Event #5: THE COLOSSUS - €550 No-Limit Hold'em

After ten starting days and a long Day 2, only 12 hopefuls out of a 4,115-entry strong field were left at the end of level 31 in the 2017 World Series of Poker Europe Event #5: THE COLOSSUS €550 No-Limit Hold'em the previous last night. They returned to Europe's biggest poker arena in the King's Casino in Rozvadov to determine the seventh winner of a coveted golden bracelet on Czech soil and it was Matous Skorepa who defeated Florian Fuchs in heads-up to take home the first-place payout of €270,015 and third Czech bracelet of the series with his maiden WSOP cash.

Fellow countrymen Michal Schuh and Lukas Zaskodny, who defeated Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler in heads-up in Event #6: €2,200 Pot-Limit Omaha a few days ago to join the champion's club, were the first to congratulate Skorepa. "I'd like to say it was easy but it wasn't. I needed to be lucky. I've been preparing for this tournament for almost a year," Skorepa added with a big smile on the face. "I'm pretty excited but I just called by mom and she calmed me down. I'm excited of course and pretty happy."

Up next besides work is a vacation for the Czech: "The summer was really busy so I couldn't go for a vacation so I need to disappear and just relax." Throughout the final table, Skorepa always seemed very relaxed and didn't let any setbacks get to him. The pivotal hand on his way to victory saw him all in and at risk with queen-nine against the pocket aces of eventual 4th place finisher Ivaylo Sivinov, and Skorepa rivered a straight before knocking out Sivinov soon after. Just before the hand got underway, he had jokingly predicted a double up in this very hand.

"Something strange with me, if I play small cash games or small tournaments its the same for me as if I was playing a big tournament. It was like, ok a ten, yeah perfect, lets go. Everyone on the final table was shaking but not me. If you believe it, then it will happen."

In the winner interview right after his victory, Skorepa admitted "I just played it like it's a bounty for me," with a grin on the face. When asked if he is going to play any more events and in particular the upcoming Main Event, Skorepa had a rather unusual answer. "Actually, I don't think so because I need to go to work tomorrow. "I run a restaurant and don't have a waitress, if somebody want to work at my restaurant … and I need to be there."

The best cash to date for Skorepa was for €8,000, while runner-up Fuchs also bested his previous highest score of $12,420 by taking home €166,855 for his efforts. Among the other finalists was Makarios Avramidis, who won the first-ever bracelet for his home country at the 2015 WSOPE in Berlin, and the Greek had to settle for 5th place and €68,771 this time around.

Final Result Event #5 THE COLOSSUS

Action of the Final Day

With two six-handed tables back in action and plenty of short stacks around, it took quite some time until the first seat open. Eventually it was Philipp Lutkemeier that ended up second-best with pocket sixes against the pocket eights of Ivaylo Sivinov, and the German was drawing dead after the turn already. Ruben Garcia Blancas check-raised all in with king-ten suited for second pair on a jack-high flop and again it was Sivinov that dealt the final blow. The Bulgarian called with queen-four suited for the flush draw and got there on the river.

Sebastien Lucina was all in and at risk with ace-king and Matous Skorepa and the Czech flopped top pair with queen-jack suited to set up the official nine-handed final table. Skorepa and start-of-the-day chip leader Jonathan Khalifa were at the top of the counts with near identical stacks.

Gaetan Cauchy became the first casualty of the final table in the fifth hand, three-bet shoving ace-eight out of the big blind. Matous Skorepa called with pocket nines and held a full house on a queen-high board to eliminate Cauchy. It was the third WSOP cash for the Frenchman, who had to settle for a payday of €23,499.

Nebojsa Ankucic reached the final table with just four big blinds and managed once before getting involved into a three-way all in showdown. Pascal Pflock was at risk with pocket threes, Ankucic held king-jack suited and Jonathan Khalifa looked up both with king-queen suited. While Ankucic flopped best with second pair and a flush draw, Khalifa got there with a broadway straight on the turn and a blank on the river reduced the field to the last six hopefuls.

Two Czech players reached the final table and they would clash when Roman Motovsky got it in with king-jack suited. Matous Skorepa called with ace-queen off suit and a king-queen high flop was followed by an ace on the turn, the river blanked and Motovsky ended up in 6th place.

Makarios Avramidis, who was the only finalist with a WSOP bracelet already, eventually bowed out in 5th place after running with ace-six into the pocket aces of Jonathan Khalifa. It was yet another deep run for the Greek, who fell just shy of becoming the first Greek to win two WSOP bracelets.

The roller coaster ride of Ivaylo Sivinov came to an end in 4th place. After topping the leader board, the Bulgarian lost a big pot with queen-ten versus pocket aces on a ten-high flop, then had his aces cracked by the queen-nine of Matous Skorepa and lost the remainder of his stack with ace-eight against the pocket tens of Skorepa.

In hand #69 of the final table, Jonathan Khalifa took a big flip with pocket nines against the ace-ten of Matous Skorepa and the latter rivered a ten to leave his opponent in shambles. Skorepa entered heads-up against Florian Fuchs with a commanding lead and steam-rolled over the Austrian in the first few hands to reduce Fuchs to fewer than ten big blinds. A shove by Skorepa with king-eight suited was called by Fuchs with king-four off suit and the Austrian found no help to crown a champion in Skorepa.

Among the big names to cash on Day 2 when all survivors of the ten starting days combined were such big names as Barny Boatman (233rd Place - €1,500), Kevin MacPhee (231st Place - €1,500), Kristen Bicknell (195th Place - €1,625), Max Pescatori (166th Place - €1,625), Mike Leah (165th Place - €1,625), John Racener (128th Place - €1,777), Marcel Luske (104th Place - €1,777), Alex Foxen (83rd Place - €2,393), Hossein Ensan (76th Place - €2,824), Kenny Hallaert (62nd Place - €4,035), Ognjen Sekularac (49th Place - €4,886) and Lukasz Wasek (14th Place - €14,404).

With seven out of eleven golden bracelets already awarded, another champion will be crowned later tonight in Event #9: €25,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller, and the PokerNews live reporting team will provide all the action from the floor until November 10th 2017.

Hand #74: Matous Skorepa raised to 1,400,000 on the button and Florian Fuchs shoved all in from the big blind, forcing Skopera to fold.

Hand #75: Fuchs folded the button and Skorepa politely took the walk.

hand #76: Skorepa shoved all in on the button with    and Fuchs mucked his   .

Hand #77: Fuchs announced all in for 7,800,000 on the button with    and Skorepa was unable to make the call.

Hand #78: Skorepa raised to 1,300,000 on the button with    and Fuchs called with   . The flop came     and Fuchs checked to Skorepa who continued for 1,100,000. Fuchs called and the   landed on the turn. Fuchs checked again and Skorepa bet 1,900,000. Fuchs decided to fold and Skorepa continued to apply the pressure in this heads-up match.

Hand #79: Fuchs folded and gave Matous Skorepa a walk with   .

Matous Skorepa	35,325,000	7,050,000
Florian Fuchs	5,600,000	-7,250,000

Hand #70: Matous Skorepa raised to 1,250,000 with the    and Florian Fuchs defended his   . The flop fell     and Skorepa bet to win the pot after a check by Fuchs,

Hand #71: Fuchs raised to 1,200,000 with the    and Skorepa moved all in, forcing a quick fold.

Hand #72: Skorepa raised to 1,250,000 with    and Fuchs called with the   . The flop came     and Fuchs checked, Skorepa bet 1,600,000 with his open-ended straight draw and scooped the third hand in a row in heads-up.

Hand #73: Fuchs limped in with the    and Skorepa checked his    with "let's see the flop, good trap." The flop came     and Skorepa check-called a bet of 700,000 to see the   on the turn. Skorepa checked, as did Fuchs with his flush draw. After the   river, Skorepa moved all in and Fuchs let go.

Hand #66: Matous Skorepa moved all in with the    and won the antes and big blind of Jonathan Khalifa.

Hand #67: Khalifa raised with the    from the small blind and Florian Fuchs let go his big blind.

Hand #68: Fuchs limped in with the    in the small blind and Skorepa in the big blind raised to 1,350,000 with   . "Now I actually need to know how much you have behind," Fuchs asked and Skorepa counted his stack for 6,950,000 behind. Fuchs moved all in and Skorepa snap-called.

The board came       and Skorepa doubled.

Matous Skorepa	16,750,000	100,000
Florian Fuchs	12,900,000	-2,350,000
Jonathan Khalifa	11,475,000	2,250,000

Hand #56: Jonathan Khalifa raised to 1,200,000 with the    on the button and Matous Skorepa called from the big blind with the   . Both checked the     flop and Khalifa also checked the   on the turn.

Khalifa bet 800,000 with his flush and Skorepa called with the open-ender to see the   on the river and check. Khalifa bet 2,000,000 and Skorepa quickly folded.

Hand #57: A raise by Florian Fuchs with the    won the blinds and antes.

Hand #58: Skorepa raised to 1,000,000 with the    on the button and Fuchs defended the big blind with   . On a flop of    , Fuchs checked and called a bet of 900,000 before both checked the   on the turn.

Fuchs bet the   river for 2,600,000 and Skorepa folded.

Hand #59: Fuchs limped in with the    out of the small blind and Skorepa shoved    from the big blind.

Hand #60: Fuchs raised from the button with    and Khalifa called with    in the big blind. On the flop of    , Khalifa checked his top two pair and Fuchs bet 1,100,000. Khalifa check-raised to 2,900,000 and

Hand #50: Jonathan Khalifa shoved all in on the button with    and picked up the pot.

Hand #51: Due to an on-air interview, this hand was unavailable.

Hand #52: Khalifa raised to 1,200,000 from the small blind and Florian Fuchs folded his big blind.

The blinds increased to 250,000/500,000 with a 50,000 ante.

Hand #53: Matous Skorepa received a walk in the big blind.

Hand #54: Skorepa opened to 1,250,000 from the small blind with    and Khalifa called from the big blind with   . The flop came     and Skorepa led out for 750,000. Khalifa called and the   peeled off on the turn. Skorepa fired another 1,300,000 and Khalifa shoved all in for 8,075,000 with a straight and flush draw to push Skorepa off of his hand.

Hand #55: Khalifa opened to 1,250,000 from the small blind with    and Fuchs called in the big blind with   . The flop came     giving both players a straight draw. Khalifa check-called a bet of 1,100,000 from Fuchs and the   hit the turn. Fuchs bet another 2,600,000 and Khalifa mucked his cards.

Hand #44: Matous Skorepa announced all in from the small blind with    and Ivaylo Sivinov called for 6,050,000 in the big blind with   .

The flop came     and Skorepa was still out front with a pair of tens. The turn brought the   giving Sivinov a pair of eights, although he was still behind. The river landed the   and Sivinov was eliminated in 4th place.

The players will be taking a quick eight-minute break.

Matous Skorepa	16,800,000	6,600,000
Jonathan Khalifa	16,175,000	-50,000
Florian Fuchs	8,150,000	-50,000
Ivaylo Sivinov	0	-6,500,000

Hand #36: Matous Skopera shoved all in from the small blind with    and Ivaylo Sivinov folded his big blind.

Hand #37: Skorepa raised to 800,000 on the button with    and both of the blinds folded.

hand #38: Jonathan Khalifa raised to 1,000,000 in the small blind with    and Florian Fuchs mucked his big blind.

hand #39: Khalifa opened to 1,000,000 again on the button with    and picked up another pot without any action.

Hand #40: Skorepa shoved all in from the small blind with    and Sivinov called for his last 5,375,000 chips in the big blind with   .

The flop came    , no help to either player. The turn was the   and the river landed the   giving Sivinov the double up with ace-high.

Ivaylo Sivinov	10,950,000	6,275,000
Matous Skorepa	5,050,000	-5,375,000

Hand #33: Matous Skorepa raised to 800,000 with the    and scooped up the blinds and antes.

Hand #34: Jonathan Khalifa raised to 900,000 from the button without his cards being shown, and the Frenchman won the blinds and antes.