John Eames Wins EPT Invitational For £98k

John Eames has won the EPT London “The Invitational” side event, after defeating a field of 172 players over two days on his way to capturing the title, and collecting the £98,430 ($148,120) first place prize.
With his latest win in London, the UK pro has completed a hat rick of €2k side event victories starting in 2010 at the €2k EPT Vienna side event which he won for €123,500,  followed in 2011 by the €2k EPT Prague side event for €101,750. Now with his impressive win in London John Eames has increased his live career earnings to $1,673,929, to go with the $1,936,274 he has amassed online under the screen name ‘Johne147’.
The £2k invitational event at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino fielded a whole slew of notable names in the competition. Amongst the big names booking cashes was Justin Bonomo in 19th (£4,340), Ana Marquez in 15th (£5,000) and Jonathan Duhamel in 11th (£6,340),
Eventually, after Souheil Mansour was eliminated in 3rd (£32,530), Eames managed to overcome top Canadian pro Michael “SirWatts” Watson heads-up to clinch the title. Watson now boasts $6,040,693 in live winnings but amazingly at the time turned down a deal to redistribute the prize pool during the heads-up phase. As a result Watson had to be satisfied with a runner-up finish worth £55,890 ($84,105).
Following his runner-up finish, Michael Watson tweeted: “In retrospect, probably should have made a deal. Trying to beat @johneamespoker in a 2k EPT side event is impossible.”
Meanwhile, commenting on his latest victory, John Eames tweeted: “Was so swingy but won! @SirWatts played great and put up with the rail. £98k ftw! Thanks for the support everyone! #teamivey.”