Hungary’s Andras Nemeth has lifted the first title of the PokerStars 2025 EPT Prague stop, scooping the €10,200 Mystery Bounty title for €132,980 and his fifth career EPT victory.
While the €1100 Eureka Main Event kicks off the festive fun at the Prague Hilton, the highroller Mystery Bounty event attracted a field of 42 entries, producing a €406,980 prizepool.
The opening day was a quiet affair, Nemeth – known online as “probirs” – and Swedish legend Niklas “Lena900” Astedt leading the chip counts, and the action only really heated up when the bounties came into play on day 2.
On the bubble…
With only six players making the regular prizemoney, the bubble saw Maksim Vaskresenski fighting for his tournament life, all-in and at risk against Russia’s Nikita Kuznetsov…
Vaskresenski: A♠ J♥
Kuznetsov: A♦ K♠
Flop: 3♠ 3♥ 4♠
Turn: 2♣
River: 6♠
That left the remaining half dozen with €13,800 locked up, that score going to Astedt when he bust with A♥ 7♦ to Morten Klein’s pocket 7s. But there was some better news in store for the Swede, as he drew the top bounty.
That $40,000 bounty was almost the same as second prize and Nemeth, who had pulled a €20k bounty himself on the break, commented: “Even when something bad happens to him in poker, two minutes later…”
It was Nemeth who KO’ed Morten Klein, this time big slick losing out to an unlikely runner, runner full house, and then it was Ilia Pavlov’s turn, losing to compatriot Kuznetsov, the weaker hand winning again:
Pavlov: A♥ J♣
Kuznetsov: A♠ 10♦
Flop: A♣ 10♥ 4♦
Turn: 6♠
River: K♣
The high rollers have arrived at #EPTPrague. 🇨🇿 ♠️ ♥️ ♦️ ♣️
The $10k Mystery Bounty is down to the final three, with Andras Nemeth among the trio playing for the title 👉 https://t.co/9K0P6arPqJ pic.twitter.com/mTwLT9v2n7
— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) December 5, 2024
When the final three went on break, Neemeth’s stack was 70BB deep, Kuznetsov’s 20bb and Greek player Michail Manolakis down at 15BB. That may have looked clear-cut, but two big hits brought Nemeth back to earth, although he halted the fall by busting Kuznetsov…
Kuznetsov: J♦ 10♣
Nemeth: A♥ 6♣
Flop: 5♥ 4♦ 2♦
Turn: Q♥
River: 6♠
Heads-up for the Win!
Heads-up saw Nemeth start with a slight chip lead over Manolakis but that soon changed, the Greek pro switching roles for a bit, until Nemeth picked off a big two-street bluff to even the scores once again.
Eventually, with the blinds rising, someone had to give. Maonlakis shoved his last 15 bigs from the button, Nemeth finding the call…
Manolakis: Q♣ J♣
Nemeth: A♠ 3♥
Flop: 8♥ J♠ K♦
Turn: A♦
River: 5♦
…and with that, Nemeth – second only to Laszlo Bujtas on Hungary’s all-time list – had bagged his fifth EPT victory, a win that also took him through the $6million lifetime live cashes barrier.
€10,200 Mystery Bounty Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize | Bounties | Total |
| 1 | Andras Nemeth | Hungary | €67,980 | €65,000 | €132,980 |
| 2 | Michail Manolakis | Greece | €44,300 | €45,000 | €89,300 |
| 3 | Nikita Kuznetsov | Russia | €30,500 | €40,000 | €70,500 |
| 4 | Ilia Pavlov | Russia | €22,700 | €0 | €22,700 |
| 5 | Morten Klein | Norway | €17,700 | €10,000 | €27,700 |
| 6 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | €13,800 | €40,000 | €53,800 |
“A very nice start!”
Nemeth, sporting his VIP grinders patch, told reporters after his victory: “It feels really nice, this is my first tournament of the festival so it’s a great feeling to get off to a good start, especially for the mindset, so a very nice start.”
He added: “When you have a chip lead, it’s easy to feel like you are close to winning the tournament, and when I doubled him up twice I could have let myself feel like it’s slipping away. But the key for me is to stay focused, and take each hand at a time. I didn’t get carried away at any stage, whether I was ahead or behind.”
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