Sam Grafton Wins 2021 EPT Prague Event #1 €10,200 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller (€80,360)
One of the first Spadie trophies has been awarded during the rescheduled 2021 PokerStars EPT Prague festival at the King's Casino in the Czech capital. None other than PokerStars ambassador Sam Grafton prevailed in Event #1 €10,200 NLHE Bounty High Roller after defeating online poker legend Niklas Astedt in a very short-lived heads-up duel. The tournament attracted 57 entries and the €267,900 cash prize pool was awarded among the top eight finishers.
Grafton was his usual jovial self and the centre of table chat in an atmosphere filled with banter and jokes. The Brit claimed a cash prize worth €80,360 and also racked up several bounties of €5,000 each along the way. On the final table, Grafton knocked out four opponents and was responsible for the final three eliminations to notch up the victory in style.
Final Result Event #1 €10,200 NLHE Bounty High Roller
| Place | Winner | Country | Cash Prize (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Grafton | United Kingdom | €80,360 |
| 2 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | €58,130 |
| 3 | Daewoong Song | South Korea | €37,510 |
| 4 | Teun Mulder | Netherlands | €28,400 |
| 5 | Alex Kulev | Bulgaria | €21,970 |
| 6 | Gab Yong Kim | South Korea | €17,150 |
| 7 | Alexandros Theologis | Greece | €13,660 |
| 8 | Zhong Chen | Netherlands | €10,720 |
The last player to leave empty handed was another well-known High Roller regular from the live and online poker scene. Andras Nemeth came up short in a flip against South Korea's Daewoong Song to miss out on a cash prize. For Song, the tournament ended with a respectable third place finish after he dominated the action throughout the day. Fellow South Korean player Gab Yong Kim was also in the mix and finished in sixth place, surrounded by familiar faces of the high stakes circuit.
Day 2 recommenced with 25 players still in contention and Pavel Binar was the only one to take advantage of the late registration prior to the start. However, the Czech was unable to turn his second entry into any payday and departed without any cash or bounty prize. Many other notables suffered the same fate including Patrick Leonard, Stephen Chidwick, Adrian Mateos, Timothy Adams, and Thomas Muehloecker.
Among the contenders were also two well-known Brazilian online grinders in Pedro Garagnani and Rodrigo Seiji but neither of them reached the money stages. The same also applied for Yuri Dzivielevski as well, who sent his €5,000 bounty chip over to eventual champion Grafton.
While the action was fast-paced most of the day, the money bubble was a tense affair. Andras Nemeth failed in numerous attempts to score bounty prizes in the tournament but survived multiple times when he was the player at risk. Eventually, his luck ran out in a big flip.
More than one hour passed without any elimination in the money before the floodgates then opened. Within just over an hour, the field went from eight to a winner as Grafton went on a hot streak to seal the victory. And as the Brit conceded to fourth place finisher Teun Mulder in table chat, that was just the first High Roller battle and many more will follow during one of the most popular live poker stops on European soil.
The PokerNews live reporting team will provide exclusive updates across several marquee events during the festival including the €50,000 Super High Roller and the €5,300 Main Event.