The exciting €5,300 Main Event of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague crowned its champion, with Paul Michaelis emerging victorious from the competition.
The German poker player climbed on top of a 1,174-entry field, taking home a monetary prize of €840,000 along with the trophy, as well as a Platinum Pass to the PokerStars Players Championship which is set to kick off in the Bahamas in January 2019. The victory was not an easy one for Michaelis, but the young poker player did wonderfully, starting his march to the victory early on Day 4.
The 27-year-old German, who currently lives in Vienna, managed to overcome the competition of all other players and generate a winning which more than doubles his combined earning so far, boosting them to $1,778,427.
"I ran pure," says Paul Michaelis, #EPTPrague champion!
He wins €847K, trophy and Platinum Pass to the #PSPC.
?@JoeGironPhoto https://t.co/k3VFA26ayr— PokerStarsBlog (@PokerStarsBlog) December 18, 2018
This year, the iconic Main Event of EPT Prague was held from December 12th to 18th at the Casino Atrium in the Czech Republic’s capital city. This year, the €5,300 Main Event gathered a total field of 1,174 players, including 281 re-entries, who accounted for an overall prize pool estimated to €5,693,900 (after deductions).
Five left as #EPTPrague heads into Level 32. Same leader, but lots of shuffling below.
Updates: https://t.co/PR95tGuQCw
Chips: https://t.co/MzFWiNajWa
Payouts: https://t.co/sIXnj3KTTD
€10K updates: https://t.co/0Kat3hFllk pic.twitter.com/bw1qE2SyMV— PokerStarsBlog (@PokerStarsBlog) December 18, 2018
Michaelis Kept a Steady Pace Throughout the Game
The final table was given a start at noon at the Hilton Prague’s casino with Michaelis holding the chip lead at the time, kept a steady pace throughout the gameplay. At the time when there were only four players left around the table, they tried to negotiate a deal but at this stage no one of the players was ready to give up, so they chose to play on, with Kobylinskiy being the chip leader with a stack of 12.25 million, followed by Michaelis, who got 12.175 million at the time. Merzhvinskii and Levinskas were both far behind, with stacks of 5.125 million and 2.675 million, respectively.
The victorious march of Michaelis actually started after him winning a handful of significant pots against Artem Kobylinskiy, who eventually remained in the second place. At the time when there were only three players left around the final table of the EPT Prague Main Event, they stopped the clock and agreed on a three-way deal, dividing the largest portions of the prize pool money and leaving the Main Event’s title, the Platinum Pass and a €70,000 money chunk to play for.
We're heads up at #EPTPrague after Alexandr Merzhvinskii leaves in third (€631,500).
Chip counts:
Paul Michaelis: 23.5m
Artem Kobylinskiy: 11.7m
Follow the denouement: https://t.co/PR95tGuQCw pic.twitter.com/nayk81BNEC— PokerStarsBlog (@PokerStarsBlog) December 18, 2018
At the time when there were only three players left, it was the young German player who got the chip lead, so he got the largest money portions at the time. A bit later, about 6:30 PM, he also got the extra cash portion left for the winner.
With Paul Michaelis from Germany taking down the event and taking home a prize pool portion of €840,000 following a three-way deal, the Ukranian Artem Kobylinskiy occupied the runner-up position, scooping a cash prize of €571,910. Alexandr Merzhvinskii from Russia remained third, winning a prize estimated to €631,500 after the three-way deal agreed between him and the other two contenders.
The fourth position in the ranking was taken by Laurynas Levinskas, followed by Carlos Branco on the fifth place. The Canadian Parker Talbot remained sixth, while Liviu Ignat and Diego Zeiter ranked at the seventh and eighth position, respectively.
- Author
Harry Evans
