27-year-old Hungarian poker pro Zoltan Gal claimed the title and the winner’s prize of Euro 208,655 in the Pokerstars Eureka Vienna main event over the weekend after an aggressive heads up tussle with Andreas Freund of Austria in which the duo agreed to a last-minute chop.
The event attracted a record number of 1,432 players over the two entry days, generating a tempting Euro 1,389,040 prize pool which assured the last 215 players standing a cash.
Down to the final table, Austrian Markus Stoger held the chip lead, facing Zoltan Gal, Andreas Freund, Polish pros Robert Malinowski and Blazej Przygorzewski, America’s Bryan Paris, Stavros Kalfas from Greece and Erik Scheidt of Germany.
When Paris exited in fourth place, the surviving trio of Gal, Freund and Przygorzewski became a little more cautious and the action slowed noticeably; then Freund scored a couple of double ups at Przygorzewski’s expense, placing him second only to Gal, and shortly thereafter the Pole was eliminated.
That left Freund facing Gal in the heads up, with the Hungarian holding a 3 to 1 chip lead. Gal decided against a chop after a brief discussion, but a few hands further on when Freund had closed the gap by taking a few good pots, negotiations restarted and the two agreed to a chop that would leave Euro 10,000 on the table.
After that it all went Gal’s way, and he was able to send Freund to the exit with the runner-up prize of Euro 174,655.
It was the Hungarian’s biggest major tournaments win yet in a career that has seen him play in sixteen big events around the world, and although diluted somewhat by the chop, the prize is still a significant milestone.
Other final table cashes included:
Blazej Przygorzewski Euro 98,210
Bryan Paris Euro 72,230
Markus Stoger Euro 56,600
Stavros Kalfas Euro 43,240
Erik Scheidt Euro 33,090
Robert Malinowski Euro 23,430