Wednesday December 18, 2019 at 12:13 am

Belarus' Mikalai Pobal picked off Hungarian pro, Norbert Szecsi, to win the 2019 EPT Prague. Pobal faded a field of 1,154 runners to win €1 million and become the latest champion on the European Poker Tour. Pobal joined Vicky Coren as the only dual winner on the EPT. Pobal shipped the 2012 EPT Barcelona and waited seven years to take down his second EPT crown.

ept.pobal
Pic by Neil Stoddart, PokerStars Blog

Sometimes a poker tournament has an amazing narrative heading into the final table. The best stories write themselves. In this instance, two players were on a collision course of history. Mikalai Pobal and Norbert Szecsi got heads-up for a million Euros and a shot at history. When the dust settles, Pobal won the cool million and became only the second two-time winner in European Poker Tour history.

Victoria Coren was the only player in EPT history to win multiple events when she won the EPT San Remo in 2014. She originally shipped her first EPT back in 2006 with the EPT London. No one else had achieved that rare, yet epic feat. Well, until now. Mikalai Pobal pulled off the dual EPT score with a win back in 2012 at the EPT Barcelona and again to cap off 2019 with the EPT Prague, hosted at the swank Hilton in Prague, Czech Republic.

The 2019 EPT Prague included several events including the €10K High Roller, The National, and a pair of €25K High Rollers.

French pro Alexandre Reard shipped the National for €342,810. Not too shabby, eh?

Malaysia's Chin Wei Lim took down the first €25K High Roller fo a score worth $420K USD.

Meanwhile, Sam Greenwood defeated Steve O'Dwyer heads-up to win the other €25K High Roller for a €385K score.

The marquee EPT Prague Main Event had a €5,300 price tag and attracted 1,154 runners. Only the top 167 places paid out with a cool million Euros set aside for the champ. The top five places would bank over $250K USD.

The final nine included Gab Yong Kim, Dietrich Fast, Laurent Michot, Luke Marsh, Tomas Paiva, Gaby Livshitz, Ricardo Da Rocha, Norbert Szecsi, and Mikalai Pobal. Nine different countries were represented at this particular final table.

German pro Dietrich Fast's deep run ended in eighth place. UK's Luke Marsh bowed out in sixth place.

Portugal's Tomas Paiva hit the road in fifth place, which paid out €241K. Gaby Livshitz, from Israel, went super deep but busted in fourth place.

Brazil's Ricardo De Rocha busted in third place, which paid out €421K. With his elimination, it set up the heavyweight bout between Norbert Szecsi and Mikalai Pobal.

Szecsi won two WSOP bracelets and crushed local cash games for years. He had never won an EPT title, then again, no one from Hungary had stepped into the winner's circle. He was hoping to become the first Hungarian EPT champ. Alas, he'd have to wait another day to achieve that lofty goal.

Instead, Belarus claimed another title and Pobal claimed his second EPT title and etched his name in the history books.

Norbert Szecsi banked a shade under €600K for second place, or $66K in US bucks. Not too shabby, eh?

Meanwhile, Mikalai Pobal earned a first place payout worth a tad over €1 million, or approximately $1.11 million. Ship it to Belarus! Heck of a way to end the year and heck of a way to end the decade.

2019 WSOP Main Event champion, Hossein Ensan, cashed in 28th place.

Notables who cashed in the event included... Gaelle Baumann, Luigi Shehadeh, Sorin Flutur, Stefan Jedlicka, Pierre Calamusa, Orpen Kisacikoglu, Roman Herold, Sylvain Loosli, Bryn Kenney, Bart Lybaert, Dario Sammartino, Thomas Boivin, Mustafa Biz, Tom Vogelsang, Michael Soyza, Stephen Chidwick, Timothy Adams, Juan Pardo, Erwann Pecheux, Steve O'Dwyer, Davidi Kitai, Paul Newey, Vojtech Ruzicka, Yehuda Cohen, Kalidou Sow, Bruno Lopes, Espen Uhlen Jorstad, Simon Burns, Fabian Gumz, Simon Burns, Christian Alessi, Natalie Teh, Adrian Mateos, Xia Lin, Ivan Deyra, Jan Bendik, and Panagiotis Oikonomou.

2019 EPT Prague

Buy-in: €5,300

Entrants: 1,154

Prize Pool: €5,596,900

Payouts: 167

 

Final Table Results:

1. Mikalai Pobal (Belarus) €1,005,600

2. Norbert Szecsi (Hungary) €598,880

3. Ricardo Da Rocha (Brazil) €421,450

4. Gaby Livshitz (Israel) €316,780

5. Tomas Paiva (Portugal) €241,230

6. Luke Marsh (United Kingdom) €177,420

7. Laurent Michot (France) €134,610

8. Dietrich Fast (Germany) €96,100

9. Gab Yong Kim (South Korea) €74,770

Latest news
Wednesday March 13, 2024 at 5:11 pm
Max Hoffman wins PGT Mixed Games championship

The PokerGo Tour concluded their fun mixed-games high roller series over the weekend at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. Even though Max Hoffman did not win any of the ten events on the PGT Mixed Games schedule, his two runner-up finishes and five overall cashes propelled him to the top of the leaderboard. Hoffman was crowned the 2024 PGT Mixed Games Champion.

Tuesday March 5, 2024 at 9:51 pm
2024 Asian Poker Tour: Elky, Isaac Haxton ship events at APT Taipei

The 2024 Asian Poker Tour completed two big events in Tawain over the weekend. American pro Isaac Haxton shipped the APT Taipei Super High Roller for a score worth nearly $291K USD. Meanwhile, French pro Bertrand 'Elky' Grospellier was the last player standing in the APT Taipei Superstar Challenge when he outlasted 49 runners to win $367K.

Sunday February 25, 2024 at 10:52 pm
Barny Boatman wins 2024 EPT Paris for €1.28M

Barny Boatman, an English pro and one of the original members of the Hendon Mob, shipped the 2024 EPT Paris Main Event Championship for a score worth €1,287,800. The 68-year-old Boatman became the oldest player to win an EPT event when he outlasted a field of 1,224 entries in Paris. Boatman edged out a final table that included German pro David Kaufmann, Aleksejs Ponakovs, Owen Dodd, Eric Afriat, and Peter Jorgne who was last year's runner-up in Paris.

Friday February 16, 2024 at 7:17 pm
2024 WSOP schedule finally released

The 2024 World Series of Poker returns to the Horseshoe Casino and Paris Casino in Las Vegas for the 55th running of the most prestigious tournament series in the world. The schedule is out and the 2024 WSOP has 99 events which begins May 28 and will run through July 17. The $10,000 buy-in Main Event Championship has four opening days beginning on July 3 through July 6. The final table will take place on July 16 and 17 at the Horseshoe.

Wednesday January 31, 2024 at 8:59 pm
2024 PokerGo Cup: David Peters, Dylan Weidman, Cary Katz early winners

The 2024 PokerGo Cup, the latest high-roller stop on the PokerGo Tour, is underway at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. Cary Katz is the latest champion after his victory in Event #4 $10K NL. Other winners so far include David Peters, Dylan Weisman, and Jonathan Little. Little currently sits atop of the leaderboard with four events to go.

Tuesday January 9, 2024 at 4:47 pm
Artur Martirosyan ships two PGT Last Chance titles

Artur Martirosyan finished in first place on the PGT Last Chance Leaderboard after he shipped two events on the final series of the PokerGo Tour season at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. Daniel Negreanu, Samuel Laskowitz, Dylan DeStefano, and Nick Schulman also won titles in the six-event high roller series at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. This is the last series before the season-ending PGT Championship $1,000,000 Freeroll which begins this week.

Friday December 22, 2023 at 9:20 pm
Dan Sepiol wins 2023 WPT Championship for $5.28 million

The record-setting 2023 World Poker Tour Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas is over. Dan Sepiol outlasted a field of 3,835 runners to win the $10,400 buy-in WPT Championship for a score worth $5,282,954. He edged out Georgios Sotiropoulos heads-up to win the title, and survived a tough final table that included Andrew 'LuckyChewy' Lichtenberger, Chris Moorman, Ben Heath, and Artur Martirosian.

Tuesday December 19, 2023 at 8:44 pm
2023 EPT Prague: Ireland Padraig O'Neill wins Main Event with sick comeback

Even though he was on the brink of elimination, Ireland's Padraig O'Neill never panicked, and he overcome a massive chip deficit to upset Norway's Jon Kyte to win the €5,300 buy-in 2023 PT Prague Main Event. The final stop on the EPT attracted a record-setting 1,285 runners and O'Neill bagged a first place payday worth a cool million Euros.

Monday December 11, 2023 at 5:15 pm
2023 WSOP Paradise: Erik Seidel wins tenth bracelet

American pro Erik Seidel won his tenth bracelet in the Bahamas, and he joined an exclusive club of double-digit bracelet winners including Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, and Phil Hellmuth. Seidel banked $1.7 million for outlasting a stacked final table in 2023 WSOP Paradise Event #7 $50,000 Super High Roller NL. Siedel edged out Seth Gottlieb heads-up for the victory and he tied Chan, Brunson, and Ivey with 10 bracelets each.

Friday December 8, 2023 at 9:25 pm
2023 WSOP Paradise: Jin Hoon Lee, Allan Mello win bracelets in Bahamas

The 2023 World Series of Poker Paradise kicked off in the Bahamas this week in Atlantis, and two events are already in the books. South Korea's Jin Hoon Lee faded 3,446 runners to win WSOP Paradise Event #1 $1,500 Mystery Millions, and he outlasted a final table that included Maria Ho. Brazil's Allan Mello banked a cool million as the last player standing in WSOP Paradise Event #2 $1,500 Millionaire Maker, which attracted 3,496 runners.

Friday December 1, 2023 at 4:49 pm
Hungary's Istvan Briski wins 2023 WPT Seminole Rock N Roll Poker Open

The World Poker Tour crowned a new champion during their latest stop in Hollywood, Florida at the 2023 WPT Seminole Rock N Roll Poker Open. When the dust settled, Istvan Briski from Hungary outlasted 1,447 runners to win the $3,500 Main Event for a score worth $647,300. Darryll Fish missed out on another title when he busted in sixth place.

Monday November 13, 2023 at 11:20 pm
Sami Bechahed wins 2023 NAPT Las Vegas Main Event

The PokerStars-branded North American Poker Tour made its triumphant return, and Sami Bechahed shipped the NAPT Las Vegas Main Event at Resorts World. The $1,650 buy-in NAPT Main Event attracted 1,095 runners and a prize pool worth $1.6 million. Bechahed -- a poker dealer -- banked $268,945 for first place when he outlasted a final table that included Jonathan Borenstein, David Coleman, Ping Liu, Sergio Aido, and Nick Schulman.

Saturday October 21, 2023 at 8:46 pm
Jared Bleznick ships $1.3 million at Super High Roller Bowl PLO

Jared Bleznick was the last player standing at the first-ever Super High Roller Bowl PLO $100,000 buy-in event at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. Bleznick outlasted 38 runners and won $1,292,000 in the record-setting high roller PLO affair. Meanwhile, Isaac Haxton finished in second place but he moved into first place on the PokerGo Tour Leaderboard after his deep run.

Tuesday October 10, 2023 at 3:09 am
RIP Anthony Holden, ‘Big Deal' poker author passes away at 76

The poker world lost one of its finest authors when Anthony Holden passed away at age 76. Holden penned, translated, and edited nearly 40 books during his illustrious career as a journalist and writer. “Big Deal: A Year as a Professional Poker Player” is considered one of the best books ever written about poker, and it chronicled Holden's journey into the gambling underworld in Las Vegas in the late 1980s.

Free tournaments and added prizes

The Club Poker organizes freerolls and special tournaments with added prizes.
To qualify for free, register on our poker partners websites: