Updated on 22 Feb 26 by
Barry Carter
Poker Expert

Mikalai Pobal becomes a two time EPT champion

The 35-year-old from Belarus does what only Vicky Coren-Mitchell has done before him by winning two EPT Main Events.





Mikalai Pobal
Mikalai Pobal

One of the most elusive accolades in poker for years was the first player to become a double-EPT champion. The general toughness of the events coupled with the fact they were less in number than WSOP or WPT tournaments made it a big ask. 

That was until Vicky Coren-Mitchell confirmed her legendary status by winning EPT San Remo in 2014 after taking down EPT London in 2006. 

It happening again looked even more unlikely as the EPT continued to trim down the number of dates on the calendar, until last night. 


Mikalai Pobal of Belarus defeated a field of 1,154 entries to take down EPT Prague last night for €1,005,600, a trophy which will sit alongside his EPT Barcelona title from 2012

He qualified for just €50 online for the event and went on a remarkable run at the final table, including getting Pocket Kings all-in heads-up against Nobert Szecsi with Pocket Eights to make for a very short finale. 

One more fun fact is that the dealer who dealt that winning hand, Richard Neilson, was the same dealer who dealt the winner to Vicky Coren Mitchell in 2014.

That concludes the PokerStars live events for 2019 but they have already announced 21 of their live stops in 2020.

EPT Prague Main Event
Position Player Prize
1st Mikalai Pobal €1,005,600
2nd Norbert Szecsi €598,880
3rd Ricardo Da Rocha €421,450
4th Gaby Livshitz €316,780
5th Tomas Paiva €241,230
6th Luke Marsh €177,420
7th Laurent Michot €134,610
8th Dietrich Fast €96,100
1,154 entries (including 294 re-entries)

What is the biggest unclaimed accolade in poker? Let us know in the comments:


Poker Expert

Barry Carter is the editor of PokerStrategy.com and the co-author of The Mental Game of Poker 1 & 2, Poker Satellite Strategy, PKO Poker Strategy, Endgame Poker Strategy, GTO Poker Simplified, Mystery Bounty Poker Strategy and Beyond GTO. In 2025, he won the Global Poker Awards for Best Book and Twitter Personality of the Year.