US online and live poker pro Isaac Haxton wisely decided not to agree to a chop in the closing stages of the European Poker Tour $25,000 buy-in Single Day High Roller compettion in Prague Wednesday, and took home the full Euro 559,200 main prize as a consequence.
The event attracted a star-studded field of 69 players hungry for action and profits, and 14 re-entries made a total of 83, generating a prize pool worth 2,033,500.
That distilled to a tough international final table complement of Haxton, Julian Stuer from Germany, Adrian Mateos and Pablo Fernandez from Spain, Ramin Hajiyev from Azerbaijan, New Zealand’s David Yan, Steve O’Dwyer from Ireland, and UK duo Charlie Carrel and Paul Newey.
Illustrating the quality of the overall field, those who did not make the final table included names like Jan-Eric Schwippert (just days previously he had won a high roller game at the Bellagio in Las Vegas for $1.4 million); fellow German pro Rainer Kempe; Sam Greenwood, Igor Kurganov, Mustapha Kanit and Justin Bonomo.
At the three handed stage the last players still in the game were Haxton, Stuer and Mateos, and a brief pause was called whilst the possibilities of a chop were discussed. However, the players were unable to reach agreement and play resumed, with Mateos eliminated shortly afterwards by Haxton, who had held the lead through the final table and was playing aggressively.
In the heads up Haxton held the chip advantage over Stuer, and he made quick work of the German pro, dismissing him in just three hands with the runner-up prize of Euro 397,550.
Other final table cashes included:
Adrian Mateos Euro 260,300
Ramin Hajiyev Euro 200,300
David Yan Euro 158,610
Steve O’Dwyer Euro 124,050
Pablo Fernandez Euro 97,600
Paul Newey Euro €76,260
Charlie Carrel Euro 57,950