Brazilian Pro Pablo Silva Takes the Trophy in €10,200 No-Limit Hold'em (€153,900)
December 17, 2024 Ben Weiss
One of the final events ♨️ of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague has wrapped, with Pablo Silva defeating Sweden's Mounir Tajiou heads up ♨️ to claim the €10,200 NL Hold'em II title. The tournament attracted a total of 46 entries, with only the top ♨️ six sharing a prize pool of €446,200.
"It feels good. It was an amazing tournament - my last one in the ♨️ series," Silva said following the win. The Brazilian didn't have it all his own way on Day 2 but managed ♨️ to take it down for only his second tournament win of his poker career.
€10,200 No-Limit Hold'em II Final Results
Place Player ♨️ Country Prize (EUR) 1 Pablo Silva Brazil €153,900 2 Mounir Tajiou Sweden €100,400 3 Sirzat Hissou Germany €69,200 4 Andras ♨️ Nemeth Hungary €51,300 5 Kazuyuki Tanemura Japan €40,200 6 Thomas Eychenne France €31,200
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Day 2 Action
Silva's day started promisingly, busting out Jan-Eric Schwippert early on. However, the eventual winner wasn't among the ♨️ chip leaders at that point in the day. Hungary's Andras Nemeth was the one setting the pace, knocking out several ♨️ opponents on Day 2, including EPT Champion Steve O'Dwyer.
Silva didn't see it all go his way, losing a three-way pot ♨️ with ace-king a couple of hours into the day. However, he was deeply involved in the hand that burst the ♨️ money bubble, which could be seen as the turning point in his tournament's trajectory. He scooped a three-way pot with ♨️ kings to not only knock out Jean-Vincent Lehut, but also take him over two million in chips - nearly half ♨️ of all that was in play.
Jean-Vincent Lehut
Thomas Eychenne was first to go in the money, as he busted in sixth ♨️ place (€31,200). Nemeth then beat out Silva to win a large pot and eliminate Kazuyuki Tanemura (€40,200) in the same ♨️ hand.
Then it was Nemeth's turn to hit the rail (€51,300) with Silva sending him there in an interesting hand. Nemeth ♨️ had a royal flush draw on the turn, but he missed and saw the Brazilian river a set of fours ♨️ to eliminate the Hungarian in fourth place (€51,300).
A short while later, it was down to two, with Sirzat Hissou busting ♨️ in third (€69,200). The German ran into Tajiou's set of aces while holding two pair.
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Heads-Up Play
Unlike the previous final table action, it was a far more tense affair during the heads-up phase, ♨️ with both players exchanging the chip lead before Silva eventually took it down. The Brazilian flopped trip treys and called ♨️ when Tajiou got it all in with two pair. The board ran out favorably, and Tajiou was eliminated in second ♨️ place (€100,400).
After finishing in second place in the €25,000 High Roller at EPT Barcelona this past summer, Silva took down ♨️ his first ever EPT title at the Hilton Prague for €153,900.
"It was tough because I didn't have a huge stack ♨️ [at the start of the final table], but things went well for me. When I doubled up on the bubble, ♨️ I was confident," Silva commented when asked whether he believed he would win as he reached the final table. He ♨️ went on to say his plans for 2024 were simply to "keep playing and keep up the grind."
