Akenhead and Cody Among PokerStars Championship Prague Main Event Day 2 Survivors
Day 2 of the 2017 PokerStars Championship Prague Main Event saw the field whittled down to a more manageable 140 players and these hopefuls will return to their seats on Dec. 15 knowing only 128 of them will receive prize money.
Anyone finishing in the top 128 places receives at least €8,700 for their efforts. Should they navigate their way to the nine-handed final table, this sum increases to €57,500 with the eventual champion getting their hands on the winner’s trophy and a huge Christmas bonus of some €775,000.
James Akenhead is the best placed of the surviving British and Irish players to make it through to Day 3. Akenhead bagged up 257,500 chips at the end of the sixth level of play with the average stack being 183,214.
It is this stage of a tournament that Akenhead comes alive and puts his vast experience to good use. The Londoner has more than $3.5 million in live poker tournament winnings and looks set to add to that impressive total.
Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody also enjoyed a successful Day 2 in Prague. The popular pro finished the night armed with 252,500 chips. Cody is a Triple Crown winner having won a World Series of Poker bracelet, a World Poker Tour title and a European Poker Tour gong. Now that Cody has a healthy stack, expect him to make yet another deep run in a major event.
Some of the other British and Irish stars progressing to Day 3 include former Irish Open champion James Mitchell (236,000), Harry Lodge (235,500), Louis Salter (195,000), Dermot Blain (194,000), John Mooney (182,000), Gavin O’Rourke (146,000), Cathal Shine (135,000), Jack Sinclair (92,500), Lawrence Bayley (89,500), Mathew Frankland (69,000), and Jonathan Proudfoot (58,500).
PokerStars Championship Prague Main Event Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Michaelis | Germany | 630,500 |
| 2 | Omid Mojaverian | Iran | 597,500 |
| 3 | Erik Walfridsson | Sweden | 536,500 |
| 4 | Boris Kolev | Bulgaria | 510,500 |
| 5 | Daniel Barriocanal | Spain | 504,000 |
| 6 | Dimitrios Kalaroutis | Greece | 417,000 |
| 7 | Paraschos Stavridis | Greece | 414,000 |
| 8 | Fatima Moreira de Melo | Netherlands | 406,000 |
| 9 | Kalidou Sow | France | 405,000 |
| 10 | Robert Heidorn | Germany | 394,500 |
Germany’s Paul Micahelis is the tournament’s chip leader going into Day 3. Michaelis, who won a WSOP bracelet in a $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event in 2015, sits behind 630,500 chips.
Next in the chip counts is Iran’s Omid Majaverian with 597,500 while Team PokerStars Pro Fatima Moreira de Melo has 406,000 chips, enough to place her eighth going into the business end of the tournament.
Some of the other notable players still in the hunt for the €775,000 first-place prize include Michal Mrakes (330,000), Dominik Panka (320,500), Matas Cimbolas (271,000), Alessio Isaia (249,000), Jason Wheeler (221,000), Team PokerStars Pro Igor Kurganov (160,000), Mikita Badziakouski (151,500), Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki (132,000), Nick Maimone (109,500), Liviu Ignat (79,000), and Martin Staszko (78,000).
Play resumes at noon local time and sees the blinds extended to 90-minute levels. How many players from the UK and Ireland will remain at the end of Day 3? Tune into UK & Ireland PokerNews on Dec. 16 to find out, and don’t forget to follow our coverage via the Live Reporting pages.
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