EPT Prague Day 3 Closes with Parker Talbot Among 30 Still in Contention

A dramatic Day 3 took place in Prague last night as the final European Poker Tour Main Event of the year grew close to confirming a final table. With just 30 players remaining, the next day’s play will reduce the field to either nine players or very close, so who is in pole position to make the cut and who’ll be looking for an early double-up in the Czech capital city?

Talbot Among the Leaders

With just 30 players remaining, the current top 10 represent a third of the field, with Italian player Luigi D’Alterio leading the way on 2,560,000 chips. He’s followed very closely by Javier Gomez Zapatero (3,415,000) as the podium places also feature a third nationality in the form of Japanese star Jun Obara (2,785,000).

Obara is a little way off those top two, but has close company himself in the shape of popular professional player and local hero Ondrej Drozd, who bagged up 2,380,000, a mite more than British player Ben Lebor (2,220,000). Just outside the top five, however, is Parker Talbot. A Team PokerStars Pro, Talbot is a well-known in both the live and online poker streets and with 2,145,000 chips to play with will be a real force to be reckoned with as the penultimate day looms.

Others to make the top ten include Arie Kliper from Israel, who totalled 1,860,000 at close of play, a little more than Frenchman Antoine Saout (1,570,000), Portuguese player Rui Miolhomens (1,475,000) and Bulgarian Petar Kalev (1,465,000) with all the top 10 sure to be threatening the lead if the early stages go their way.

Day 3 Sends 87 to the Rail

A total of 117 players began Day 3 in their seats, but over the course of an intense, and at periods physically draining 12 hours at the felt, 87 players lost their tournament lives, including stars from the world of poker such as Pascal Lefrancois, Team PokerStars Pro Ramon Colillas  and Gaelle Baumann.

With the field packed with talented Europeans, Marcin Horecki fell by the wayside, and there was an elimination for Mike Watson, whose recent scores in Super MILLION$ mean that the Canadian poker powerhouse was very much playing with profit before being eliminated.

Others such as Jerry Odeen, Jaesung Lee, Aliaksei Boika, Manuel Ruivo, Preben Stokkan, Juan Pardo, Andrew Hulme, Stoyan Obreshkov, Nino Ullmann and Alexandre Reard all busted on a busy day the felt.

What Will the Winner Take Home?

Apart from the EPT Prague 2022 ‘Spadie’ trophy, every player is chasing down the title for the $1.05 million top prize. Even ninth place gets $97,450, so the money on the line is astronomical if players can reach the final day.

With five stops announced for the 2023 EPT, including Paris, Cyprus, Barcelona and Prague again in the next 12 months, the anticipation for a new European Poker Tour is being stoked  by the record numbers posted this week in the Czech capital.

Players such as Parker Talbot being up for the top prize in Prague are sure to mean major headlines for the most popular live poker tour over the past two decades. Whoever wins the top prize of over a million dollars, they will remember Prague for the rest of their poker careers.