Martin Jacobson has secured £77,780 after defeating Eugene Katchalov in heads-up action to take the title in the £2k Side Event at the European Poker Tour (EPT) in London.
The greatest EPT player never to win an EPT Main Event title has found some crumbs of comfort by taking down the £2k No Limit Hold’em event for £77,780 as more poker news floods out of EPT London.
Remarkably, despite winning $3.8m in live tournament earnings, this victory ranks as only his second live tournament win since he hit the live tournament felt in a hard way back in 2008, and both of them have come this year, after he won the High Roller at the recent World Poker Tour (WPT) National event in Dublin.
The £2k side event is always a popular one for the top dogs, and 181 players chipped in to create a £351,140 prize pool, with the meatiest parts of the soup being fought over by Jacobson and a sturdy foe in the shape of former PCA High Roller champion, WPT Champion and WSOP bracelet holder Eugene Katchalov.
Katchalov – who has recently been unveiled as one of the stars of Full Tilt’s new televised production “Full Tilt Poker Pro Battle” lost a 3 to 1 chip lead to the Swede, but takes £52,000 for his runner-up spot.
Jacobson’s victory means he becomes the 68th player to have won $1m through live tournament poker during 2013, the bulk of which came after Jacobson finished sixth in the $111,111 NLHE One Drop High Roller for a career highest score of $807,427.
The Swede now ranks 20th in the EPT all time money list. Jonathan Duhamel, David Williams, Marvin Rettenmaier and Randal Flowers were also among those who cashed.
The £77,780 score makes it the third highest payout of the EPT London so far after Martin Finger’s £821,000 score for winning the Super High Roller, and Robbie Bull’s £113,405 windfall after winning the UKIPT Main Event.
