Stephen Chidwick Wins European Poker Tour Prague €50,000 High Roller

Stephen Chidwick topped a field of 44 total entries to win the 2019 European Poker Tour Prague €50,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller event. The 30-year-old poker pro from Deal, England earned $805,538 as the champion of this event. The score brought his lifetime live earnings to over $33.3 million, which saw him surpass Fedor Holz to move into seventh place on poker’s all-time money list.

This was Chidwick’s fifth title and 21st final-table finish of the year. In addition to a trophy and the money, Chidwick also earned 510 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. He was already leading the POY race sponsored by Global Poker, but this latest run to the winner’s circle helped him further cement his hold on the top spot. Chidwick now has 7,344 total points, putting him 1,121 ahead of his nearest competitor. He has now accrued $7,269,794 in year-to-date earnings in POY-qualified events in 2019.

The final day of this event began with Adrian Mateos in the lead, with France’s Jean-Noel Thorel hot on his heels. Chidwick sat in third chip position of the six remaining players when action resumed for day 3. Short stack Ben Heath was the first player eliminated when he lost a preflop race holding AQ up against the pocket sevens of Thorel. The Frenchman made a set on the river to send Heath to the rail in sixth place. He earned €149,410 ($165,845 USD).

Chidwick surged into the lead during five handed play, winning a key pot with a turned full house against the turned straight of Thorel. The Frenchman was ultimately the next to be knocked out, losing with QJ against the K10 of Steve O’Dwyer. Thorel secured €192,100 ($213,231 USD) as the fifth-place finisher.

Despite knocking out Thorel, O’Dwyer was the next to join him on the sidelines. He got his last chips in with pocket eights, only to run into the pocket aces of Chidwick. Neither player improved and O’Dwyer earned €245,460 ($272,461 USD) for his fourth-place showing.

Adrian Mateos was left as the shortest stack when three-handed action began. The Spanish poker pro has been one of the hottest players on the tournament in recent weeks, having won three titles since the middle of November. Mateos was unable to keep his title streak alive in this event, though. He ultimately got his last chips in with A10 up against the QJ of Chidwick, who had three-bet shoved over his button open. Chidwick made a pair of jacks on the turn to knock Mateos out in third place. He was awarded €320,170 ($355,389 USD) for his latest deep run.

With that Chidwick took a sizable lead into heads-up play with Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier. The two battled it out for a while, with Elky closing the gap and then falling behind again a few times. At one point he managed to double up by making a straight flush against Chidwick’s ace-high flush.

By the time the final hand arose, Chidwick had rebuilt his advantage to more than a 3.5:1 lead. Chidwick raised to 200,000 from the button with Q10 and Grospellier moved all in for 2,375,000 holding AK. Chidwick called and the J52109 runout gave him a winning pair of tens to secure the pot and the title. Grospellier locked up €501,590 ($556,765 USD) for his runner-up finish.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Photo credit: Neil Stoddart / Rational Intellectual Holdings Limited.

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