The 2014 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Season 11 Prague €10,300 High Roller, held at the Hilton Prague Hotel, ended in December 17. Russian poker player Andrey Zaichenko emerged victorious after three days of play. The champion captured the amount of €487,180 of the entire prize pool after a three-handed deal with his last remaining opponents Laurynas Levinskas from Lithuania and Francois Billard from Canada.
A total of 23 players took part in the third and final day of the tournament. Poker pro Martin Finger was the first to go, after he was knocked out by Ole Schemion. Similarly to Finger, many other well-known names in the world of poker did not make it to the final table. For instance, Jonathan Little and Ari Engel were quickly eliminated and took 20th and 19th places, respectively.
A few more were sent home until there were only nine players left. Dan Shak was defeated by Zaichenko and finished ninth. His elimination marked the beginning of the final table. The play started with Schemion holding the majority of chips.
Clavio Anzalone from Italy was the first to leave the final table. He was eliminated by Zaichenko, who became the chip leader. As for Anzalone, he took the amount of €76,310 for his eighth place.
Portuguese player Joao Vieira was the next to leave. Schemion followed him after his cards could not beat Levinskas’. He received €141,420 of the prize pool.
Viacheslav Goryachev, the other Russian player on the final table, fell in fifth place. Simon Deadman followed him, taking the fourth spot.
Thus, Francois Billard, Laurynas Levinskas, and Andrey Zaichenko were the last remaining players on the final table. The three poker pros decided to strike a deal. Billard was to receive €405,260, Levinskas €412,910, and Zaichenko €448,180. What is more, the champion was to be awarded the additional amount of €39,000.
After the deal was set, Billard was eliminated by Levinskas. Thus, it became clear that the Lithuanian player would face Zaichenko in a final heads-up play.
The action started with Levinskas as a chip leader. Zaichenko, however, took the lead quickly. Soon, his opponent caught up. In other words, the chips were moving back and forth for quite some time, due to the fact that both players were holding big hands and a winner could not be determined.
On the last hand, Zaichenko moved all in and his opponent called. The Russian player was holding pocket threes, while Levinskas had pocket nines in his hands. The board showed three on the turn and the name of the champion became clear. As already mentioned, Zaichenko was awarded the sum of €487,180 for his victory.
