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