The 2014 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Season 11 has wrapped up its Prague Main Event. It attracted a total of 1,107 players. And it was Stephen Graner who emerged victorious and captured the amount of €969,000 of the entire prize pool. This was his first EPT event.
Only seven players sat on the final table and it took a little less than five hours before the name of the winner was announced.
Two players were eliminated in Level 1. Remi Castaignon was the first to leave the final table. The player has previously won an EPT event. He was defeated by Anton Bertilsson and received the amount of €129,390 for his seventh place.
Then, Graner eliminated Björn Wiesler. The German poker pro took the amount of €172,340 for his sixth place.
By that time, the soon-to-be-champion was the chip leader with 16,600,000 in chips. Bertilsson was in second place with 8,485,000.
Three more players left the final table in Level 2. On Hand #36, Graner defeated Simon Mattson. Then, Fabio Sperling was eliminated by Bertilsson. That happened on Hand #45. Sperling was sent home with the sum of €308,180 for his fourth place.
Jonathan Wong was the next to be knocked out. His [3d][3h]
could not hold up against Graner’s [Jd][Jc]
and with the table showing [5s][9s][7s][5d][8c], it became clear that he would need to leave. Wong took third place and €410,190.
After his elimination, Graner and Bertilsson were to face each other in a heads-up play. At this point, the first was holding 28,970,000 in chips, while the latter had 4,310,000. Bertilsson doubled up quite quickly but he had to return the chips on the next hand.
On the last hand, Graner moved all in. He was holding [4d][4h]. His opponent made the call with [Ks][5c]
in his hand. He looked quite annoyed, but when the board showed [Jd][6h], his face brightened a little. Then, [3c][Qh][10d]
were opened and Graner became a first-time EPT champion. In addition to this, he was awarded the amount of €969,000.
As for Bertilsson, he took €582,720 for his runner-up finish.
It could be said that Graner’s victory was not a surprise. The American poker pro demonstrated excellent skills and outstanding consistency throughout the game and he did not lose composure even for a moment. He managed to eliminate four of all six other players on the final table.
Minutes after he captured the biggest title in his career, Graner shared with interviewers that he was really glad to participate in such a prestigious event and to become its champion. He pointed out that his opponents were really tough. Yet, the “premium hands” he got at critical moments in the game helped him a lot.
