Slovakian poker pro Jan Bendik – the veteran of many a European Poker Tour competition – scored his biggest pay day yet Friday by winning the main event of this year’s European Poker Tour Grand Final main event in Monte Carlo and taking home the Euro 961,800 top prize.
Bendik bested a record field of 1,098 entrants in the event, which eclipsed the previous record set in 2009 of 935 entries. The field included over 100 players who had earlier won their tickets through PokerStars’ Spin-and-Go promotions costing around $10.
When the heads up started after over 200 hands of at times thrilling final table action from a stellar selection of international players, Bendik was at a 2 to 1 disadvantage against French chip leader Adrien Allain.
The Slovakian champ kept slugging away, however and was rewarded with a double up which put him right back in position to equal and then ultimately best a very good opponent and claim his first main event EPT title.
Allain was rewarded for a very creditable performance with a runner up prize worth Euro 577,800.
Other final table cashes included:
3 Jimmy Guerrero France Euro 406,850
4 Asan Umarov Kazakstan Euro 305,660
5 Pierre Calamusa France Euro 233,800
6 Oren Rosen Israel Euro 170,950
7 Antoine Saout France Euro 128,340
8 Dario Sammartino Italy Euro 91,860