PokerStrategist Martin '0piggybank' Finger Wins EPT Prague!
After a lengthy heads up battle, 0piggybank finally dispatched David Boyaciyan to take down the biggest ever tournament in the Czech Republic. Fellow PokerStrategist gabrielmoya went out in 4th place for €205,000.
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| 0piggybank and his well deserved title Source: PokerStarsBlog |
It took just four hours for the final table to get down to three, but after Nicolas Levi was sent home in 3rd place, it took almost another four hours for the winner to be decided, despite 0piggybank and Boyaciyan having worked out a deal right at the start.
The deal put just €100,000 on the table with 0piggybank, who had a sizeable chip lead then, locking up €620,000 and Boyaciyan taking €535,000.
For gabrielmoya, this was always going to be an uphill battle and it got much tougher when he dropped to under 1 million chips after being forced to give up on an early pot against 0piggybank.
He never gave up and in the end managed to grind out a respectable fourth place finish. In the final hand, he ran into 0piggybank's K-K when he open shoved for just under 18 big blinds with A-8.
How the final table unfolded
Dangerman Nicolas Levi was neutralised right at the start when a cooler of a hand saw David Boyaciyan double up to over 7.5 million and became the new chip leader.
On a flop of K-T-7 Boyaciyan made a continuation bet for half the pot, Levi raised it up, Boyaciyan made a 3-bet and snap called when Levi pushed all in. His K-K had Levi's T-7 almost drawing dead.
After gabrielmoya sent Mads Wissing out in 8th place, it was 0piggybank's turn to shine as he sent Andreas Wiese out in 7th and then Ari Engel out in 6th. When Denys Drobyna was knocked out by Boyaciyan, 0piggybank and Boyaciyan were pretty much dead even with 9 million chips at the start of four handed play.
10 second heads-up decisions
After GabrielMoya was sent to the rails by 0piggybank, Levi was also dealt with not long later and that up the heads up match with out guy holding a 2.5 to 1 chip lead. Besides agreeing on the details of the deal, both also wanted ro get it over with quickly and agreed to play a 10 second clock.
They were all in right at the start but it was a false alarm with both players holding the nuts, A-A against A-A. They both traded chips with Boyaciyan slowly but surely closing the gap, but then 0piggybank reasserted control and opened a 6 to 1 lead when he got called on every street on a T-7-2-Q-6 board. His A-Q was enough to have Boyaciyan muck his cards.
Boyaciyan bounced back after that and even retook a small chip lead after a patient grind of over two hours. That was a warning shot to 0piggybank and he quickly shifted a gear to kick Boyaciyan back down to his stack at the start of heads-up play.
In the end, the title was decided on a coin flip. Boyaciyan opened, 0piggybank raised, Boyaciyan 3-bet and 0piggybank put him all in. Boyaciyan was ahead with T-T but only by a little against A-K. The flop of K-6-K hit 0piggybank perfectly and Boyaciyan could not find the two-outer he needed as the last two cards came Q and 9.
The final table winners
PokerStars EPT Prague
Final Table Payouts |
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| Place | Name | Prize | ||
| 1st | Martin '0piggybank' Finger | €720.000 | ||
| 2nd | David Boyaciyan | €535,000 | ||
| 3rd | Nicolas Levi | €270,000 | ||
| 4th | Guillem 'gabrielmoya' Cavaller | €205,000 | ||
| 5th | Denys Drobyna | €160,000 | ||
| 6th | Ari Engel | €125,000 | ||
| 7th | Andreas Wiese | €90,000 | ||
| 8th | Mads Wissing | €66,700 | ||
| Players: 1 (722) | Prize pool: €3,610,000 |
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Final Table Videos
As usual, here are more videos from the PokerStarsblog crew over in Prague. Two of them feature the winner 0piggybank and there's also a recap of EPT Prague. Click start below to watch them.
