelona, where she was narrowly defeated by Shiina Okamoto. In Prague, Mendy refused to settle for second best. She closed it out this time to win €8,568. The victory is a sweet milestone for Mendy, who primarily grinds lower stakes and is now closing in on $100,000 in documented live tournament earnings.
Norwegian Duel in the PLO High Roller
It is a well-known trope in poker that Nordic players dominate the four-card streets, and the €10,200 PLO Six-Max event did nothing to dispel that notion. The tournament culminated in an all-Norwegian heads-up battle between Joachim Haraldstad and Espen Myrmo.
Myrmo is a serious specialist in this format. He previously took down the €25,000 PLO event at EPT Barcelona in August for over €400,000. However, Haraldstad had the answers this time.
Haraldstad, who won his first EPT side event back in 2013 and boasts over $1.3 million in career cashes, defeated his countryman to secure the trophy and the €154,400 first-place prize.
