European Poker Tour - Final Day Results

After 4 days of grueling competition, the European Poker Tour was finally down to its last 8 remaining players. At stake was a grand prize of 1.8 million Euros and the right to boast of winning the most prestigious poker tournament outside of the United States.

Let’s take a look at the finalists:

Seat 1 - Ram Vaswani (UK) - Part of the Hendon Mob, he is one of the UK’s most successful players, having won over $2.4 million in tournaments. Has made 6 final tables at the World Series of Poker.

Seat 2 - Steve Jelinek (UK) - Qualified online at PokerStars. Has won a smaller event in England and took second in the Scottish Poker Championships.

Seat 3 - Marc Karam (Canada) - The only player from last year’s EPT Grand Finale to make a return appearance at the final table. He finished 4th in the event last year.

Seat 4 - Andy Black (Ireland) - Has won $2.8 million in his career, and he made the final table at the WSOP in 2005. Had the cheap lead throughout much of the tournament.

Seat 5 - Soren Kongsgaard (Denmark) - An accomplished player, he once cashed in six events and made six final tables (with 3 wins) within a six month stretch. Has made money in tournaments in four different countries.

Seat 6 - Josh Prager (USA) - A tennis coach in California, Josh qualified online at PokerStars. He also did very well at the Aussie Millions tournament.

Seat 7 - Gavin Griffin (USA) - One of the youngest players to win a WSOP bracelet, he has over 300K in lifetime earnings. Lately, he’s been focusing on charity work after his girlfriend survived breast cancer.

Seat 8 - Kristian Kjondal (Norway) - A popular online player with a reputation for being very aggressive during play.

Gavin Griffin started the final table as the chip leader. The first elimination came on Hand 5, when Ram Vaswani missed a flush draw. He finished in 8th place and picked up 159,270 Euros.

On Hand 19, Andy Black was short stacked and desperately trying to get back into the game. He went all in pocket 7s, but he was called by Kristian Kjondal (who had pocket Jacks). Black finished in 7th place and took home 238,910 Euros.

Hand 27 saw Steve Jelinek bust out. He got 305,270 Euros for his 6th place finish. On Hand 33, Josh Prager and Soren Kongsgaard went head-to-head. Kongsgaard eventually proved the victor, and Prager took home 391,550 Euros for his 5th place finish.

Gavin Griffin regained the lead when his pair of Queens beat Soren Kongsgaard’s pair of Jacks. This allowed Griffin to double-up and effectively cripple Kongsgaard.

Kristian Kjondal went to the rail on Hand 76 after losing a battle with Griffin. His 4th place finish was good enough for 471,180 Euros.

On Hand 100, Kongsgaard tried to bluff his way out of trouble. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t work, and he finished in 3rd place with 610,550 Euros.

With only two players left, it all came down to Gavin Griffin and Marc Karam. The two players felt each other out, neither wanting to give their opponent a significant edge.

The match finally ended after 92 grueling hands of heads-up play. It all came down to the River card, and Gavin Griffin was able to pull off the win with a pair of Kings. Griffin got 1,825,010 Euros for 1st place, while Karam received 1,061,820 Euros for 2nd place. It was the 2nd year in a row that an American had won the EPT.

What a nail-biter! And the great news is that most of these players will return next year to battle it out in Monte Carlo again. I’m already looking forward to it.

European Poker Tour - Final Day Results