Leon Tsoukernik, owner of the King’s Casino Rozvadov, claimed the champion title in PokerStars’ EPT Prague €50,000 Super High Roller tournament. After six hours of intense battle, the Czech entrepreneur succeeded in prevailing over his opponents. Tsoukernik eliminated his chief rival Charlie Carrel in a head-to-head battle for the champion crown and walked away with the first-place prize of €741,100.
The EPT Prague €50,000 Super High Roller tournament was held for the most part in the overspill room on the mezzanine level of the Hilton Hotel in Prague, leaving the main room for the massive Eureka Poker Tour event. As many as 39 players partook in the high-roller event this week. Anthony Zinno left the game in seventh place with a price of €123,520 which resulted in only six finalists returning to the final table for the last day of play.
The chips were not evenly divided among players. Tsoukernik and his arch nemesis Carrel were in the lead, players Juha Helppi and Viacheslav Buldygin were in the middle of the pack while Paul Newey and Julian Thomas dangled at the bottom.
Early on, it was Carrel who lead the game, bluffing Tsoukernik off his flush in a big pot. Thomas and Newey were the first players to leave the final table winning €125,915 and €200,000 respectively.
After Newey’s departure from the game, the most important hand of the final table was played. Tsoukernik, who appeared keen on playing [7s][2s] on Day 1, made a straight with it on the river. After studying his Czech opponent for over eight minutes, Carrel, who had a two-pair at the time, failed to find the fold and was forced to assume the role of small stack. From that moment on, it as the Czech who lead the game.
Finnish player Helppi dropped out with the third-place prize of €341,150, leaving Carrel and Tsoukernik in a heated head-to-head battle for the champion crown. The Czech attempted to intimidate his arch nemesis by dropping several one-liner witticisms, but Carrel, a talkative player himself, had a big smile on his face throughout the remainder of the game.
Despite the fact Carrel had more experience in heads-up tournament poker, his Czech opponent was at ease. Tsoukernik even commented money was hardly an issue for him as he had joined the game merely for fun.
After Carrel lost several medium-sized pots, it was the size of his stack that dictated folding or shoving. The Brit decided in favor of shoving with ace-king against Tsoukernik’s king-jack suited. The flop brought about jack-high with two of the Czech’s suit, leaving him drawing extremely slim. Blanks on the turn and river are what followed next. Carrel had no other option but to settle for the runner-up prize of €535,250 while rival Tsoukernik secured the champion title and left the table with €741,100.
This is the first major title in Tsoukernik’s career. The 43-year-old Czech entrepreneur and former art dealer occupies the position of owner and CEO of King’s Casino Rozvadov, one of the largest card rooms in Europe.
