In the first hand of todays final table, Ivan Soshnikov raised it up to 80,000 from the cut off. Valdimir Troyanovskiy defended his big blind and both players watched the flop come down .
A round of checks followed before the dealer produced the on the turn. Troyanovskiy then led out for 100,000 which was quickly called before the completed the board.
A final bet of 200,000 from Troyanovskiy was enough to take down the pot as Soshnikov mucked his hand.
For the past two days, the Hilton Prague Hotel has played host to the European Poker Tour Season 11 Prague €50,000 Super High Roller, an event that drew 42 unique players that accounted for nine re-entries to create a prize pool of €2,448,765. Seven of those players remain in contention for the €771,360 first-place prize, with each guaranteeing themselves at least a minimum payday of €128,565.
The man best positioned to make a run at the title is Leonid Markin, who leads the final table with 3,350,000. On the flip side, Brian Roberts will start as the short stack with 275,000. Other still in contention are Vladimir Troyanovskiy, Juha Helppi, Ivan Soshnikov, Paul Newey, and Stephen Chidwick.
Play will resume in Level 17 (20,000/40,000/5,000), so expect the action to begin right from the start of proceedings.
EPT 11 Prague Super High Roller Final Table
Seat
Player
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Stephen Chidwick
660,000
16.5
2
Paul Newey
1,510,000
37.8
3
Juha Helppi
2,030,000
50.8
4
Ivan Soshnikov
1,925,000
48.1
6
Brian Roberts
275,000
6.9
7
Leonid Markin
3,350,000
83.8
8
Vladimir Troyanovskiy
3,000,000
75
Action will kick off at 12:00pm local time so be sure to join us then as we bring you all the action and eliminations from the €50,000 Super High Roller here in Prague! In the meantime, check out the profiles of the seven finalists.
Stephen Chidwick has been a fixture at the international live tournament poker tables for the last couple of years. He first made a name for himself at the online tables as "stevie444", but proved friend and foe he knows how to translate his online skills to the live felt.
Last year he had an amazing run right here at the EPT Prague finishing third in both the EUREKA Main Event (€92,500) and EPT Main Event (€378,000), his biggest score to date. His stare down and cool demeanor at the table is rivaled by few.
Chidwick brings 660,000 to the final table at 12, which translates to just over 16 big blinds.
Paul Newey hasn't been around for too long, but he's made an impression on everyone. The first time the poker world got to know Newey was when he participated in the inaugural The Big One for One Drop tournament in Las Vegas, a one million dollar buy in event. Newey. Newey didn't cash in the event that year, but he did this year. He started out as the shortstack on the bubble, but sneaked into the money for $1,418,667. Newey also cashed in this years PCA $25,000 High Roller, finishing in 11th place for $110,740.
Newey sold his business a couple of years ago and has been enjoying the good life ever since. Newey is known for playing high stakes games all over the world, as well as enjoying high stakes slot machines – which he tweets about regularly as “topdollarman”. During the EPT Grand Final, two seasons ago Newey participated in the first televised cash game from Monaco, walking away a winner.
Juha Helppi has been playing European Poker Tour events as long as we can remember. His biggest score in the tour is an 8th place finish in Copenhagen 2011 though, netting him about $54,000.
Outside of the EPT Main Events, Helppi has been doing really well for himself with numerous cashes in High Roller events, and deep runs in tournaments all over the world. His biggest cash to date is his runner up finish in a $1,000 WSOP event in Vegas for $331,144.
Helppi qualified for this event through a €5k satellite – the only satellite winner to make the money - so he's already making a bigger profit on this tournament than anyone else.
Ivan "vandir4rek" Soshnikov won this years Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) $10,300 Main Event for $1,048,000 after making a deal three handed. World champion Martin Jacobson, who bubbled this Super High Roller, was fourth in the SCOOP Main Event.
Soshnikov won last years €10,000 EPT High Roller for €382,050, beating Olivier Busquet heads up. He also cashed in this years PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final €10,000 High Roller, the €10,000 High Roller at the WPT in North Cyprus, and the HK$ 250,000 High Roller in Macau. Let's just say Soshnikov is a true high roller, currently having the best year of his life poker wise.