Third Time's a Charm: Hossein Ensan Wins Prague Main Event at Third EPT Final Table
The third time was the charm for Germany's Hossein Ensan. After making two previous final tables in European Poker Tour main events where he finished third and sixth, Ensan maneuvered his way to the winner's circle in the 2015 EPT Prague €5,300 Main Event to capture €754,510.
Ensan defeated Gleb Tremzin in heads-up play and bested a field of 1,044 entries. This was Ensan's third EPT final table in the last 16 months.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hossein Ensan | Germany | €754,510 |
| 2 | Gleb Tremzin | Russia | €724,510 |
| 3 | Ilkin Amirov | Azerbaijan | €391,910 |
| 4 | Thomas Butzhammer | Germany | €294,180 |
| 5 | Slaven Popov | Bulgaria | €226,330 |
| 6 | Olivier Ferrero | France | €166,080 |
| 7 | Onur Unsal | Turkey | €122,530 |
| 8 | Vlado Banicevic | Montenegro | €87,700 |
The final day started with just six players, but with a fairly even distribution of the chips it was still anyone's game. Ilkin Amirov started out with the chip lead, but he lost ground right away on the second hand of play. Slaven Popov from Bulgaria flopped quads and got two streets of value from Amirov, and on the very next hand it was Tremzin who took over the lead.
On the third hand of play, Ensan dropped down to just 1 million in chips after betting into Tremzin's trips, and the three-time EPT finalist seemed to have one foot out the door. Things couldn't have played out more differently, though, as Ensan doubled through Olivier Ferrero with pocket fives against AxQx, and Ferrero was knocked out two hands later to take home €166,080 for his sixth-place finish.
The lead changed hands again on Hand #14 after Thomas Butzhammer won a big one off Popov. After this happened, three players were within three big blinds of each other, while Ensan slowly worked his way back up the leaderboard. Ensan's progress was halted again when Tremzin took half his stack on Hand #42 of the final table, but he got another boost back shortly thereafter.
On the 50th hand of play, it was Popov who got knocked out in fifth place for €226,330. Ensan took his chips, and with four players left there were brief deal discussions. In the end, it was Butzhammer who declined to make a deal after not getting an extra €5,000 from chip leader Tremzin.
At this point, Butzhammer was the short stack, and he was also the next player to get knocked out. Butzhammer ended up all in with AxQx on Qx9x4x against Ensan's Jx10x, and the turn sealed it right away when an 8x gave Ensan a straight. Butzhammer collected €294,180 for his finish, was proved his biggest live tournament result to date.
The field lost Amirov, the first-ever player from Azerbaijan to make an EPT main event final table, in third place. Amirov came into the last day as chip leader, but in the end he had to settle for a €391,910 payday. On his final hand, Amirov lost with Ax9x suited against Tremzin's Ax10x, and the tournament was heads up.
Ensan started heads-up play with 17.5 million versus Tremzin's 13.8 million, but before they started battling a deal was agreed upon. Ensan and Tremzin settled on splitting the remaining money in half and leaving €30,000 to play for. This meant that both players would be guaranteed to take home €724,510.
The duel started on Hand #84, and the lead changed many times before it looked like Tremzin was going to run away with it. On the 106th hand of play, Tremzin raised from the button with 10x8x off suit to 600,000. Ensan three-bet with 9x7x off suit to 1.375 million, and Tremzin called. On a flop of 8x4x2x, Tremzin bet 475,000 after Ensan checked. Ensan quickly check-raised to 1.9 million, and Tremzin called.
The turn was the A♥, and Ensan bet another 2 million. Tremzin calle, and with 10.5 million in the middle, Ensan bet just 1.3 million on a Kx river. That prompted Tremzin to shove all in for 10.55 million, and Ensan folded his nine high to give Tremzin a massive chip lead.
After a heads-up battle that lasted just shy of five hours, it was Ensan who managed to deal out the final blow with pocket aces.
On the 205th hand of play, Ensan limp-called a raise from Tremzin, who had the Q♥{Jh. The flop brought out Qx7x7x, and both players checked. After a 9x hit the turn, Tremzin bet 1 million, and Ensan called. Then, a 4x completed the board on the river, and Tremzin bet 1.9 million. Ensan moved all in right away, and Tremzin eventually called. Ensan showed his two aces to beat Tremzin, and he was crowned champion.
Tremzin took home €724,510 for his second-place finish, but it was Ensan who received the additional €30,000 for the win and the prestigious EPT trophy.
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