2019 PokerStars EPT Prague

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

2019 PokerStars EPT Prague

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
q10
Prize
€725,710
Event Info
Buy-in
€50,000
Prize Pool
€2,134,440
Entries
44
Level Info
Level
21
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
100,000

Stephen Chidwick Wins PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague Super High Roller for €725,710

Level 21 : 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
Stephen Chidwick wins EPT Prague €50,000 Super High Roller
Stephen Chidwick wins EPT Prague €50,000 Super High Roller

Stephen Chidwick defeated a battling Bertrand Grospellier heads-up to win the PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague €50,000 Super High Roller for €725,710.

The Frenchman came into heads-up with a huge deficit to make up, but two double-ups saw him put up a fight. However, the day was Chidwick's who walked away with his 16th six-figure or more cash of the year.

Grospellier meanwhile secured his biggest cash in two and a half years, taking his lifetime earnings above $14.5m.

Final Table Results

PlacePlayerCountryPrize (EUR)Prize (USD)
1stStephen ChidwickUnited Kingdom€725,710$804,123
2ndBertrand GrospellierFrance€501,590$555,787
3rdAdrian MateosSpain€320,170$354,764
4thSteve O'DwyerIreland€245,460$271,982
5thJean-Noel ThorelFrance€192,100$212,856
6thBen HeathUnited Kingdom€149,410$165,554

Winner's Reaction

Coming into the final table third in chips, Chidwick said that the final table is a "fun kind of balancing act."

"You have to change every single hand depending on the stacks," Chidwick told PokerNews. "It depends on how people are playing and it's all about trying to get away with as much as you can. It's about getting in a good chip lead position and that's where you want to be at the final table without risking too many chips."

Chidwick admitted that he had one eye on the Global Poker Index Player of the Year race.

"It's close at the top, so I hope this will help," he said. "I've not had a good record in the big buy-in events at PokerStars festivals. I think this is my first win over 25k at a PokerStars event.

Now over $13m in cashes this year, Chidwick admitted that the cashes will continue to rack up because of the size of the buyins in modern poker.

"I'm always looking to get better year by year, but the biggest difference in recent years is just the size of the buyins."

Final Table
Final Table

Final Day Recap

It didn't take long for the first elimination of the day, with Ben Heath sent packing on just the third hand of the day. Jean-Noel Thorel was the beneficiary, with his sevens holding against Heath's ace-queen to not only eliminate the Brit but also move into the chip lead.

Thorel seemed in command for large portions of the early going, chipping up to within touching distance of five million in chips before the pivotal hand came against Stephen Chidwick.

Chidwick had turned a full house while Thorel had turned a straight. The pair got it in on the river and Chidwick doubled into the lead to sit with almost six of the eleven million in play.

Jean-Noel Thorel
Jean-Noel Thorel

Thorel in Reverse

Yesterday, Bertrand Grospellier scored successive doubles through Thorel, and it seemed that streak of luck for him in the battles between the Frenchmen would continue. Getting it in dominated with king-queen against Thorel's ace-queen, Grospellier spiked a king on the flop to double up.

A further double from Steve O'Dwyer would push Thorel closer to the exit before O'Dwyer delivered the coup de grâce to send the Frenchman packing in fifth.

Chidwick in Command

O'Dwyer and Grospellier would both trim the lead of Chidwick, but he still led the way at the first break of the day. When the four players resumed, it was Chidwick who padded his chip lead by sending O'Dwyer to the rail. After Chidwick opened with aces, he called a three-bet shove from O'Dwyer who held eights and held to move further ahead.

Adrian Mateos came into the final day as chip leader and had a pretty easy time of it up until now. However, he was next to go. Again it was Chidwick who finished him off, holding queen-jack and turning a jack to best the ace-ten of Mateos.

Super High Roller Heads-up
Super High Roller Heads-up

Heads-up Action

Coming into heads-up, Grospellier held 1.6m to Chidwick's 9.4m in the chips. Grospellier battled away, but that didn't stop Chidwick soon opening an even bigger gap. However, two doubles from Grospellier extended the contest including one where Chidwick rivered the nut flush only for his opponent to turn over a straight flush.

However, with the mounting blinds eventually, the chips had to get in, and all it took was a ten on the turn to seal the victory for Chidwick and for him to add another victory to an already illustrious list of poker achievements.

That concludes PokerNews coverage of the largest buy-in event of the PokerStars EPT Prague festival, but there's still plenty of poker going on, including the EPT Prague Main Event which kicked off earlier today.

Stephen Chidwick wins EPT Prague €50,000 Super High Roller
Stephen Chidwick wins EPT Prague €50,000 Super High Roller

Tags: Adrian MateosBen HeathBertrand GrospellierJean-Noel ThorelStephen ChidwickSteve O'Dwyer