PokerStars EPT Berlin 2010 Won By Kevin MacPhee

Kevin MacPhee has won the PokerStars EPT Berlin 2010, after defeating a field of 945 players over five days to take down the title and the €1,000,000 first place prize.
The 29 year old MacPhee from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho was almost eliminated on Day 3 of the competition  after getting all his chips in with pocket 9’s against his opponent’s pocket Q’s. Luckily for him he spiked a 9 on the river to keep his tournament hopes alive, after which he finished the day as the chip leader and went on to dominate the play until the end of the tournament.
Following his impressive victory, Kevin MacPhee commented: “I am a luck-sack. What can I say? I ran extremely good and I had the nuts every time someone played back at me.”
The final table of eight players got off to an explosive start and before long the two remaining Germans were eliminated from the event in short order. First out was Nico Behling, who picked up €72,000 for his 8th place finish after his AQ shove failed to beat Marcel Koller’s pocket 10’s, followed by Marko Neumann in 7th (€120,000) whose AK lost the race against MacPhee’s pocket 7’s.
Nico Behling from Switzerland bowed out in 6th (€165,000), swiftly followed by Marcel Koller in fifth (€210,000) after his short stack shove with A6 failed to move MacPhee off his A9.
Artur Wasek from Poland could count himself a little unfortunate after running his pocket Q’s into Marc Inizan’s pocket K’s but collected €280,000 for his 4th place finish, while  Marc Inizan himself was next out in 3rd (€350,000) after putting his tournament on the line with top pair and a gut-shot straight against McPhee’s flopped nut straight.
As the heads-up action got underway, Kevin MacPhee held the chip lead over Finnish player Tahkokallio but it would still take three hours before the tournament was settled when both players got all there chips in on a 5c 4h 2c flop. MacPhee was holding 3s 4s to Tahkokallio’s 6h 9h, and a Jh followed by a 6s on the river completed MacPhee’s straight to hand him the title, while Tahkokallio had to be satisfied with his €600,000 runner-up prize.
MacPhee, who walked away with the title and the €1,000,000 top prize, completed his revenge on Tahkokallio who defeated him heads-up at the London Open EPT PLO in 2009, but still heaped praise on his erstwhile opponent, saying, “He’s an amazing player and my hat’s off to him.”