Espensen extends his advantage

Another deep run on the ParadisePoker Tour has seen Ronnie Espensen extend his lead at the top of the Season Two Tour League with just two events to play.

The Dane had led by just seven points going into the latest Main Event at the Card Casino Prague, but was immediately buoyed when it emerged close rivals Paulo Calado, Peter Csecsetka and Hugo Almeida hadn't made the trip to the Czech Republic.

He was joined in the room by PPT London winner Christos Xanthopoulous, Vilamoura's third-place finisher Rene Knapp and Robert Haigh, who finished 4th in Vienna, but all three fell on Day 1.

Espensen was only just clinging to his tournament life at that stage however, taking the third shortest stack in the room - with just 10,400 chips - back to the baize on the Saturday.

Not to be denied, Ronnie got to work from the off and though his event eventually came to an end just shy of the money in 34th, he was delighted to edge further away from Calado and company.

Also on the move in the ParadisePoker Tour League was Lukasz Gebica, handing him some consolation for being the PPT Prague's bubble boy.

The Pole earned 26 points for his 25th-place finish, adding to the 38 points he secured in Vilamoura for coming 12th, and moving level on 64 in total alongside Portuguese Calado.

Attentions now turn to Madrid where many of the Portuguese players are expected to return. Can Espensen hold off their challenge and win the €10,000 plus entry into all Season Three PPT events?

1 - Ronnie Espensen - 88 (Denmark)
2 - Paulo Calado - 64 (Portugal)
2 - Lukasz Gebica - 64 (Poland)
4 - Sérgio Almeida - 50 (Portugal)
4 - Gabor Skrinyar - 50 (Hungary)
4 - Christos Xanthopoulous - 50 (Greece)
4 - Radoslav Průcha - 50 (Czech Republic)

Season Two heading for Barca

ParadisePoker is delighted to announce the final leg of Season 2 of the ParadisePoker Tour will take place in Barcelona.

The prestigious Gran Casino Barcelona will host the event from July 28th–31st, 2011. A full schedule for this event will be released soon.

Regrettably the Bulgarian leg that was due to take place in July has been cancelled.

Fantasy Poker - Prague results

Fantasy Poker provided another intriguing subplot to the ParadisePoker Tour in Prague and with the Main Event laying on plenty of drama, the PPT blog competition followed suit in a closely run affair.

In the end it was suunnshine who took the plaudits and the €1,100 prize package to the Madrid event, beating domi13 by a single point to secure victory.

Both teams selected Danish player Thomas Merved and he obliged with a deep run at the Card Casino, finishing in 19th, and so it came down to a straight shootout between Tomáš Straka and Stefan Behring.

In the end it was Czech Straka who would snatch Fantasy Poker glory for our winner, going out one place after Behring as the duo finished in 13th and 14th respectively.

Other Fantasy Poker contenders of note were tomals and mazibyk_AA, whose teams featured players on the final table, but it was not enough for either to build a winning score.

Congratulations go to suunnshine, who breaks the Jensen family's stranglehold on Fantasy Poker with victory. See you in Madrid!

Final standings

suunnshine - 70 points
Tomáš Straka (38)
Bartosz Odor (0)
Thomas Merved (32)

domi13 - 69 points
Thomas Merved (32)
David Pedersen (0)
Stefan Behring (37)

manafluid - 62 points
István Szabó (24)
Julian Leßmann (0)
Tomáš Straka (38)

tomals - 61 points
Manuel Thelen (0)
Tibor Boros (47)
Jørgen Fries (14)

mazibyk_AA - 51 points
Mariusz Chruściel (48)
Niklas Karlsson (3)
Mounir Gharbi (0)

Průcha revels in winning feeling

How does it feel to be ParadisePoker Tour champion here in Prague?
It’s an amazing feeling to have won here in Prague. I’ve been playing poker for a number of years so to win an event like this is fantastic. In many ways the feeling of being the winner is even better than the money! I really enjoyed it; the event was really well-organised and I think it’s a great idea, giving normal players the chance to experience a big tournament like this.

You had to face two big chip leaders on the final table. Did you always believe you could come back and win?
It’s always important for any player to believe he can win the tournament, otherwise he shouldn’t even sit down. The plan for the final table was simply to double up so I could play my game.

Going into heads-up your opponent still had a big chip advantage. How did you turn it around so quickly?
I had some good hands right at the start of heads-up and won a few chips. He lost a few pots and he started to get a bit nervous. He was extremely aggressive but he didn’t have the cards to back it up, so I was able to take advantage of that.

You made a big lay down three-handed when you showed AQs after Mariusz Chrusciel pushed all-in over the top of your pre-flop raise. What was your thinking behind such an important decision?
I had played with Mariusz for two days so I had a lot of history with him. I had plenty of information on his game and I knew his range was AQ+ when he shoved. He was a really tight player so I was convinced I was beaten, even with a hand like that. I still think it was the right decision because I had only raised to around 35,000 and he made it 750,000 when he went all-in. If I had called and lost, I would have been down to a few big blinds.

So was that the most important hand of the event for you?
Actually no. There was another lay down I made against Tibor Boros which I think was the most important. It was on the final table when he re-raised pre-flop, c-bet the flop and I raised. He then went all-in on an 8-5-2 board and I had pocket sevens. It was a big decision because he’d been very aggressive, but I laid it down because I would have been out if I lost the hand. I’m not sure what he had but although I lost 30% of my stack, I think it was the key moment because I survived when I could have been eliminated.

Winner pics from Card Casino Prague

Průcha writes his own story in PPT Prague

Radoslav Průcha has been crowned the new ParadisePoker Tour Prague champion after an incredible heads-up battle saw his rival throw away a huge chip advantage.

Having defeated one monster stack in Tibor Boros earlier in the evening, Luboš Galuška must have felt his name was on the big cheque as he went heads-up with his compatriot.

Poker magazine owner Průcha had just 800,000 in chips when we went to the final two, but he made light work of what seemed an near impossible ascent, seizing on a moment of doubt in his rival to quickly turn things around.

Nicknamed 'Royal Flush,' after the Czech poker publication he owns, Radoslav struck the first big blow when he made a straight to better Galuška's two pair, doubling up and levelling the chip count with a series of smaller pots.

Luboš was clearly rattled and when he launched a huge bluff a few hands later, his fellow Czech picked it off with a cool head - and was rewarded with the €30,000 top prize.

Galuška had raised from the button with 3♥4♥ and Průcha called, before both men checked the 7♥2♠10♦ flop.

Průcha check-called on the A♦ turn and when Galuška followed his river check on the A♥ with a shove, it took a fearless call for him to show down the winning hand - 9♠10♣.

Czech mates

Local players Luboš Galuška and Radoslav Průcha have taken their seats at opposite ends of the final table and will now duel for the €30,000 top prize and the presitgious PPT trophy.

Galuška will be strong favourite given he wields the huge stack once wielded by Tibor Boros, but these two seem to know each other quite well. Can Průcha possibly overturn the chip lead?