Akin Tuna Wins €10,300 No-Limit Hold'em (€125,330)
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Akin Tuna got his first live tournament win, taking down the €10,300 No-Limit Hold'em event that kicked off the first day of 2018 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague. He won €125,330 for topping the modest field of 38 entries that turned out.
Previously, Tuna had a hefty $725,000 in cashes but had narrowly missed two chances at trophies as he finished second in two tournaments, including a previous EPT €10K: the 2012 EPT Dublin €10,300 High Roller.
Then, he was bested by Sam Panzica. This time, Tuna also had some strong competition. However, he prevailed over a final table that included Daniel Dvoress and Davidi Kitai after bagging the chip lead following each of the first two days of the event.
Final Table Money Finishes
| Position | Player | Country | Prize (in EUR) | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Akin Tuna | Turkey | €125,330 | 142,720 |
| 2 | Ognyan Dimov | Bulgaria | €86,620 | 98,675 |
| 3 | Davidi Kitai | Belgium | €55,290 | 62,985 |
| 4 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | €42,390 | 48,289 |
| 5 | Orpen Kisacikoglu | Turkey | €33,170 | 37,786 |
| 6 | Thomas Boivin | Belgium | €25,800 | 29,390 |
It didn't take long for action to heat up on the final day of the event. No sooner had the very first hands been dealt than Orpen Kisacikoglu got his last 15 big blinds in with pocket fives. Unfortunately for him, Ognyan Dimov held tens and busted him in fifth.
High roller regular Dvoress then found himself with top pair in a three-bet pot, except his king-queen was crushed by Tuna's ace-queen. Tuna bet-called a shove and busted possibly his most dangerous opponent to take control of about 60 percent of the chips going three-handed against Dimov and Kitai.
Dimov was twice the shortest of the three but doubled through each opponent, winning a flip against Kitai and holding with top pair against Tuna's overcard and flush draw. Tuna then got Kitai to pay off with what the Belgian bracelet winner said was queens up against a rivered straight, and Kitai lost the rest of his crumbs in short order.
Dimov would find a double heads up and nearly even up stacks, but Tuna proved too much. In the decisive hand, Tuna flopped top set when he three-bet and turned quads against Dimov's flopped straight. Three to a flush kept the pot a bit smaller than it could have been, but Dimov was left with only a few big blinds afterward and conceded defeat on the next hand. He and his small rail congratulated Tuna warmly on the win.
While the first covered event of EPT Prague is in the books, plenty more action remains. The $1,100 EPT National is soaring with over 1,000 entries on the Day 1b flight alone, and other big tournaments still remain. Stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage of buy-ins big and small here in the Czech capital.