They say you always remember your first, so it’s very likely that Tamas Adamszki has just created a lifelong memory after picking up his maiden PokerStars spadie trophy at the 2023 European Poker Tour Prague.
The Hungarian online grinder, who’s been dipping his toe in the live sphere as of late, topped the 35-entry field in Event #4:€10,200 NL Hold’em for €117,150.
He bested the Dutch rising star Michel Molenaar in heads-up play to seal the victory. Molenaar, who was looking for his third tournament victory of the year under the PokerStars umbrella, collected €76,400 for his admirable effort. Prior to the event, Molenaar had recorded $483,934 in live earnings over the last 12 months, marking the best period of his career.
The top six players secured a slice of €339,500 prize pool, with EPT regulars Pablo Brito Silva, Deividas Daubaris, Niklas Astedt and Yulian Bogdanov all booking their first cash of the festival.
2023 EPT Prague €10,200 NL Hold’em Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tamas Adamszki | Hungary | €117,150 |
| 2 | Michel Molenaar | Netherlands | €76,400 |
| 3 | Pablo Brito Silva | Brazil | €52,600 |
| 4 | Deividas Daubaris | Lithuania | €39,050 |
| 5 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | €30,550 |
| 6 | Yulian Bogdanov | Bulgaria | €23,750 |
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Winner’s Reaction
Winning any poker tournament is an achievement in itself, but when the likes of Astedt and Silva are your competition, it’s easier said than done, and that’s something that propelled Adamszki throughout the day.
“I know that it’s going to be a hard field because there are a few good players here. It was just a challenge, but it’s a little bit easier when there are fewer entrants to win the trophy, so that was the motivation for me. As well as learn from the best,” he told PokerNews.
Adamszki, who played professionally online for ten years, has got the bug for live poker and all his efforts on the virtual felt were for days like today.
“It’s my first try at live poker because I only played online for 10 years. So, this is a new challenge for me. What I accomplished online was to make it happen live. This is the new challenge for me, to become a live professional.”
And Adamszki isn’t stopping just yet, as a big series for him is just getting started.
“[I’ll play] the 50Ks for sure, maybe a few 25Ks as well. I’m going to grind those events.”
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Final Day Action
There were 18 additional entries on Day 2, made up of some fresh faces as well as some returning ones. The late registration period closed after the first two levels, where 19 players remained. Across Levels 11 and 12, there were eight more casualties with the likes Steve O’Dwyer, Conor Beresford and Andras Nemeth among that unfortunate cohort to bring the player count to 11 after the first break.
Deividas Daubaris and Pablo Brito Silva remained as the two players to catch as the pair maintained their Day 1 chip leads throughout the first part of the session.
PokerStars ambassador Parker Talbot, who is still searching for his first-ever live tournament victory, bowed out when play resumed after his pocket threes were counterfeited to bring in the final table bubble.
Soon after, Hwany Lee was ejected from contention after jamming into trips with ace-king for the field to merge onto one table. Both Talbot and Lee were eliminated by Adamszki, who shot up to the top of the chip counts.
Teun Mulder was next to go as he fell to Daubaris’ pocket aces. Robbie Toan was stacked moments later to set up the stone bubble after his jacks couldn’t hold against Silva’s ace-king. Bubble play lasted all of two hands, and Silva scored another knockout after his superior ace remained best against 2013 PCA Champion Dimitar Danchev.
Daubaris began to pull away from Silva and Adamszki after getting paid off with quads by the latter to become the only player over the one million chip threshold. Play started to slow for half an hour until the next elimination, and Silva claimed another scalp. Yulian Bogdanov, who had reentered earlier on, was at risk with ace-king and couldn’t leapfrog the Brazilian’s pocket nines and became the first player to bust inside the money.
Another 40 minutes would pass by until the next all-in and call. Niklas Astedt managed to score a triple-up by cracking aces with pocket tens in the final hand before the second break of the day.
A few levels later, the big stacks were now the short stacks as Molenaar and Adamszki took control while Daubaris and Silva had less than average. However, Astedt dropped out in fifth place after he could not reverse his domination. Despite the €30,550 payout, the online phenom was still in the red as he fired four bullets into the event.
Daubaris and Silva quickly followed Astedt out of the door to set up heads-up play between Molenaar and Adamszki, with the Dutchman having just shy of a 2:1 chip lead.
Molenaar took the first few pots, but Adamszki evened the score after pairing his ace while up against pocket queens and then continued to pull away. A few pots were exchanged until the duo got their chips in the middle with Molenaar at risk. His queen-jack couldn’t best Adamszki’s ace-five and confirmed Adamszki’s first EPT title.
Editor & Live Reporter
Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum’s proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.