Arnaud Mattern raises to $200,000 on the button and Gino Alacqua takes very little time before deciding to move all-in. Mattern makes an instant call and shows A K to Alacqua's Q T. The French pro is ahead both in cards and in chips, holding a $2.9 million to $2.4 million advantage as we head to the flop.

The dealer burns and turns and the flop comes J 6 2, maintaining Mattern's lead but giving El Diablo plenty of flush-draw outs. The turn is the K and Mattern pairs his king but Alacqua now picks up straight-draw outs as well. The crowd is on its feet, screaming encouragement in French and Italian at its respective pros, and the tension is palpable as we head to the river.

The river card is the 2 and Mattern dodges all of Alacqua's outs, winning the hand and the tournament with a pair of kings. For the victory, the former backgammon pro earns an official haul of €708,400, although the reported chop may see his take reduced to "only" €550,000.

For second place, Gino "El Diablo" Alacqua earns either €407,300 (official) or €450,000 (chopped), which one hopes will enable the 48-year-old antiques dealer to fulfill his stated goal of finding love in the Czech Republic.

Congratulations to both players and to PokerStars.com, the European Poker Tour and the city of Prague for an incredible inauguration of the game of poker in the Czech Republic. See you in the Bahamas!

Gino Alacqua raises to $210,000 and Arnaud Mattern gets the last of his $1.49 million in chips in pre-flop with J J. Alacqua makes the call, turning up A 9. The flop comes K Q 4 and the Frenchman retains the lead, needing to dodge an ace or running cards to stay alive. The turn is the 2 and the river the 4 and Mattern has doubled-up, taking the chip lead and the advantage in this heads-up battle.

After making some progress Mattern is starting to deflate. Gino Alacqua is stealing almost every blind and Mattern has worked his way down to approximately $1.5 million while "El Diablo" has an intimidating $3.5 million. Better make your move soon, Frenchman!

Arnaud Mattern is winning a number of small pots in this heads-up battle with a combination of clutch bets and all-in pushes. In one of the few pots to go to showdown, Mattern raised to $150,000 and Gino Alacqua made the call. The flop came A-K-8 and both players checked, as they did on the turn (a jack) as well. The river card was a trey and Alacqua bet out $135,000. Mattern called and showed K-9, taking down the pot after El Diablo mucked his hand.

The chip counts now see Mattern with $1.9 million, still a long way behind Alacqua's $3.6 million.

The break is over which means players will have to now deal with increased blinds of $30,000/$60,000 and a $6,000 ante. Arnaud Mattern will have to make his move soon.

Gino Alacqua and Arnaud Mattern are taking a much-deserved 15-minute break. Join us in a cool 15 minutes for more action straight from Prague.

Gino Alacqua bets $150,000 from the button and Arnaud Mattern calls. With over $300,000 in the pot we head to the flop, which comes A-K-3. Both players check and the turn is a four. Both players check again and the final card is a queen.

Alacqua bets $135,000, which sends Mattern into the tank. After several minutes Mattern makes the call but to his immediate disappointment Alacqua shows J-10 for the straight. Mattern is getting into dangerously low territory.

As heads-up play begins, the chip counts are as follows:

Gino Alacqua	$4 million
Arnaud Mattern	$1.5 million

 

Gino Alacqua raises to $145,000 on the button and Kristian Kjondal makes the call in the big blind. The flop comes 5 4 3 and Kjondal checks to Alacqua, who bets out $200,000. Kjondal moves all-in over the top and Alacqua stands, takes a deep breath and makes the call with the bigger stack. He turns up K 5 for top pair while Kjondal is staking his tournament life on K 6 for the open-ended straight draw. The turn is the 8, taking away a number of the Norwegian's outs. The river card is the J and Kjondal has been eliminated. He officially earns €235,300 for his efforts, although if our information is correct he'll take home €350,000 for his time.

We're now heads-up between Gino Alacqua and Arnaud Mattern.

Rumor has it our three remaining runners, Kristian Kjondal, Gino Alacqua and Arnaud Mattern, have decided to make a deal which will see each player receive €350,000, with second place getting an extra €100,000 and first place taking home an extra €200,000.

In the meantime action has resumed from the Golden Atrium casino and we'll have more live updates for you as they happen.

Action has been paused as the remaining three players discuss a chop. Details to come...

The break is over and the cards are back in the air with increased blinds and antes. Three players remain in the hunt for the first EPT title ever awarded in the Czech Republic.

By consensus of the surviving members of the field we're on a 10-minute break, as the level has come to an end. Action will resume shortly.

The board is K 6 3 7 and Arnaud Mattern makes a large bet of over $200,000. Kristian Kjondal thinks for a few minutes before calling. The river comes 3 and Kjondal checks almost immediately. Mattern thinks for a considerable amount of time before checking as well. Kjondal flips over K 4 which is apparently good enough because Mattern mucks.

Gino "El Diablo" Alacqua raises from the button and Arnaud Mattern sets him all-in from the small blind. Kristian Kjondal gets out of the way and Alacqua makes the call for his last $1,138,000, turning up K J to Mattern's 8 8. The flop comes T 9 4 and the turn is the 2, leaving Alacqua down to his last street to stay in the game. The river card is the K, however, and the Italian Stallion (who has said publicly that he hopes to find love during his sojourn into the Czech Republic) has doubled through Mattern, maintaining three-handed play as we move forward.

Arnaud Mattern is first to act and after thinking for a couple minutes he folds his hand. Juha Lauttamus is next to act on the button. Lauttamus decides to put in his remaining chips which equals $84,000 total. Kristian Kjondal gets out of the way and the action is on Gino Alacqua. After thinking for a couple minutes Alacqua calls and flips over Q-4. Lauttamus has Q-2 and it looks like we might have a chop pot.

The board has other ideas when it comes A-J-4-Q-5 and gives Alacqua the checkmark.

The Italians in the audience cheer, "El Diablo!"

Lauttamus finishes fourth and gets a €182,200 payday.

Action folds to Arnaud Mattern, who raises to $120,000 out of the small blind. In the big blind, Juha Lauttamus asks Mattern for a count before moving all-in. Mattern insta-calls for his last $1,462,000 and turns up a wired pair of red bullets (A A) while Lauttamus is way behind with 9 9. The board comes 5 5 3 J T and Mattern has doubled-up in the biggest hand of the tournament while Lauttamus is down to his last $160,000.

We're back in the game from EPT Prague with increased blinds and antes in a whole new level of fun. Stay tuned for more updates as the action continues.

We've reached the end of another level and the players are on a 15-minute break. Action will resume after 15 minutes of breakage.

Juha Lauttamus raises to $85,000 from under the gun but Kristian Kjondal re-raises to $300,000. Gino Alacqua is next to act in the small blind and he appears to seriously consider going all-in. After two or three minutes that see Alacqua sit up then down, straighten his tie, straighten his jacket, stare down Kjondal, sit up, sit down, Alacqua eventually mucks his hand. Mattern and Lauttamus quickly fold after him and Kjondal rakes a small pot.

Arnaud Mattern raises to $90,000 from the button and Juha Lauttamus re-raises to $275,000 total from the small blind. Kristian Kjondal gets out of the way in the big blind and the action is back on Mattern, who mulls things over before making the call. The flop comes Q T 9 and Lauttamus checks to Mattern, who bets out $90,000. Lauttamus thinks for a few minutes but lays the hand down and the pot goes to the Frenchman.

Juha Lauttamus pops it up to $85,000 from the cut-off and after a minute or two Markus Golser calls from the big blind.

The flop comes J 6 5 and Golser shoves all-in. Lauttamus thinks about it but eventually calls, flipping over Q J for top pair. Golser shows K 10 for the massive draw which includes an overcard, flush draw and back door flush draw.

The turn comes 9 which gets Golser one card closer to a straight but the river is a devastating 7 meaning Golser is finished.

The Austrian will earn €151,800 for his fifth-place finish.

Play has slowed considerably in this level, with the excitement coming from a few instances of pre-flop re-raises that have come to naught. The first hand saw Arnaud Mattern raise to $85,000 from under the gun and the action fold around to Markus Golser, who pushed all-in from the big blind. Mattern gave the matter some thought before eventually laying it down.

A round or so later, Mattern raised to $90,000 from UTG+1 and action folded to Gino Alacqua, who re-raised another $230,000 from the big blind, effectively committing himself to the pot. Again, Mattern ruminated for a few minutes but folded the hand.

And the beat goes on...

The game is afoot once more from the final table at PokerStars.com EPT Prague. Here are the updated chip counts as the action heats up anew:

Seat 1	Juha Lauttamus	$1,460,000
Seat 2	Kristian Kjondal	$1,200,000
Seat 3	Gino Alacqua	$763,000
Seat 4	Marcus Golser	$420,000
Seat 5	Mikael Norrinder	$0
Seat 6	Nedzib Suman	$0
Seat 7	Dag Palovic	$0
Seat 8	Johannes Strassmann	$0
Seat 9	Arnaud Mattern	$1,734,000

 

The remaining five players are now on a quick 15-minute break.

Nedzib Suman gets all-in pre-flop with A T and is called by Juha Lauttamus, who turns up a pocket pair of sevens. The board comes Q J 2 Q 9 and the sevens hold, sending Suman back to Sweden with a sixth-place finish worth €119,000.

Despite being quiet for most of the final table Kristian Kjondal has just made an important move.

Kjondal raised from the hijack but Dagomir Palovic moved all-in from the big blind. Kjondal thought for a couple minutes but then called.

Kjondal: A Q

Palavic: A 10

The board comes 8-4-3-9-A and the table's only Slovakian will have to settle for seventh place and €93,600.

Arno Mattern raises from the button which prompts Juha Lauttmamus to shove all-in for $450,000. Mattern thinks for a bit but eventually calls flipping over T T while Lauttamus shows K Q. We're off to the races and the flop comes J 9 3 which means Mattern's hand is still in the lead. Unfortunately for Mattern the dreaded K falls on the turn and Lauttamus takes the lead. The river falls 3 and Lauttamus has doubled-up, again.

After open-shoving the previous hand and turning up aces when nobody called, Juha Lauttamus moves all-in from under the gun for his last $244,000. Dag Palovic makes the call in the small blind and shows A Q to Lauttamus' A K. The board comes K J 7 K 3 and Lauttamus doubles through Palovic to stay alive at this final table.

For an unusually fast tournament, final-table play has become exceptionally slow. You might be able to blame it on the departure of the aggressive calling Mikael Norinder but whatever the cause we are not seeing many flops.

The most exciting thing in the last 20 minutes or so has been the tournament director yelling at Dagomir Palovic for making an all-in motion as a joke.

"You better be very careful, sir, or all your chips are going to be in the middle very quickly," he said.

Nedzib Suman raises to $70,000 from under the gun and Gino "El Diablo" Alacqua makes it $210,000 to go from the small blind. Suman thinks about it and then makes the call, and the flop comes K K 7. Alacqua immediately moves all-in for his last $365,000 and Suman tanks, mulling things over before finally laying down the hand. Alacqua takes the pot and is up to about $900,000.

The break is over and the blinds are on the rise as we resume play from the PokerStars EPT Prague final table. Here are the updated chip counts:

Seat 1	Juha Lauttamus	$222,000
Seat 2	Kristian Kjondal	$697,000
Seat 3	Gino Alacqua	$634,000
Seat 4	Markus Golser	$390,000
Seat 5	Mikael Norrinder	$0
Seat 6	Nedzib Suman	$648,000
Seat 7	Dag Palovic	$676,000
Seat 8	Johannes Strassmann	$0
Seat 9	Arnaud Mattern	$2,248,000

 

We've reached the end of the level and players are taking a brief intermission. Action will resume in 15 minutes.

Nedzib Suman raises to $50,000 from under the gun and Dag Palovic tanks for a few minutes before folding pocket eights on his left. Kristian Kjondal makes the call on the button and then Gino Alacqua, playing what may be his first hand of the final table, moves all-in for his last $550,000. After some heavy thought, Suman lays it down and Kjondal mucks with considerably less thought, giving the pot to El Diablo.

The blinds have increased and the action keeps going from the PokerStars EPT Prague final table.

Nedzib Suman raises to $50,000 from the cut-off and the action folds to Juha Lauttamus, who puts Suman all-in for his last $255,000 from the big blind. Suman thinks for a few minutes before making the call and slams down T T after the Fin shows 8 8. The board comes K 9 9 Q T and Suman makes tens-full on the river to double through his opponent and stay alive.

Kristian Kjondal raises to $35,000 from early position and Mikael Norrinder moves all-in over the top for his last $180,000. Kjondal makes the call and turns up A-K to Norrinder's J-9 and the Swedish pro is in bad for his tournament life. The board comes Q-2-2-A-5 and that's the end for Mikael Norrinder, who exits in eighth place and will take home €63,200.

Mikael Norrinder raises to $36,000 from middle position and Arnaud Mattern re-raises to $130,000 from the small blind. Norrinder announces a re-raise but mucks up his chips and is held to only a min-raise. Mattern immediately moves all-in for $677,000 and after a few moments' thought Norrinder calls, putting his chip lead on the line on the strength of his A Q.

Mattern is in good shape with K K and after the board comes 9 5 2 7 6 the French player has doubled-up while Norrinder is left with barely $150,000 to his name.

Mikael Norrinder raises to $36,000 from middle position and Johannes Strassman shoves all-in for about $150,000 from the big blind. Norrinder calls immediately and turns up 9 9 to Strassmann's 2 2. The board comes K 6 3 T T and the nines hold, busting Strassmann in ninth place for a €39,200 payout.

Tournament director Thomas Kremser has just introduced the players and it's game time from the final table. Live updates start now.

Here are the seating positions and chip counts as we await the start of play:

Seat 1	Juha Lauttamus	$567,000
Seat 2	Kristian Kjondal	$740,000
Seat 3	Gino Alacqua	$660,000
Seat 4	Markus Golser	$352,000
Seat 5	Mikael Norrinder	$1,036,000
Seat 6	Nedzib Suman	$216,000
Seat 7	Dag Palovic	$759,000
Seat 8	Johannes Strassmann	$245,000
Seat 9	Arnaud Mattern	$980,000

 

It's poker time in the place to be on the PokerStars.com EPT! The final table is set from the Hilton Prague and nine players remain in the battle for a European Poker Tour title and €708,400 first prize. Action is supposed to begin in about five minutes but the day a final table starts on time is the day PokerListings.com stops partying with supermodels the night before. Expect anywhere between a 15-30 minute delay before things get under way, but keep it right here on PokerListings.com, you know, just in case.