It's another day, another high roller. At the 2018 EPT Prague, hosted at the swanky Hilton Hotel, Matthias Eibinger from Austria outlasted 40 other players to win the €50K High Roller for a score worth €653,000. Eibinger defeated Andras Nemeth from Hungary heads up for the cash and the crown. Also at the final table were Liang Xu, Pavel Plesuv, Luc Greenwood, and Charlie Carrel. Eibinger, closing in on $5 million in winnings, is capping off the best year of his career with a big win in Prague.
The final major event in Europe is underway with the 2018 EPT Prague. The luxurious Hilton Hotel hosted the 2018 EPT Prague, which included a loaded schedule that includes the Main Event Championship (currently underway) and other side events like The National. The Hilton also hosted a high roller. What would be a global poker tour without a bunch of deep-pocketed Germans and other highballa Euros swimming with North American sharks and British chip-snipers? If you host a low buy-in event, all the degen donkeys within running distance will rush to play. If you host a high roller event, the crowd will be sparse, but there will always be some action.
The EPT Prague High Roller attracted 30 original runners who added 10 additional re-entries. The total tally was 40. The prize pool was €1,920,600 and only the top six places were awarded prize money. First place would win €653K.
The final table in Prague did not feature any Americans. Most of them are in Las Vegas playing the Five Diamond at the Bellagio. The final six included Matthias Eibinger, Andras Nemeth, Liang Xu, Pavel Plesuv, Luc Greenwood, and Charlie Carrel.
Our favorite English day tripper, Charlie Carrel, went deep and min-cashed but he had to settle for €134,440 after he busted in sixth place. Luc Greenwood representing Canada, busted in fifth place, which paid out €172,850.
The final day of action saw only four players remaining. Matthias Eibinger came into the final day with more than 50$ of the chips in play. As expected, he went all the way to the finish line.
Moldova's Pavel Plesuv, fresh off his win at the Seminole Hard Rock in Florida, USA two weeks earlier, had a deep run in Prague. Alas, he busted in fourth place.
China's Liang Xu capped off his sensational performance with a third-place finish worth €288K. That set up the heads-up bout between Andras Nemeth and Matthias Eibinger.
The had drawn blood earlier in the final table when Eibinger doubled through the former big stack. With two to go, Nemeth hoped he could get his chips back. However, it was not meant to be. The Hungarian was knocked out in second place. Nemeth banked €451,350 for a runner-up finish. Not too shabby, eh?
Matthias Eibinger took down the EPT 50K High Roller, the trophy, and a small mound of cash worth €653,000. That's approximately $740K in Yankee-Bucks.
Matthias Eibinger is a 25-year old from Graz, Austria. He might not be as well known as some other Germans and Austrians. I mean, we all know who Fedor Holz is. Eibinger has been making a name for himself in 2018. Prior to this year, he had less than $129K in total earnings. In 2017, he won approximately $121K in Las Vegas. In the summer of 2017, he final tabled a deepstack event at the Venetian and banked $80K. He also had five smallish cashes at the 2017 WSOP. Nothing too splashy, but he was going somewhat deep in events.
Then things got really good for Eibinger in 2018. He flew down to the Bahamas and cashed in a couple events at the 2018 PCA. He took third in the $10K event for a $75K score.
Then in April, Eibinger final tabled the partypoker MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona in Spain. He shipped $135K for his first six-figure cash. Later that month, he cashed in two side events at the EPT Monte Carlo.
In May, Eibinger flew to America to play in a bunch of high rollers at the Aria and to chase a WSOP bracelet. Eibinger took chopped the $100K High Roller at the Aria with Jason Koon. Koon would actually win the event, but it was a near-even money chop (Koon won $33K more). It marked Eibinger's biggest cash and he walked away with his first seven-figure score worth $1,006,060. He went deep in a couple more Aria events and in July, Eibinger shipped a $25K High Roller for $299K.
At the 2018 WSOP, he had a couple more smaller cashes, but he went deep in the $50K High Roller. He finished in 17th place for $97K.
At the end of August, Eibinger's heater continued at the EPT Barcelona. He had five cashes, including four six-figure scores ($112K, $880K, $113K, $318K, and $23K) in various high roller affairs. He took third in the €100K High Roller that was eventually won by Mikita.
He flew back to Vegas in November to play a $50K High Roller and shipped that for $575K. And now he's in Prague crushing tables and destroying souls with his first major win in Europe.
Eibinger is closing in on $5 million in total winnings, with the bulk of it --$4.7 million worth -- happening in 2018. If I were Eibinger, I would not want the year to end.
2018 EPT Prague - €50K High Roller
Buy-in: €50,000
Entrants: 40
Prize Pool: €1,920,600
Payouts: 6
Final Table Results:
1. Matthias Eibinger (Austria) €653,000
2. Andras Nemeth (Hungary) €451,350
3. Liang Xu (China) €288,090
4. Pavel Plesuv (Moldova) €220,870
5. Luc Greenwood (Canada) €172,850
6. Charlie Carrel (U.K.) €134,440
