Thursday, 28th March 2024 08:53
Home / Uncategorized / EPT12 Prague: Sam Chartier leads into Day 2

As level eight began it already felt like a long day. One player, standing by his table, demonstrated this. He looked like he was ready to relax a little, to slowly start to unwind, and quite rightly too. For he was on course for a minor poker achievement that everyone can lay claim.

But the long day spent in a chair had played havoc on, shall we say, intimate arrangements. So to correct this he performed an unusual dance, moving his legs very specifically, the same way you might move your arms while dancing the “chicken wing”. Finally feeling more comfortable, and with personal logistics taken care of, he did a little dance, fist pumped a complete stranger walking by, and clapped his hands to the music he was listening to.

ept_prague_ipad_prague12_11dec15.jpg
This was a happy man. This was a relaxed man. This was a man about to reach day two.

In the general scheme of things reaching day two is not all that significant. There’s certainly no money to be had. But there is something greater at stake for the type of player to whom an EPT is still the highest of mountains to climb. Like those whose only goal is to reach Everest base camp, reaching day two is a big deal.


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So we salute those players tonight. That goes for awkward dancing man, and also for Canadian Sam Chartier, not exactly a new boy, but the leader tonight. He finished on 211,500, a good day by anyone’s standard and one achieved amid a field nearly 800 strong – never has the imbalance between day one fields been so pronounced. From that around 450 advance to day two, along with the 100+ who did the same yesterday.

sam_chartier_prague12_11dec15.jpgSam Chartier
However big the total field is right now it will be bigger tomorrow, with registration open until play starts tomorrow. There’s still time to jump in before the restart, an offer usually taken up by an adventurous few. They’ll join the likes of Vanessa Selbst, Jaime Staples, Eugene Katchalov, Chris Moneymaker, Matthias de Meulder, Mickey Petersen, and yes Marc Convey, all of whom (listed here) made it through eight levels today.

Chartier’s count, along with all the day’s scores can be found on our live coverage page, along with all the details of the day. You’ll also find our feature stories from Day 1B, which let’s be honest, flirted with disaster.

Sometimes we find a table full of champions. Other times we come up with nothing. Then when things are really bad we sink as low as Christmas inspired poetry. Our apologies.

christmas_party_prague12_11dec15.jpgChristmas at EPT Prague
Everything else today centred round the Single Day High Roller, which plays on into the night until a winner is crowned. You can find updates until the end of play here.

For now though the Main Event rests, picking up again at 12 noon tomorrow. That’s when Day 2 players will return. Congrats if that means you.


Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

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