European Poker Tour -- Kevin Macphee Wins Berlin Main EventMacPhee Tops a Field of 945 Players from 48 Countries and Wins €1 Million |
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The final table of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Berlin €5,000 no-limit hold’em main event was held today at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Berlin. Things had returned to normal after an armed robbery disrupted play yesterday and the focus was once again back on poker. A top prize of €1 million waited for the champion who would eventually top the record field of 945 players from 48 countries. Here is a look at the chip counts when play began:
Seat 1: Marko Neumann — 2,185,000
Seat 2: Marc Inizan — 3,655,000
Seat 3: Kevin MacPhee — 6,070,000 (pictured right)
Seat 4: Artur Wasek — 3,530,000
Seat 5: Marcel Koller — 3,590,000
Seat 6: Nico Behling — 960,000
Seat 7: Ketul Nathwani — 4,685,000
Seat 8: Ilari Tahkokallio — 3,940,000
The first elimination came just a few minutes after cards got into the air when the short stack Nico Behling moved all in preflop and Marcel Koller made the call. Behling held A-Q (he had previously moved all in on the first hand at the final table with A-Q but chopped the pot) and he was up against the pocket tens of Koller. The board brought nothing but blanks and Behling was eliminated in eighth place for €72,000. Marko Neumann was the next player at risk and he did so with A-K. He was racing against the pocket sevens of Kevin MacPhee and the board ran out 8-7-6-8-9. Neumann was eliminated in seventh place and he was awarded €120,000, while MacPhee grew his chip lead to 10 million.
The eliminations kept coming at a brisk pace when Koller moved all in for 2,395,000 preflop with A-Q and Ilari Tahkokallio made the call with pocket queens. Koller found no help on the board and hit the rail in sixth place. He took home €165,000. Tahkokallio grew his stack to 7 million and looked to have the best chance of chasing down MacPhee at that point of the final table. Almost an hour later MacPhee pulled away from the field again and he grew his stack to 14 million. The extra chips were a gift from Ketul Nathwani, who was eliminated in fifth place and took home €210,000. His A-6 was dominated by the A-9 of MacPhee and the board rolled out 9-4-3-5-Q to seal the deal.
The battle for fourth place took almost three hours to decide after that and it took a cooler to bring it to an end. Artur Wasek moved all in preflop for 1,655,000 and Marc Inizan made the call. Wasek pinned his tournament hopes on pocket queens but Inizan held pocket kings. The board issued no lead changes but it did provide a sweat when the flop came J-10-9. The turn and river fizzled with a 2 and a 4 though, and Inizan was eliminated in fourth place, taking home €280,000. After this hand the final three players went to dinner break. Tahkokallio had taken a slight chip lead during the long battle for third place and he now paced the field. Here is what the stacks looked like at the break:
Ilari Tahkokallio: 12,260,000
Kevin MacPhee: 10,760,000
Marc Inizan: 5,690,000
Inizan was active on the shortest stack left in play when the final three returned from dinner, but his luck ran out when he decided to check-raise for 890,000 on a flop of J
8
7 after MacPhee opened the round of betting with a wager of 360,000. MacPhee quickly reraised to 1.72 million and Inizan reraised all in. MacPhee made the call and they turned over their cards:
MacPhee: 10 9
Inizan: J 10
Turn and River: 4 and A
Inizan was eliminated in third place and he took home €350,000. MacPhee added to his stack at just the right time and he took a nice chip lead into the heads-up final. Here were the chip counts when cards got into the air between the final two:
MacPhee: 17,675,000
Tahkokallio: 11,035,000
MacPhee increased his lead to 23 million before Tahkokallio was able to double up and gain some ground. He moved all in for 5.65 million on 6 3 2
Q board with 2 2 in the hole and MacPhee made the call with K 4. The river brought the 8 and Tahkokallio doubled up to 11.62 million thanks to his set of deuces. Tahkokallio then used his momentum to take the chip lead in a big pot where he induced MacPhee to muck on a 6-4-3-6-A board with a 900,000 bet. He held 15.5 million over MacPhee’s 13 million even. The chip lead then swung back in MacPhee’s favor in the next hand of consequence. On a 7-7-6-Q-J flop with two clubs Tahkokallio tabled 8 5 for a busted open-ended straight flush draw and MacPhee won the hand with Q-9 to take the lead.
He increased that lead to 18.5 million when he turned a straight against his opponent a few minutes later and then MacPhee began to close in on victory. The final hand came when MacPhee raised to 700,000 preflop and Tahkokallio made the call. The flop was dealt 5 4 2 and Tahkokallio bet, MacPhee raised, and Tahkokallio moved all in for 8,995,000. MacPhee made the call and they flipped over their cards:
MacPhee: 4 3
Tahkokallio: 9 6
Turn and River: J and 6
Tahkokallio was eliminated in runner-up position on the exciting final hand and he was awarded €600,000. That made MacPhee the champion after a heads-up battle that lasted three and a half hours. MacPhee, a 29-year old Idaho resident that plays online as “ImaLuckSac” and qualified for this event on PokerStars, was awarded the huge top prize worth €1,000,000. He also took home the EPT trophy and he now has a seat waiting for him in the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final in April.
Final-Table Results:
1 – Kevin MacPhee, USA, PokerStars qualifier, €1,000,000
2 – Ilari Tahkokallio, Finland, €600,000
3 – Marc Inizan, France, €350,000
4 – Artur Wasek, Poland, €280,000
5 – Ketul Nathwani, UK, PokerStars player, €210,000
6 – Marcel Koller, Switzerland, €165,000
7 – Marko Neumann, Germany, PokerStars qualifier, €120,000
8 – Nico Behling, Germany, €72,000
The next EPT event will be the Snowfest stop in the Austrian ski resort town of Saalbach/Hinterglemm. The main event will take place on Mar. 21-26.
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