Fresh off of hosting the WPT Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic welcomed another major poker tournament to the city, and after yet another intense week of poker action, it was Swedish pro Ramzi Jelassi who took down the Main Event of the EPT Prague, taking home a tasty €835,000 for his efforts.
Jelassi’s victory capped off a pretty eventful final table that saw surprising eliminations from players who entered the table with healthy chip stacks. The most notable was Aleh Plauski, who was in second place when the final table started by somehow ended up being the second player to hit the rail, just ahead of short stack Mark Herm.
But the real drama occurred during three-handed play when third-place finisher David Boyaciyan pulled out of a three-way deal that would’ve seen the third place finisher win €415,000 instead of €310,000, with both the second and first place finishers receiving €500,000. From there, the €90,000 would go to the second placer while the last €150,000 would go to the winner. But Boyaciyan, who probably overestimated his skills – and chip stack – against the competition decided to pull out of the deal, setting up a dramatic final three that saw Boyaciyan bust out in third place, leaving what could have been an extra €105,000 on the table.
From there, it was just Jelassi and Sotrious Koutoupas, both of whom battled it out for a good three hours before Jelassi finally broke through, eliminating Koutoupas and winning his very first EPT title. Despite finishing as the runner-up, it wasn’t too bad of an outing for Koutoupas, who took home €510,000, by far the biggest cash of his career.
Rettenmaier wins High Rollers Event
Ramzi Jelassi wasn’t the only big winner during the week-long event. Marvin Rettenmaier also cashed in huge, winning the€10,000 High Roller event in what ended up being a packed event that drew 113 entries, spiking the total prize pool for the event at €1,107,400. After two days of action, it was Rettenmaier who claimed the top step of the podium, outlasting a final table that included Fabien Quoss, Sorel Mizzi, and most notably, Jason Mercier, and winning an impressive €365,300.
Big ups to both Ramzi Jelassi and Marvin Rettenmaier for their huge wins. How’s that for an early Christmas present?
