The German Sebastian Pauli, and the Canadian Andrew Chen, took the two biggest prizes in the European Poker Tour (EPT) London Festival, after Pauli took the title in the Main Event, and Chen did likewise in the High Roller.
Sebastian Pauli is the latest German poker player to take one of the biggest titles in the world after defeating Kevin MacPhee, in heads-up action, to take the top prize at the European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event in London.
The 11th EPT Main Event held in London once again came from The Grand Connaught Rooms and despite Pauli holding the chip lead from as early as the end of Day 4, all eyes were on the two headline acts: Jake Cody and Kevin MacPhee.
The dynamic duo were EPT Main Event winners, back in Season 6, with Cody winning in Deauville, and MacPhee winning in Berlin; and both players were hoping to follow in the footsteps of Victoria Coren Mitchell, who became the first two-time champion when she was victorious in EPT10 San Remo.
Cody would exit in fifth place, for a score of £133,800, after a brutal beat against that man MacPhee. The American opened the action from under the gun, holding a pair of queens, and Cody called in the big blind holding [Kd] [Td]. The flop was a beautiful one for Cody: [Ks] [Kc] [Jh] handing him trip Kings. The Team PokerStars Pro check-raised jammed for 1.2m, MacPhee made the call, and the [Qh] smacked the board hard on the turn, and Cody was out.
MacPhee would also be responsible for the exit of the German pro Artur Koren, to take the event into the heads-up phase – trailing Pauli 7,445,000 v 12,810,000; and despite some promising moves MacPhee was never able to take the chip lead, and he finally exited as the runner-up when he jammed with AT, and was called by the superior AQ.
The £308,500 runner-up prize took MacPhee’s live tournament earnings over the $3.2m mark, and it was his best score since winning $1.3m at EPT Berlin back in Season 6. Pauli – who recently won a €1,150 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) Turbo Bounty event at EPT Barcelona – took his overall live tournament earnings over the million dollar mark with the victory.
It’s the second substantial German victory in recent weeks, after George Danzer won the 2014 World Series of Poker Player of the Year award, after a tough battle with the American Brandon Shack-Harris.
EPT London Main Event Results
1st. Sebastian Pauli – £499,700
2nd. Kevin MacPhee – £308,500
3rd. Kevin Killeen – £220,500
4th. Artur Koren – £168,900
5th. Jake Cody – £133,800
6th. Jakub Mroczek – £104,200
7th. Jonathan Bensadoun – £75,900
8th. Pablo Gordillo – £51,900
Andrew Chen Wins the EPT London High Roller
The Canadian Andrew Chen proved to be an extremely popular winner in the £10,300 High Roller event.
Chen continued Canada’s recent surge of form – after an exceptional World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) – after defeating Fadi Kamar in heads-up action to claim the £394,200 first-prize.
“Not a single person in poker I am more happy to see win than Andrew Chen, absolute sicko, sweetest guy and best friend one could ask for.” Stated the PokerStars Team Online member Mickey Petersen after Chen’s win.
Chen’s victory takes him over the $4.1m mark, in live tournament earnings, and the large percentage of those funds have come on the EPT circuit.
In 2008, Chen took third at EPT Prague for $329,628, he picked up $532,510 for finishing fifth in the EPT Grand Final of Monte Carlo in 2010; and in 2012 he was runner-up to Davidi Kitai in EPT Berlin for a score of $801,391.
“Tytyty everyone for all the love, won the EPT London 10k Highroller for 394k pounds, still in disbelief.” Stated Andrew Chen after his win.
The tournament attracted 127-entrants (46-re-entries).
EPT London High Roller Results
1st. Andrew Chen – £394,200
2nd. Fadi Kamar – £267,000
3rd. Craig McCorkell – £178,000
4th. Meonid Markin – £178,000
5th. Salman Behbehani – £117,000
6th. Martin Quack – £90,700
7th. Philipp D’Auteuil – £67,200
8th. Jorryt van Hoof – £49,400
9th. Niall Farrell – £39,300
