The European Poker Tour has officially become history. Europe’s largest and most popular poker series was concluded last night after thirteen successful seasons, during which millions of euros were distributed to thousands of players from all around the globe.
A spectacular poker tour was brought to an end in a befitting manner. Last night, Dutchman Jasper Meijer van Putten took down the EPT Season 13 Prague €5,300 Main Event to record his name in the EPT annals as the series’ last-ever Main Event champion. The player was the last man standing out of a field of 1,192 entries.
Day 6, the event’s final day, saw six finalists returning to Hilton Prague Hotel to play down to a winner. Play started with Hungary’s Marton Czuczor holding the chip lead. The player had the chance to become his home country’s first-ever (and only) EPT Main Event champion but odds were not in his favor last night. As for the eventual winner, van Putten came into the final day fifth in chips. Showing great composure and determination, he emerged as the chip leader at some point in the game and outlasted players much more experienced than him to collect the first-place prize of €699,300 and the tournament trophy.
It took precisely 38 hands for the start-of-the-day field of six to be reduced to just three players. Sam Cohen, the only female player at the final table, was the first to leave. She went out in 6th place on Hand #3 of Day 6 play, after failing to make it against David Peters. Cohen collected €145,900 for her efforts.
German Marius Gierse was the next to go. His fifth-place finish secured him with a payout of €203,800. Sergei Petrushevskii then hit the rail in 4th place for €284,550.
By the time there were only three players left at the table, van Putten had already emerged as the chip leader, followed by Peters and Czuczor. The three finalists discussed a three-way deal but such a deal failed to be produced and a fierce three-handed battle commenced to last for hours. David Peters, undoubtedly the most experienced and profitable of all six players to had made it to Day 6, was eliminated in 3rd place by Czuczor.
Peters received a payout of €397,300. Although the player could not add the last EPT Main Event title to his collection of achievements, he accomplished something else last night. The US poker pro overtook German Fedor Holz in the GPI Player of the Year leaderboard, after the latter had spent the greater part of the year on the ranking’s top.
A three-way deal was not struck, but a two-way one between van Putten and Czuczor was eventually made. Based on their chip counts, the former was to take €649,300 and the latter would scoop €630,000. The amount of €50,000 was left for the players to contend for. And the last two survivors did contend fiercely for the title. The two-handed match lasted for 36 hands, during which van Putten only extended his chip lead, never looking back.
Hand #164 was the last one to be dealt for the night, the tournament, the Prague festival, and the EPT as a whole. Van Putten opened to 700,000 and Czuczor went all in for his last 8,025,000. Van Putten called mere seconds later, tabling [Kc][Jc]. His opponent had [2d][2c]. The board ran out [Js][3c][Qd][5h][9d], sending Czuczor to the rail and handing the title to van Putten.
The EPT will no longer exist in its original form, making room for the PokerStars Festivals and Championships. The first such festival was held in October in New Jersey. And the first-ever PokerStars Championship is set to take place from January 6-14 as the PokerStars Championship Bahamas, the successor of the well-known PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
