Eighty hopefuls paid Euro 25,000 apiece this weekend to play in the European Poker Tour Prague Single Day High Roller competition, generating a prize pool big enough to provide a healthy range of cashes, six-figure pay days for six members of the final table, and an impressive Euro 539,000 for the eventual winner.
That man was German ace Rainer Kempe, who outlasted the field and a talented international final table to claim the biggest win in his live tournament career to date in a tough fifteen-hour competition that culminated in a tense heads up against Jean-Noel Thorel, a French poker fan and businessman.
The heads up duo battled through a final table that included Ramin Hajiyev from Azerbaijan; Spain’s Adrian Mateos; David Yan of New Zealand; Kitson Kho from Hong Kong; German ace Tobias Reinkemeier; Dutch pro Luuk Gieles and Piotr Franczak from Poland.
Other notable names that played but busted out before the final nine included Andre Akkari, Steve O’Dwyer, Liv Boeree, Jason Mercier, Davidi Kitai, Kevin MacPhee, Martin Finger, Byron Kaverman and Anthony Zinno.
Three-handed, it looked as if the day belonged to Frenchman Jean-Noel Thorel, who held most of the chips in play and rejected offers to strike a chop deal by his remaining opponents, Kempe and Ramin Hajiyev.
Play continued and soon after Hajiyev was eliminated at third for Euro 250,900 by Kempe, clearing the way for the heads up and with Thorel still in charge.
In retrospect, it may have been a better idea for the French player to have negotiated a deal, because he was soon facing a very determined and aggressive attack by Kempe, who set about reducing and then taking the lead.
The chip lead changed hands several times as the one-hour heads up went back and forth, creating plenty of excitement. Kempe took several big pots, but his French opponent kept harvesting the smaller ones to keep the exchange competitive.
In the end it all came down to a single hand in which Thorel busted out when his queen-nine was out flopped by Kempe’s jack-ten. The Frenchman was rewarded for a very creditable performance with the runner up prize of Euro 383,200, whilst Kempe collected the E uro 539,000 main prize.
Other final table cashes included:
Adrian Mateos Euro 193,050
David Yan Euro 152,900
Kitson Kho Euro 119,550
Tobias Reinkemeier Euro 94,050
Luuk Gieles Euro 73,500
Piotr Franczak Euro 55,850