2016 PokerStars EPT Season 13 Prague

€50,000 Super High Roller
Day: 3
Event Info

2016 PokerStars EPT Season 13 Prague

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
kj
Prize
€741,100
Event Info
Buy-in
€50,000
Prize Pool
€2,352,735
Entries
49
Level Info
Level
22
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
20,000

Seat 2: Paul Newey, 48, Burton upon Trent/UK, 955,000

Paul Newey
Paul Newey

Newey is one of the high rollers without a true poker pedigree in the sense that he did not build a roll in smaller buy-in events. The well-bankrolled Brit hopped into deep water pretty much right away and has cut his teeth against some of the world's best tournament players over the past few years.

Observe nearly any high buy-in event around the globe recently, and one was likely to lay eyes on Newey. He has been a regular face at final tables, including making the second $1 million Big One for One Drop final table in 2014. He's totaled over $4 million in cashes but is still seeking that first big win.

Player Chips Progress
Paul Newey gb
Paul Newey
955,000

Tags: Paul Newey

Seat 3: Charlie "Epiphany77" Carrel, 23, St. Helier/UK, 3,565,000

Charlie Carrel
Charlie Carrel

A young British pro who crushed online under the name "Epiphany77" on PokerStars, Carrel has made a remarkably smooth transition to live poker. He has already bagged a pair of EPT High Roller titles, winning a €25,500 High Roller at EPT Grand Final 2015 for €1.1 million and a €10,200 High Roller at EPT Dublin for €164,500.

Indeed, Carrel is already acutely attuned to looking for live tells, as he spends quite some time studying the faces and reactions of opponents in every notable hand and isn't afraid to get the banter going in search of information. Carrel's looking to add to his $3 million in live cashes and is certainly a favorite to do so given his stack.

Player Chips Progress
Charlie Carrel gb
Charlie Carrel
3,565,000

Tags: Charlie Carrel

Seat 4: Julian Thomas, 35, Karlsruhe/Germany, 535,000

Julian Thomas
Julian Thomas

Thomas is a young German grinder, and while he hasn't attained the fame or fortune of some of his compatriots like Ole Schemion and Christoph Vogelsang, he still doesn't lack for some nice results. Thomas' best live score came in this very city in 2013, when he beat out a field of 306 runners to win World Poker Tour Prague for €206,230, almost exactly half of his live cashes.

Thomas has shown he isn't afraid to gamble in big spots, like when he surprised Anthony Zinno with a raise-call for almost 20 big blinds holding king-jack, and he'll take that fearless attitude to the final table.

Player Chips Progress
Julian Thomas de
Julian Thomas
535,000

Tags: Julian Thomas

Seat 5: Viacheslav Buldygin, 26, Sverdlovsk/Russia, 1,230,000

Viacheslav Buldygin
Viacheslav Buldygin

Not much is known about Buldygin, a young Russian player who has reportedly done well online. That would be the likely explanation for Buldygin's ability to play in some of the high-stakes live events, considering he had no live cashes until August 2015.

Since then, he has been unafraid to mix it up within the nosebleeds of the EPT, with three of his four live cashes coming in EPT High Rollers to account for most of his $258,094. Buldygin has been close to grabbing wins twice but finished runner-up in a pair of Malta events. He's a bit hot right now after cashing the €10,000 prelim event here at EPT Prague for €20,250.

Player Chips Progress
Viacheslav Buldygin ru
Viacheslav Buldygin
1,230,000

Tags: Viacheslav Buldygin

Seat 6: Juha Helppi, 39, Turku/Finland, 1,615,000

Juha Helppi
Juha Helppi

Among the high roller community, few have been doing it as long as Helppi, whose first live cash came way back in the day at an event called Helsinki Freezeout 2001 for just over $5,000. The Finn has come a very long way since then with over $6.5 million in cashes and nary a score bigger than $400,000. Helppi has experienced his share of success on EPT high rollers, with five top-five finishes.

One of those came in this very event two years ago, when Helppi finished fourth for €269,360 in a tournament won by Leonid Markin. He tends to be the quiet sort at the table, contrasting him a bit with some of his opponents here, but the Finn will be drawing on a vast well of experience.

Player Chips Progress
Juha Helppi fi
Juha Helppi
1,615,000

Tags: Juha Helppi