Latest Day 1A Post

It's good to be back. That was the main theme of day 1a in Prague, a welcomed return to one of the European Poker Tour's prestige destinations. The best players, a tournament room with space to breathe and surrounded by a town you can happily get lost in and...more

Arnaud Mattern stopped by our onstage media perch earlier today. He hadn't even opened his mouth before Lina Olofsson, the most Swedish of all our Swedish bloggers, was on to him: "My Swedish friend doesn't like you." We skip hellos. She was talking about Martin Jacobsson, who had five...more

Updates from day 1a levels seven and eight of EPT Prague, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc "The Conv" Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young. Latest selected chip counts are on the chip count page. The EPT tournament structure can be found on the EPT tournament structure page. Level...more

Last year's EPT Dortmund final table was nothing if not German. For the only the second time in the tour's six-year history, the home country (Germany) finished in first, second and third position, with the Team PokerStars Pro (Germany) Sandra Naujoks at the very top of the tree. One of...more

Updates from day 1a levels five and six of EPT Prague, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc "The Conv" Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young. Latest selected chip counts are on the chip count page. The EPT tournament structure can be found on the EPT tournament structure page. Level...more

Time was when Team PokerStars Pros were like golden eagles: they were a magnificent sight but there weren't very many of them. These days things have changed. On the whole, these players are still well worth watching as they circle through the fells of an EPT Main Event, but they're...more

There was a time when PokerStars qualifiers, or any breed of qualifier for that matter, matched a certain profile. Usually male, they were aged between 18 and 22, were studying something at university and had no facial hair. Sent up against the experienced pros of European poker some would...more

Updates from day 1a levels three and four of EPT Prague, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc "The Conv" Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young. Latest selected chip counts are on the chip count page. The EPT tournament structure can be found on the EPT tournament structure page. Level...more

PokerStars welcome parties are not massively different from any gathering at which there are a bunch of strangers and an open bar. The pockets of folk who are already acquainted liberally swill free liquor and grow nostalgic about the last time they liberally swilled free liquor in each other's company,...more

That's the outside world taken care of, full of cobbles, church spires and hot booze, time now to look inwards, at ourselves and our surroundings, to tiled floors, fluorescent lighting and cold sandwiches. As far as tournament rooms go what the function suite at the Prague Hilton lacks in...more

The measured, calming tones of the EPT Tournament Director Thomas Kremser welcomed us to Prague this afternoon and ran through the details of today's play. As has become standard, we'll be playing eight one-hour levels with no dinner break, taking us through to about 8.45pm. There will be a...more

Updates from levels one and two of EPT Prague, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc "The Conv" Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young. Latest selected chip counts are on the chip count page. The EPT tournament structure can be found on the EPT tournament structure page. Blinds: 75-150 2.15pm:...more

For three years, the European Poker Tour trundled along as if the city of Prague did not even exist. But as soon as the stop was added to the calendar in 2007, it instantly became one of the most popular destinations: like a new kid rolling into school half-way through...more