Leknes Bags Another Mixed Game Title as Crazy EPT Prague Main Event Hand Shocks Viewers
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December 11 was another action-packed day at the 2025 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague festival. A handful more players became champions of side events, and the €5,300 Main Event progressed to Day 4 with only 45 players. Two of those players were involved in a crazy hand on Day 3 that nobody watching the PokerStars stream or reading PokerNews' updates could believe.
The hand in question occurred at the end of the 3,000/6,000 level. It started with a relatively straightforward min-raise from the cutoff by Chady Ojeil holding king-ten of clubs, a three-bet from the small blind to 48,000 by Diogo Vieira holding ace-queen, and a call from Ojeil.
The flop fell ten-eight-eight, Vieira fired a 27,000 continuation bet, which Ojeil called. Another eight landed on the turn, improving Ojeil to a full house; both players tapped the table and checked. The river brought another ten into play, gifting Ojeil a stronger full house. Vieira over-bet jammed for 222,000 despite him playing the board, but the huge bet sent Ojeil into the tank.
Ojeil emerged from the tank with a fold with only four seconds of his timebank remaining, either putting Ojeil on a stronger full house or, somehow, the case eight.
Both players bagged at the close of Day 4. Vieira returns to the action with 275,000 chips while Ojeil is slightly deeper courtesy of his 445,000 stack. See how both of these players get in the EPT Prague Main Event via the PokerNews live reporting pages.
Leknes Makes Amends For Bridesmaid Finish
Tobias Leknes is widely regarded as one of the best mixed games players on the planet. The Norwegian star is the proud owner of seven Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) and 13 World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP) titles. He also has almost 20 live victories, mostly in non-Hold'em events.
Leknes added the €5,200 8-Game trophy to his cabinet on December 11 after outlasting 19 opponents and reeling in €48,500 of the €97,000 prize pool. Only three players received a cut of the prize pool due to the compact field; Frenchman Imad Derwiche was the first player to bust inside the money places.
Derwiche's exit left Leknes heads-up against Italian star Dario Alioto. Only a couple of days ago, Leknes found himself heads-up against Italian opposition in the €1,100 PLO8 event and fell at the final hurdle.
There was no second-place finish for the Norwegian this time around, as he defeated Alioto to add €48,500 to his ever-growing live lifetime earnings.
€5,200 8-Game Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tobias Leknes | Norway | €48,500 |
| 2 | Dario Alioto | Italy | €29,100 |
| 3 | Imad Derwiche | France | €19,400 |
Viezzi Denies Leknes and Boatman
The €1,100 PLO8 event drew in 116 entrants, including re-entries, and saw the top 17 finishers share the €111,360 prize pool.
The final table was a star-studded affair, which became a little less shark-infested after Simon Brandstrom bit the dust in sixth. Barny Boatman, the 2024 EPT Paris Main Event champion, crashed out in fourth before Tomer Taggart crashed out in third.
Taggart's demise left Leknes heads-up against Giancarlo Viezzi. Leknes has a reputation for being able to close out tournaments, particularly mixed-game events, but he had to settle for a runner-up finish in this event, a result worth €17,850. Viezzi took home a €28,570 top prize.
€1,100 PLO8 Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giancarlo Viezzi | Italy | €28,570 |
| 2 | Tobias Leknes | Norway | €17,850 |
| 3 | Tomer Taggart | United States | €12,750 |
| 4 | Barny Boatman | United Kingdom | €9,810 |
| 5 | Farhad Mohajerani | Australia | €7,540 |
| 6 | Simon Brandstrom | Sweden | €5,800 |
| 7 | Alexander Lee | United Kingdom | €4,590 |
| 8 | Ilkka Heikkila | Finland | €3,820 |
| 9 | Maksim Shuts | Belarus | €3,190 |
Tobias "Senkel72" Leknes' SCOOP and WCOOP Wins
Known as "Senkel92" online at PokerStars, Leknes has won 20 SCOOP and WCOOP titles since his first gongs in 2017. Across both festivals, Leknes captured five titles in 2020, four more in 2022, and then seven in 2023.
Leknes has not found himself in the winner's circle at either the SCOOP or WCOOP since 2023 but only because PokerStars withdrew from the Norwegian market.
Full PokerStars EPT Prague Results
Expand the table below to see all of the results from the 2025 PokerStars EPT Prague festival.
