Russian poker pro Andrey Zaichenko has claimed the honours in the Euro 10,000 buy-in European Poker Tour Prague High Roller competition, besting a field of 309 ( that included 76 re-entries) and taking home Euro 487,180 after agreeing a chop at the three-handed stage of the game.
The record registration list generated a prize pool totalling Euro 3,028,000, enabling the last 39 players standing to cash.
The final table consisted of Zaichenko and fellow Russian Viacheslav Goryachev, along with Lithuanian player Laurynas Levinskas; Canada’s Francois Billard; Simon Deadman from Britain; German ace Ole Schemion; Joao Vieira from Portugal; Clavio Anzalone from Italy and US player Dan Shak.
When the action reached the three-handed stage Zaichenko, Levinskas and Billard agreed a three-way chop that would leave Euro 39,000 on the table for the winner. Without the chop, the ultimate winner could have cashed for Euro 606,400.
When the action resumed, it was Canadian François Billard who was eliminated in third for Euro 405,260, leaving Levinskas and Zaichenko to duke it out for the main prize in the heads up, a finale that proved to be both exciting and prolonged as the chip counts of the two expert players see-sawed up and down, with neither able to gain a decisive advantage.
Although it looked at one point as if Levinskas had wrapped up the victory, it was the Russian who ultimately seized an opportunity and turned it into a win, eliminating Levinskas in second place for Euro 412,910.