Look Out: Michael Eiler

German economics student Michael “MAE9690” Eiler won the PokerStars European Poker Tour Vienna €5,300 no-limit hold’em main event late in October. He topped a field of 587 players in the richest poker tournament ever held in Austria, earning a first prize of €700,000.

The 20-year-old from near Munich beat Czech Team PokerStars pro Martin Hruby heads up to take home his first major live-tournament title. Eiler doubled up to take the lead against Hruby, and never relinquished it. He won the tournament when he flopped the nuts with an ace-high flush against Hruby’s pocket deuces.

“It was my first EPT event, but I’m definitely going to play more now. This is really a happy moment for me. The money is great, obviously, but the title is worth so much to me; an EPT title is a dream for any poker player,” said Eiler.

It wasn’t his first major title, though, as he won the Sunday Million in March, for $283,449. He came out on top of a much larger field in that event — 10,122 opponents, to be exact. Eiler plays mainly online, and he won his EPT Vienna seat in an online satellite on PokerStars just 10 days before his tournament win. His newfound live-tournament success should make him a familiar face on the tournament trail.

He is the first German winner on the EPT since Team PokerStars pro Sandra Naujoks won the EPT Dortmund championship in season 5. Eiler also earned a spot in the EPT Player of the Year top 10 as a result of his performance in the Austrian capital. He is in a tie for seventh place with EPT London winner David Vamplew. Eiler also leads the Online Qualifier of the Year race, stealing the top spot from EPT Tallinn winner Kevin Stani.

Eiler captured 1,920 points in the Card Player 2010 Player of the Year race, as well. That big score may have come too late for him to be a factor in this year’s race, but it puts him in 75th place, tied with Vamplew and Stani. ♠