Stephen Graner Wins 2014 EPT Prague Main Event

US pro Stephen Graner has taken down the European Poker Tour’s biggest ever event, after defeating a huge field of 1,107 players on his way to capturing a prestigious EPT title, as well as the €969,000 ($1,200,936) first place prize. Following his remarkable performance, Graner said:
“I planned and prepared for this tournament for several months. I played well and ran very well. I’m ecstatic, it hasn’t sunk in yet. I’m sure I’ll wake up feeling pretty good tomorrow.”
The €5,300 EPT Main Event was held at the Hilton Prague Hotel in the Czech Republic’s capital city, and attracted a bumper field to create a prize pool worth €5,368,950 ($6,654,046). Amongst the notable players then seeing a return on their buy-ins was Praz Bansi in 73rd ($17,636), Eugene Katchalov in 63rd ($17,636), George Danzer in 53rd ($21,031), Vanessa Selbst in 14th ($59,984), Sam Grafton in 12th ($66,677), and Davidi Kitai in 10th ($74,324).
After the final table of eight got underway, Stephen Graner (A-K) then proceeded to eliminate Bjorn Weisler (9-9) in 6th for $215,095, before doing likewise to Simon Mattsson in 5th ($294,174), and Jonathan Wong in 3rd ($511,952), to go heads-up against Sweden’s Anton Bertilsson for the title.
As the final showdown got started, Graner held a 6.5-to-1 chip lead over his remaining competitor and just 22 hands later the deciding hand was played with Graner (4-4) moving all-in preflop, only to be called by Bertilsson with K-5. The board subsequently ran out J-6-3-Q-10 to consign Bertilsson to a runner-up finish worth $727,284, while Stephen Graner was crowned the 2014 EPT Prague Main Event champion.
Final Table Payouts:
1 Stephen Graner – $1,209,395
2 Anton Bertilsson – $727,284
3 Jonathan Wong – $511,952
4 Fabio Sperling – $384,635
5 Simon Mattsson – $294,174
6 Bjorn Weisler – $215,095
7 Remi Castaignon – $161,490
8 Miltiadis Kyriakides – $115,585