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There’s plenty of poker in Rozvadov right now as the Eureka Rozvadov 2023 festival is underway at King’s Resort!


The glitz of Las Vegas. The decadence of Macau. These are the places the mind jumps to when considering the most popular poker destinations on the planet.

What you probably don’t think of is a small village in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic, with a population of approximately 800 people.

But you should, for the past 20 years, Rozvadov has cemented itself as one of Europe’s premier places to play poker, with millions in prizes awarded and big tournament series running regularly.

But how did this humble town become one of the epicentres of poker in Europe? And what has happened at PokerStars events in Rozvadov throughout the years?

Let’s take a look through the history of poker in Rozvadov.

KING’S RESORT

Rozvadov’s claim to being a global poker hotspot is down to one place and one man.

The King’s Resort was built by art collector and poker enthusiast Leon Tsoukernik and first opened its doors on June 26, 2003. 

Its accessibility to poker players in both the Czech Republic and Germany (Rozvadov sits right on the border between the two) made it a popular poker room with nearby players. Over the years it continued to grow in size, ultimately housing the largest card room in Europe.

The King’s Resort was founded by Leon Tsoukernik in 2003

The King’s Resort’s €275 buy-in, €50,000-guaranteed weekly tournament became a staple of the local poker scene, and soon the resort was running its own Deep Stack series and other regional festivals.

But things took a leap in 2013 when the first PokerStars Eureka Rozvadov festival took place, featuring the now standard €1,100 Main Event, €2,200 High Roller, and €330 Eureka Cup flagship events.

We’ll go through all the results from PokerStars events in Rozvadov later in this article.

The Resort enjoyed its biggest year to date in 2014, with approximately 200,000 players playing poker inside throughout the year and more than €15 million paid out in prizes.

WORLD SERIES OF POKER EUROPE

When the World Series of Poker (WSOP) decided to expand its offering with a separate festival in Europe back in 2007, it seemed destined to one day cement itself in the continent’s biggest poker room.

Having been held in London (2007-2010), Cannes (2011-2012), and Berlin (2015), the WSOPE made King’s Resort in Rozvadov its permanent home in 2017 and every edition of the festival has taken place there since.

One of the largest prizes awarded on European soil took place at King’s Resort in Rozvadov when German pro Dominik Nitsche won the €111,111 buy-in High Roller for One Drop WSOPE event in 2017, earning himself a massive €3,487,463.

ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND POKER

King’s Resort in Rozvadov was the venue of a very unique heads-up match, which took place in the PokerStars Eureka Rozvadov Main Event back in March 2016.

Argentinian crusher Ivan “Negriin” Luca had entered the final table as chip leader, and as PokerStars Blog reported from the floor, “it would take something, or someone, special to stop him.”

That special someone turned out to be Luca’s significant other, as he found himself heads-up against his girlfriend and fellow Argentinian superstar Maria Lampropulos. 

Ivan Luca defeated his girlfriend Maria Lampropulos for the Eureka title

The two battled for 90 minutes following a heads-up chop, but in the end, it was the more-experienced Luca who emerged victorious. Lampropulos would go on to enjoy incredible success herself, however, winning the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event for $1,081,100 in 2018.

Maria Lampropulos won the PCA in 2018

EUREKA ROZVADOV 2016

Dates: March 4-8, 2016
Buy-in: €1,100
Prize pool: €661,540
Entries: 682

1 Ivan Luca (Argentina) – €106,186*
2 Maria Lampropulos (Argentina) – €95,404*
3 David Urban (Slovakia) – €54,800
4 Peter Siemund (Germany) – €41,500
5 Stoyan Stefanov (Bulgaria) – €33,100
6 Mick Heder (Denmark) – €25,340
7 Robert Kokoska (Czech Republic) – €18,330
8 Hannes Speiser (Austria) – €12,500

ALL POKERSTARS EVENTS IN ROZVADOV

EUREKA ROZVADOV 2013

Dates: March 20-24, 2013
Buy-in: €1,100
Prize pool: €653,689
Entries: 500

1 Bart Lybaert (Belgium) – €115,000
2 Fabian Leib (Germany) – €77,250 
3 Giovanni Mazza (Italy) €47,500
4 (Unknown) – €36,875
5 Kasparas Klezys (Lithuania) – €28,125
6 Thomas Erler (Germany) – €20,000
7 Ronald Szczerba (Germany) – €15,000
8 Dirk Recknagel (Germany) – €11,250

Bart Lybaert won the Eureka Rozvadov Main Event in 2013

EUREKA ROZVADOV 2014

Dates: May 26-30, 2014
Buy-in: €1,100
Prize pool: €659,774
Entries: 493

1 Martin Meciar (Czech Republic) – €87,600
2 Michael-David Passy (Belgium) – €65,000
3 Beatrix Wolfsberger (Austria) – €42,300
4 (Unknown) – €33,300
5 Christian Jambor (Germany) – €26,110
6 Bert Geens (Belgium) – €20,450
7 Michael Eiler (Germany) – €15,400
8 Dawid Mysiewicz (Poland) – €10,700

POKERSTARS KINGS CUP MAIN EVENT 2014

Dates: November 6-9, 2014
Buy-in: €550
Prize pool: €334,449
Entries: 551

1 Philipp Hartmann (Germany) – €45,000
2 Daniel Effendy (Germany) – €29,856
3 Pavel Novotny (Czech Republic) – €29,856
4 Lena Riemenschneider (Germany) – €17,958
5 Petr Targa (Czech Republic) – €14,083
6 Jens Steuber (Germany) – €11,064
7 Damir Vasiljevic (Croatia) – €8,258
8 Radek Stockner (Czech Republic) – €5,719

EUREKA ROZVADOV 2015

Dates: Feb 21 – March 1, 2015
Buy-in: €1,100
Prize pool: €731,211
Entries: 664

1 Raphael Wimmer (Austria) – €99,685*
2 Josef Pavelka (Czech Republic) – €50,646*
3 Ratislav Paleta (Czech Republic) – €59,962*
4 Marek Blasko (Slovakia) – €59,962*
5 Ruben Pleijster (Netherlands) – €53,215*
6 (Unknown) – €25,630
7 Branislav Ondrus (Austria) – €18,680
8 Hossein Ensan (Germany) – €12,770

Before he won EPT Prague and the WSOP Main Event, Hossein Ensan finished 8th in the Eureka Rozvadov 2015

EUREKA ROZVADOV 2016

(See – ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND POKER)

Read the full tournament recap here.

POKERSTARS FESTIVAL ROZVADOV 2017

Dates: March 9-13, 2017
Buy-in: €1,100
Prize pool: €1,150,080
Entries: 1,126

1 Petr Svoboda (Czech Republic) – €124,346
2 Michal Lubas (Poland) – €91,000
3 Stanislav Koleno (Croatia) – €87,444
4 Michael Rohde (Germany) – €78,966
5 (Unknown) – €39,078
6 Marian Flesar (Croatia) – €28,086
7 Peter Kamaras (Bulgaria) – €20,186
8 Jan Stariat (Czech Republic) – 14,508

Petr Svoboda won the Eureka Rozvadov Main Event in 2017

POKERSTARS SUNDAY MILLION LIVE 2017

Dates: August 25 – September 4, 2017
Buy-in: €220
Prize pool: €958,550
Entries: 5,045

1 (Unknown) – €111,674
2 Dominik Kabas (Italy) – €92,011
3 Jozef Kornorny (Croatia) – €81,093
4 Karel Kovarik (Czech Republic) – €76,522
5 Andrei Kurdyukov (Russia) – €39,680
6 Werner Nather (Germany) – €29,000
7 Filip Zak (Czech Republic) – €21,400
8 Markus Kowalski (Germany) – €15,500

EUREKA ROZVADOV 2022

Dates: May 25-29, 2022
Buy-in: €1,100
Prize pool: €1,041,200
Entries: 1,096 (including 553 re-entries)

1 Giorgio Montebelli (Italy) – €146,126*
2 Cristian David (Italy) – €110,730*
3 Maik Dehmlow (Germany) – €76,814*
4 Randy Hofmaenner (Switzerland) – €102,163*
5 Klas Krueger (Germany) – €44,876
6 Benjamin Huegel (Germany) – €33,006
7 Zaki Hamani (Switzerland) – €25,041
8 Jose Neriz (Spain) – €17,877

Giorgio Montebelli – winner in 2022

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