Andrew Chen Wins EPT London £10,300 High Roller for £394,200!
Former European Poker Tour runner-up Andrew Chen battled back several times from a short stack to win the £10,300 High Roller event at the 2014 stop in London for £394,200. Chen, who finished second to Davidi Kitai at EPT Berlin back in 2012, secured victory after an incredibly brief heads-up battle against Lebanese player Fady Kamar.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Chen | £394,200 |
| 2 | Fady Kamar | £267,000 |
| 3 | Craig McCorkell | £178,000 |
| 4 | Leonid Markin | £145,800 |
| 5 | Salman Behbehani | £117,000 |
| 6 | Martin Quack | £90,700 |
| 7 | Philippe D'Auteuil | £67,200 |
| 8 | Jorryt van Hoof | £49,400 |
Ten players had come back at the start of the day and it did not take long for lots of action to take place. Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden was first to be knocked out, pushing his last 11 big blinds into the middle with the A♥5♣, but running into Craig McCorkell's A♣9♠. Lodden flopped a five, but the Englishman rivered a nine to leave the tournament with just a single table of nine players.
Niall Farrell had doubled up on the very last hand of Day 2, but he had still been one of the shorter stacks going into the final day. Farrell made a stand with jacks against start-of-the-day chip leader Leonid Markin. The Russian called with the A♦10♥ and spiked an ace on the flop to increase his lead even further.
With the official final table now set, Salman Behbehani survived with two double ups in succession. First with aces against Markin's ace-king, then with two pair all in on the turn against Martin Quack's straight draw.
Jorryt van Hoof, the 2014 World Series of Poker November Nine chip leader, had started the day second in chips, but he went out in some very cold hands against the seemingly unbeatable Markin. Van Hoof flopped top set with the 7♦7♠ on a 4♥7♣3♦ board, but Markin had the 6♣5♣ for the flopped nut straight. The Dutchman couldn't pair the board and went out in a surprising seventh place. Not that he was too concerned, because he immediately jumped into the £5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo event and managed to make his second final table in the space of just a few hours.
At this point, Philippe D'Auteuil was the shortest stack, and he pushed with the K♥6♥. Fady Kamar isolated with the 10♦10♠, and there was no king on the board nor enough hearts when it came 6♠2♥A♥J♣9♦. Kamar increased his stack while D'Auteuil was eliminated.
Andrew Chen, Salman Behbehani, and Martin Quack were all under 20 big blinds, and a crucial pot went the way of Chen when he raise-called for his entire stack against Quack. Chen showed a dominating A♥K♥ to Quack's A♠2♣ and neither player improved.
Quack was crippled, but managed two double ups before he eventually lost with the K♥J♥ to Kamar's 6♣6♦ on a 9♥3♣A♠A♥7♦ board. Salman Behbehani follwed the German out of the door in fifth place after getting unlucky. Behbehani shoved with the K♥Q♠, but Kamar's K♣J♦ spiked a jack on the turn to leave the tournament with just four.
At this point, first McCorkell then Kamar began to assert themselves as Markin suffered several beats. He was first crippled when Chen shoved with the nut flush draw against the Russian's top pair, and then Markin finished in fourth after pushing the K♠3♠ into McCorkell's J♥J♣.
Three-handed play saw McCorkell immediately double with tens against Chen's nines before the Canadian recevied his own double up in return with the A♣9♠ against McCorkell's Q♦J♦. Following this, McCorkell pushed his last 22 big blinds in the middle with the K♠Q♠, but Chen called with the 8♠8♥ and held firm on an A♣7♣6♦10♠2♦ board.
The heads-up battle between Kamar and Chen saw Kamar start with a slight chip advantage. That was quickly wiped away in a cooler, though. Both players had two pair by the turn of a Q♦8♠2♥7♣ board but Chen's Q♣8♥ was better than Kamar's 8♦7♦ when all the chips went in. The 3♥ on the river left Kamar with just two big blinds and he was knocked out the very next hand. Chen had the 8♦8♣, once again with pocket eights, and this time he was against Kamar's A♣9♠. Neither player hit on the 6♥K♥Q♣J♦5♦ board, and that was enough to secure Chen the 2014 EPT London High Roller title.
For us here at PokerNews, that wraps up our coverage of the 2014 EPT London High Roller. You can click here to view live updates from the Main Event, and then we'll be back in action for EPT Prague in December where PokerNews will have unrivaled live coverage of the three biggest events of the festival — the €50,000 Super High Roller, the €5,300 Main Event, and the €10,300 High Roller.
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