Just days after Julian Track triumphed in the main event of the European Poker Tour Prague, fellow countryman Julian Thomas has bested a field of 305 to take the honours in themain event of the World Poker Tour Prague, winning the first prize of $283,827.
Entering the six-man final table stage, Thomas was one of the lower stacks facing some tough competition in Vasili Firsau from Belarus; Russian player Andrey Shatilov; Gintaras Simaitis from Lithuania; Serbia’s Ognjen Sekularac and Valeri Savov from Bulgaria.
Thomas cannily kept a low profile as the game developed and his table companions eliminated one another until he was strongly positioned at the three-handed stage and faced off against Firsau and Shatilov.
The exciting finale saw the elimination of Shatilov in third place for $116,982, followed almost immediately by the departure of Firsau..
Following Shatilov’s exit, Thomas held a massive 8 to 1 chip advantage and with the action at 30,000/60,000 and a 10,000 ante, it did not take the German ace long to despatch Firsau with the runner up prize money of $185,796.
It was a bitter blow for Firsau, who just weeks ago was runner up in the WPT Grand Prix de Paris, where he was bested by Mohsin Charania.
A triumphant Thomas said that the win was his biggest live tournament win yet.