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

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