December 10 2011, Eric Ramsey

Saturday was the final day of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Prague, and the requisite eight players returned to the felt to play down to a champion. What looked like a short day turned into a bit of a long one, but in the end, Martin Finger was the man left standing alone with all the chips in play, the Shamballa bracelet, and the shiny EPT trophy.

The first order of business on Day 5 was to knock out the last 31 minutes of the previous level left over from the night before. During those opening orbits, Mads Wissing was sent to the rail as the first elimination of the day. Wissing was very short on chips entering the final table, and he made a late-position shove with . He couldn’t sneak the raise through. Guillem Usero woke up with right next door, and Wissing could not catch up on the board. He was sent off in eighth place with a consolation prize of “66,700.

Andreas Wiese lost most of his stack in the second level of the day after losing a race against Usero. Wiese was unable to fully recover after his run in with Usero. After doubling his short stack once, Wiese got his money in with against Martin Finger’s with a chance at another double. It didn’t go well for him, though, and the dealer ran out a board to eliminate the Wiese in seventh place (“90,000).

When the table was reduced to six, Ari “BodogAri” Engel was riding the shortest stack, and he was the next to fall. Like Wiese before him, Engel did manage one crucial double before dropping down to zero just a few minutes later. It was that was responsible for his demise, and Finger’s was never in trouble on the board. Engel, who’s made more than $2.5 million online, notched his largest live cash (“125,000) in his first EPT event.

Denys Drobyna made it through the next break before being relieved of his last 15 big blinds. The ace-rags were going around for the short stacks, and looked plenty good enough for Drobyna to go with. Unfortunately for him, David Boyaciyan woke up with right next to him, and Drobyna never had a chance. The board ran , and Drobyna was forced to settle for “160,000 and a fifth-place finish.

Usero had an up-and-down day, but he was mostly trending in the right direction until his elimination in fourth place. He had been stagnant around 20 big blinds when he pushed in with . Ace-rag strikes again. Finger woke up with . Usero managed to find a flush draw on a suited flop, but the turn and river bricked to seal his fate. Fourth place was worth “205,000, though, the first career six-figure score for the 21-year-old.

France’s Nicolas Levi might have been the odds-on favorite heading into the day with his second-place stack. During the first partial level of the day, though, Levi was crippled in a massive cooler against David Boyaciyan. On a flop, the two men got it all-in with more than a third of the chips in play. Levi had flopped bottom two with , but he was drawing practically dead when Boyaciyan snapped him off with .

Levi’s stack was reduced by about two-thirds, and he did well to keep his head above water until three-handed play. That’s as far as his run went. He shoved with on his final hand, and he even managed to hit a pair on the flop. Finger’s had a ton of outs, however, and the on the turn was enough to send Levi on his way with a “270,000 consolation prize.

That left Finger and Boyaciyan heads up for the trophy, and the latter was facing more than a 2:1 chip deficit. They decided to chop it up with Finger taking “620,000 and Boyaciyan “535,000, and they left the remaining “100,000 on the table for the champ. Usually a chop tends to hasten the conclusion of a tournament, but that was not the case for the two finalists.

Boyaciyan chipped away at his opponent with methodical timing, and Finger began to struggle to win pots. After hours of battling, the Boyaciyan actually pipped into the chip lead, but his advantage lasted only a few hands. In one of the biggest hands of the day, Finger made a big shove on the turn to fold his opponent and regain a commanding chip lead, and the war was over just as short time later.

On the last hand, Boyaciyan got his money in with pocket tens flipping against , and a pair of cowboys on the flop put the trophy in Finger’s hand. It’s the third victory for the Germans in this eighth season of the EPT, and it’s Martin Finger that they’re toasting to tonight.

2011 EPT Prague Results

That wraps up the coverage from Prague and the first half of the EPT8 Season. Next stop: Paradise. The tour is headed to the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, and we’ll be forced to escape winter’s grasp and head down to the islands for ten days in the tropics. In the meantime, you should follow us on Twitter to keep up with bits of poker news from all the world around.

Follow Eric Ramsey on Twitter – @Eric_Ramsey

December 10 2011, Donnie Peters

Day 4 of the 2011 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Prague Main Event concluded on Friday and the official final table was set. Martin Finger leads the way with 5.8 million in chips. He’s closely trailed by Nicolas Levi with 5.69 million.

When the day began, 31 players remained. The first player eliminated on the day was Sharon Volfer. That elimination was followed by the busting of Team PokerStars Pro Juan Manuel Pastor in 30th place. The other Team Pro still remaining, Jude Ainsworth, ran all the way down to the final two tables before he fell in 14th place.

Ainsworth’s demise came in two back-to-back hands that saw him first lose chips to Andreas Wiese and then get eliminated by Patrick Renkers.

On the first hand, action folded to Ainsworth in the small blind and he put in a min-raise to 60,000. Wiese, in the big blind, three-bet to 155,000. After some time tanking, Ainsworth four-bet to what looked to be 255,000. Wiese quickly stuck all of his money in and Ainsworth snap-folded. That left Ainsworth with under 700,000 in chips before losing the rest on the very next hand.

From the button, Ainsworth raised to 62,000 with 624,000 behind. Renkers was in the big blind and three-bet to 135,000. Ainsworth studied the situation and just called, opting to see a flop in position with 551,000 behind.

The pot stood at 313,000 and the flop fell . Renkers tossed out a bet of 145,000. Ainsworth didn’t take too long before raising all-in for 551,000. Renkers snapped and tabled the . Ainsworth held for top pair.

Ainsworth was behind the overpair for Renkers and stayed behind after the turn brought the . He was looking for a lucky six on the river, or an ace. He could also chop the pot if a seven fell. The peeled off and that wasn’t what Ainsworth needed. He sent over his chips to Renkers, who assumed the chip lead once again with that pot.

Other notables falling short of the final table included former EPT champion Mike McDonald (27th), Australia’s Jason Gray (19th) and young British superstar Chris Moorman (15th).

Start-of-the-day chip leader, Renkers was the final elimination of the day. His ninth-place finish solidified an official final table appearance for the other eight players at EPT Prague and sent everyone home from the day.

Guillem Usero raised to 105,000 in early position, and Finger flatted from two seats over. Next however, Renkers squeezed in a reraise to 185,000, and that folded Usero out of the way. Finger wasn’t going anywhere, though, and he shoved all-in over the top. The call came instantly, and the two men were very close in chips as they turned over their coin flip.

Finger:
Renkers:

Finger grabbed the lead as the dealer gave him a friendly flop, and Renkers would not be able to catch back up. The turn and river completed the board, and the Dutchman could not find any love from the ladies.

Final Table Seat Draw

The final table will commence Saturday at 1200 CET (0300 PST). It’s going to be a great day of action with “775,000 up for grabs in first-place prize money. We know you want to find out who will be walking away with the title, so be sure to join us right back here at PokerNews for all the action.

In the meantime, follow us on Twitter to keep up with all the goings-on elsewhere in the poker world.

Follow Donnie Peters on Twitter – @Donnie_Peters