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