This year’s European Poker Tour Vienna Euro 5,300 buy-in main event attracted an entry list of 910 players from 59 countries, generating a prize pool worth Euro 4,413,500, and providing cashes of at least Euro 8,700 for 135 survivors.
It created a potential first prize of Euro 816,000, along with a trophy and a Euro 5,000 watch, and over the weekend that was claimed by Ukrainian player Oleksii Khoroshenin (27), although a three handed chop with determined opponents cut back his pay-day to Euro 578,392, and the player who finished in third actually scored the biggest pay-out of the event.
After several days of quality, tough poker an international final table emerged, comprising Khoroshenin and Anthony Ghamrawi from Austria; Germans Marko Neumann, Timo Pfuzenreuter and Frei Dilling; Pablo Gordillo from Spain; and Bulgarians Simeon Naydenov and Rumen Nanev.
The big chop occurred at the three-handed stage after hours of intense action, when Khoroshenin, Ghamrawi and Neumann (at that stage in the lead) faced off and decided to do a deal that would ultimately see Neumann benefitting the most from the event despite being eliminated at third – he took home an impressive Euro 638,127.
Once Neumann had been dispatched Khoroshenin was in a strong position in the heads up, leading Ghamrawi with 20.7 million chips to Ghamrawi’s 6.5 million. Nevertheless, it took the Ukrainian another 45 minutes to send his never-say-die opponent to the cashier and a runner up prize of Euro 446,481…not a bad return for a student who won his seat online in a Euro 320 Pokerstars qualifier!
Khoroshenin’s victory yielded his biggest live tourney career pay-out so far.
Other payouts on the final table were:
Pablo Gordillo (PokerStars qualifier) Euro 262,150
Timo Pfutzenreuter (PokerStars qualifier) Euro 203,900
Simeon Naydenov Euro 151,000
Frei Dilling Euro 108,100
Rumen Nanev Euro 77,000