€5,300 Main Event | 2025 PokerStars EPT Prague

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12-14-2025 11:16 UTC+1

Vitezslav Cech Looking to Keep EPT Prague Main Event Trophy on Home Soil as Seven Return for Final Day

Frank Visser

After nearly two weeks, the 2025 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague has reached its final day. The €5,300 Main Event's 1,224 entries have been whittled down to just seven players over the past five days, who will return to the Hilton Hotel Prague at 12:30 p.m. local time to crown a new EPT champion and divide the lion's share of the €5,936,400 prize pool.

Among the seven hopefuls is Vitezslav Cech, a hometown player who earned the vast majority of tournament cashes listed on his The Hendon Mob page in his native country. Highlights of his poker career include a victory in the €330 PokerStars Cup at the PokerStars Festival Rozvadov in 2017, a 24th place in the EPT Prague Main Event in December 2022, and a tenth-place finish in the EPT Prague €1,650 PokerStars Open only a couple of days ago. Those runs all netted him five-figure scores, but pale in comparison to the €1,019,300 reserved for the champion today.

Cech is aiming to become only the second Czech champion in EPT history behind Jan Skampa, who claimed the crown in Prague in 2009. Returning with a stack of 2,400,000, or 16 big blinds, Cech will have his work cut out for him as the only player with fewer chips is Irishman Conor O'Driscoll (1,225,000). Greek player Dimitrios Gkatzas (3,075,000) and India's first-ever EPT finalist Paawan Bansal (2,625,000) also hover around 20 big blinds, while Bora Kurtulus, a civil engineer from Turkey, returns as the runaway chipleader, bringing 12,325,000 chips back to the final table.

Final Table Seat Draw and Chip Counts

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Dimitrios Gkatzas	Greece	3,075,000	21
2	Paawan Bansal	India	2,625,000	18
3	Vitezslav Cech	Czechia	2,400,000	16
4	Bora Kurtulus	Turkey	12,325,000	82
5	Conor O'Driscoll	Ireland	1,225,000	8
6	Matan Krakow	Israel	9,700,000	65
7	Traian Stanciu	Romania	5,325,000	36

Meanwhile, Israel's Matan Krakow (9,700,000) and Traian Stanciu (5,325,000) from Romania will have to navigate their middling stacks carefully. Although the players have all locked up €159,150 with their final-day appearance, the steep pay jumps mean that climbing even one spot on the payout ladder makes a big difference at the payout desk.

Remaining Payouts

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1			€ 1,019,300
2			€ 636,405
3			€ 454,550
4			€ 349,650
5			€ 269,000
6			€ 206,900
7			€ 159,150
8	Ding Fan	China	€ 122,400
9	Thomas Bazin	France	€ 94,150

The final seven will return to blinds of 75,000/150,000, with a 150,000 big blind ante. Instead of a set amount of time, each level will play 30 hands before the stakes rise. Breaks will take place at the players' and tournament directors' discretion. The PokerStars YouTube and Twitch channels will stream the final table live, cards-up on a 30-minute delay. The live report will follow the same delay, with the coverage expected to start at 1 p.m. local time.

The conclusion of the 2025 EPT Season is here, and PokerNews will report every key hand until a new name has been added to the EPT history books today in Prague. Stay tuned as coverage of the road to the crowning of a new EPT champion gets underway shortly.

Tags: Bora Kurtulus Conor O'Driscoll Dimitrios Gkatzas Ding Fan Jan Skampa Matan Krakow Paawan Bansal Thomas Bazin Traian Stanciu Vitezslav Cech

12-14-2025 10:51 UTC+1

Seat 1: Dimitrios Gkatzas, 39, Thessaloniki, Greece (3,075,000)

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David Salituro

After finishing 14th in the EPT Prague Main Event last year, Greece’s Dimitrios Gkatzas has managed to go even further this time around, reaching the first major final of his career.

Having played poker for around 15 years, he says he is mainly a PLO player, but seems to find his two-card mojo in this venue. “In hold’em, I usually only play small tournaments, but the Czech Republic has been good to me!” he says.

Just a few months ago, he secured his biggest ever payday, narrowly missing out on the deepest stages of the WSOP-E Main Event in Rozvadov. But he’s already beaten that score here in Prague, and becomes the first Greek player to an EPT final since Symeon Alexandridis, also here in Prague, in 2022. It’s been 11 years since the first and only Greek EPT winner: Sotirios Koutoupas, in Deauville in 2014.

“I feel very good and focused,” Gkatzas says as he aims to follow in those footsteps.

Final table bios courtesy of Jan Kores/PokerStars

Career statistics

Career earnings: $479,344
EPT cashes: 1
Best result: 14th, 2024 EPT Prague

Tournament progression

Day 1: 105,000 (85/255, 1B)
Day 2: 112,000 (106/163)
Day 3: 440,000 (34/45)
Day 4: 3,060,000 (5/16)
Day 5: 3,075,000 (4/7)

Event highlights

Gkatzas had most of his chips in the middle on Day 4 as Roman Stoica was all in for 1,070,000. It was a classic flip, Stoica’s queens against Gkatzas’ ace-king, and Gkatzas ended up with trips to win the pot and send Stoica to the rail.

Gkatzas also won a flip on Day 5, his ace-queen hitting top pair on the flop to beat Tobias Peters’ two nines and send Peters out in 11th place.

Tags: Dimitrios Gkatzas

12-14-2025 10:51 UTC+1

Seat 2: Paawan Bansal, 35, Gurugram, India (2,625,000)

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David Salituro

Paawan Bansal used to specialize in cash games. But apart from being a poker player, he is also an avid world traveller, so naturally decided to combine both passions by playing live tournaments.

“The EPT is so well run and takes place in some of the nicest cities in the world,” Bansal says. “I love Prague.” He adds that he visited the city on a non-poker trip in 2016, as well as last year to play. But this is by far his most successful trip.

Bansal comes from the most populous country in the world, but he has now become the first Indian ever to make it this far in an EPT Main Event. “Oh wow, I didn’t know that,” Bansal says after learning of his accomplishment. “As if the pay jumps weren’t enough, now it adds to the pressure,” he laughs.

But he also adds that he’s planning to focus on enjoying himself and “having the best experience possible.” He continues: “You have ups and downs, sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t.”

Bansal used to be a runner, mainly a sprinter, with a 100m PB of 11.4 seconds. He also lists scuba diving among a clutch of active hobbies.

Final table bios courtesy of Jan Kores/PokerStars

Career statistics

Career earnings: $914,891
EPT cashes: 3
Best result: 36th, 2025 EPT Malta

Tournament progression

Day 1: 89,000 (116/255, 1B)
Day 2: 850,000 (1/163)
Day 3: 1,315,000 (7/45)
Day 4: 1,835,000 (12/16)
Day 5: 2,625,000 (5/7)

Event highlights

After losing most of his chips in a failed bluff attempt against Bora Kurtulus on Day 5, Bansal fell down to just two big blinds near the final table. He then hit a queen on the turn to beat Matan Krakow’s ace-high and double up, flopped a set of sevens to win a pot off Krakow, before finally waking up with two kings to double up off Kurtulus back up over 3,000,000.

Tags: Paawan Bansal

12-14-2025 10:51 UTC+1

Seat 3: Vitezslav Cech, 35, Prague, Czech Republic (2,400,000)

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David Salituro

Vitezslav Cech started playing poker as a teenager, with his friends from Prague’s Řepy neighborhood. From that group, he is the only player who eventually turned pro – a patient grind leading to this moment, the biggest of the 35-year-old’s career.

It all started when he and his buddies used to skip school classes to play at Full Tilt Poker. Then Cech took a job as a barista in Starbucks on Wenceslas Square, while grinding the $2.50 180-player sit-and- gos at PokerStars on the side.

But it’s always been the big-field MTTs that drew Cech’s attention. Even while he was focusing on playing online tournaments, he used to watch all WSOP and EPT streams, hoping one day he would reach the level to compete in them.

For a few years, Cech used to live just a two-minute walk from the Hilton Prague, and he regularly played at the annual EPT festival. He moved to a different flat several years ago, but his home EPT has stayed on his radar.

Last year, the birth of his first son meant he skipped pretty much all the festival, but he has returned in top form this year. He finished 10th in the PokerStars Open Main Event and has now beaten even that by reaching the EPT Main Event final.

Final table bios courtesy of Jan Kores/PokerStars

Career statistics

Career earnings: $239,728
EPT cashes: 2
Best result: 24th, 2022 EPT Prague

Tournament progression

Day 1: 249,500 (3/124, 1A)
Day 2: 373,000 (28/163)
Day 3: 2,025,000 (2/45)
Day 4: 2,585,000 (7/16)
Day 5: 2,400,000 (6/7)

Event highlights

Cech climbed up over 5,000,000 on Day 5 when he called Conor O’Driscoll’s big river raise of 950,000 with a ten-high flush.

Cech also busted Xiaowen Zhao in the lead up to the final table, winning a race with two fives against Zhao’s queen-jack.

Tags: Vitezslav Cech

12-14-2025 10:51 UTC+1

Seat 4: Bora Kurtulus, 54, Antalya, Turkey (12,325,000)

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David Salituro

“I smoke a lot, can we go outside?” was the first thing Bora Kurtulus said when approached for a quick interview ahead of the final table. The 54-year-old from Antalya spends most of the EPT breaks in front of the Hilton Hotel entrance.

“I’m old and tired,” Kurtulus says, listing the disadvantages he has against the EPT field. His reported live cashes, earned mostly in Cyprus, totalled less than $60,000 before he took EPT Prague by storm.

He claims that he typically plays events that quickly turn into an all-in bonanza, but says this stage suits him better, emphasizing that he really likes the EPT structure.

“You can stay calm, play your game, be patient,” he says. “You can even make a big bluff as it’s very deep.”

Kurtulus plays one or two EPT Main Events every year, but this is his first ever cash. It’s been a remarkable run, with Kurtulus now becoming only the seventh Turkish player to reach an EPT Main Event final. None has ever won one. The best result is Muhtar Taysi’s third-place finish at EPT Sochi in 2021.

“It’s stressful,” Kurtulus admits, referencing the payouts. “But it’s also been a lot of fun.”
Kurtulus says that he treats poker only as a hobby. As a civil engineer from Antalya, he is used to traveling to many countries. In recent years, he’s mostly worked on construction projects in Africa, specifically in Nigeria.

Final table bios courtesy of Jan Kores/PokerStars

Career statistics

Career earnings: $58,364
EPT cashes: None
Best result: None

Tournament progression

Day 1: 112,000 (42/124, 1A)
Day 2: 217,000 (62/163)
Day 3: 975,000 (12/45)
Day 4: 3,355,000 (2/16)
Day 5: 12,325,000 (1/7)

Event highlights

Kurtulus doubled up on Day 3 when he flopped the nut straight against Ivan Uzunov’s turned set of queens

Kurtulus began his ascent to the top on Day 4 when he picked up two aces to bust Maria Lampropulos in 14th place. He then picked off a big bluff from Paawan Bansal, calling a bet of 1,220,000 on the river with a straight while Bansal could only show king-high.

At the final table, he called Thomas Bazin’s all-in shove for 645,000 with ace-ten and flopped top pair to beat Bazin’s king-jack and send the Frenchman to the rail in ninth place

Tags: Bora Kurtulus

12-14-2025 10:50 UTC+1

Seat 5: Conor O'Driscoll, 36, Ireland, lives in London, UK (1,225,000)

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David Salituro

A familiar face to Twitch poker fans, Irishman Conor O'Driscoll is a regular streamer contesting tournaments and cash games, and is a member of the same online poker communities as PokerStars Ambassadors Spraggy and Lex Veldhuis.

A fan of a bankroll challenge, he is also, as of last year, a WCOOP champion, making two final tables in the same event on the same night — and beating a field of more than 6,000 to land a title. (He sat alongside Spraggy at one of those FTs).

Though he has made numerous deep runs in huge tournaments in the UK, Ireland and further afield, including a UKIPT Main Event final table, this EPT Prague run marks a significant step forward. He'll record the biggest cash of his career whatever happens on Sunday.

It’s taken some getting used to.

“I’m not used to the spotlight,” he says. “I prefer my tiny camera at home.”

Final table bios courtesy of Jan Kores/PokerStars

Career statistics

Career earnings: $631,999
EPT cashes: None
Best result: None

Tournament progression

Day 1: 86,500 (61/124, 1A)
Day 2: 540,000 (12/163)
Day 3: 825,000 (19/45)
Day 4: 3,530,000 (1/16)
Day 5: 1,225,000 (7/7)

Event highlights

O’Driscoll earned two big double ups off former chip leader Gianfranco Iaculli on Day 4, first calling for 630,000 with ace-king and beating Iaculli’s ace-five, then picking up ace-king once more and doubling for 1,305,000 against king-jack as he swapped places with Iaculli atop the leaderboard.

O’Driscoll increased his lead early on Day 5 when he got a five-bet bluff through against Vitezslav Cech. He slid down the leaderboard approaching the final table, before recouping some of his chips after flopping a full house and getting paid on a 1,000,000 river bet by Ding Fan.

Tags: Conor O'Driscoll

12-14-2025 10:50 UTC+1

Seat 6: Matan Krakow, 44, Tel Aviv, Israel (9,700,000)

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David Salituro

“My wife always knows that I will be gone in December,” says Matan Krakow, who has been a regular at EPT Prague for years. Krakow loves the Czech capital, and while he claimed to have had “no significant results yet,” this is actually his third EPT Main Event cash. He’s previously made the money here in Prague and once in Malta.

Krakow works as a poker manager for an online poker site, so he knows the industry from the other side as well. Playing on the biggest stage for a million euros, however, is a unique experience. “I respect the pay-jumps, but I don’t want to be stressed about it,” Krakow says “I want to stay relaxed.”

The 44-year-old has a background in journalism, and helped co-write Eli Elezra’s autobiography Pulling the Trigger, before he started seriously competing in poker himself. Now he has the chance to become only the second EPT Main Event champion from Israel, matching the achievement of Uri Gilboa who won in Sochi in 2019.

Final table bios courtesy of Jan Kores/PokerStars

Career statistics

Career earnings: $461,652
EPT cashes: 2
Best result: 109th, 2015 EPT Malta

Tournament progression

Day 1: 211,500 (5/124, 1A)
Day 2: 673,000 (7/163)
Day 3: 1,065,000 (9/45)
Day 4: 2,705,000 (6/16)
Day 5: 9,700,000 (2/7)

Event highlights

Krakow was knocked down to just 180,000 late on Day 4 before two timely double ups. He then shoved the river in a big pot against Paawan Bansal near the end of the day as he climbed back up past 2,500,000.

On Day 5, Krakow called Vasyl Pidhrusnyi’s shove for 415,000 with two deuces, but Pidhrusnyi had pocket nines and was poised for a double up until Krakow spiked a set on the river. Ding Fan then moved all in for 1,550,000 at the final table and Conor O’Driscoll called. Krakow, though, woke up with two queens on the button and reshoved to force out O’Driscoll. He stayed in the lead against Fan’s two nines, sending Fan to the rail in eighth place.

Tags: Matan Krakow

12-14-2025 10:50 UTC+1

Seat 7: Traian Stanciu, 30, Bucharest, Romania (5,325,000)

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David Salituro

From Rozvadov to Cyprus, via Paris, Sanremo and Campione, Traian Stanciu has been travelling across Europe as a poker player for several years.

“I’ve been playing for nine years, but in recent years, we could say poker has become my job,” he says.

For all that, this final table at EPT Prague marks not only his first deep run in an EPT Main Event, but also his best live career performance and his biggest cash to date. He says: “Obviously, I’m very happy, especially since I’ve been mentally preparing for this moment for a month!”

The 30-year-old from Bucharest starts the final day with a healthy stack and will be supported by a whole group of Romanian players, including PSO Campione winner Adrian State. But his real lucky charm is waiting further away, in Romania: his six-month-old daughter.

Final table bios courtesy of Jan Kores/PokerStars

Career statistics

Career earnings: $379,660
EPT cashes: None
Best result: None

Tournament progression

Day 1: 77,000 (133/255, 1B)
Day 2: 167,000 (81/163)
Day 3: 710,000 (25/45)
Day 4: 3,110,000 (4/16)
Day 5: 5,325,000 (3/7)

Event highlights

Stanciu was all in for 340,000 right at the end of Day 3 with two queens against Merijn van Rooij’s ace-seven. Van Rooij spiked an ace on the flop to take the lead, and Stanciu was one card from elimination until he hit a two-outer on the river and made a set to double up.

Stanciu doubled up again on Day 4 when his two aces held on against Ding Fan’s straight and flush draws.

On Day 5, Stanciu woke up with two kings and called when Filippo Ragone shoved for 1,280,000 on the final table bubble, beating Ragone’s king-ten to send him out in 10th place.

Tags: Traian Stanciu

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