The European Poker Tour stop in the historic city of Berlin, Germany, has reached its penultimate moment, determining the final table of this event before its last tournament of its Season Eight schedule.
24 men came to the tables on Friday, looking to become the latest champion on the EPT and gain some momentum heading to the EPT Grand Final next week. Leading the pack was the United Kingdom’s Marc Wright, whose 2.4 million chips kept him just ahead of Tomas Cibak’s 2.31 million in chips. There was also the chance at history as three men – Vladimir Geshkenbein, Anton Wigg and Kevin MacPhee – all were in strong contention for earning their second EPT title, something that has never happen in EPT history.
Over the span of approximately eight hours, the gentlemen went about the task of determining which eight men would come back on Saturday to determine the champion. A few moments into the start of the day’s action, Andreas Vlachos and his pocket threes knocked off Ismael Bojang and his off suit A-Q. The knockouts would come steadily through the afternoon in the Grand Hyatt Berlin as the departing souls left with a minimum of €20,000.
Wright would hold the chip lead through the first level of play on Friday, but a key double up during the second level would push him off his pedestal. After Heinz Kamutzki put out a 40K bet and Bahadir Kilickeser made the call, Wright three bet to 136K. Although Kamutzki laid down his arms, Kilickeser decided to come along for the ride and see the K-8-9 (two diamonds) flop.
After checking to Wright, who laid out a big 200K bet, Kilickeser made his stand, pushing all in for 1.3 million. A reluctant Wright made the call, tabling Big Slick for top pair/top kicker, but Kilickeser had him crushed with a pocket pair of eights for a set. The board paired the nine on the river, opening up some outs for Wright, but a blank river sent him tumbling from the top slot on the leaderboard and granted Kilickeser the chip lead.
The three former EPT champions would not fare well over the span of the day. MacPhee would be the first to go, losing out to Jordi Riba Corrons to walk out of the EPT Berlin in nineteenth place. Wigg would hang around a bit longer, getting knocked out by the final former EPT champion in the field, Geshkenbein, in fourteenth place. Geshkenbein would use those chips well, making the unofficial final table, albeit on the short stack.
When the final ten men came together to eliminate two more players, Davidi Kitai was on the bottom rung of the chip ladder, holding on tight in eighth place. Canada’s Andrew Chen was a mere 25,000 chip ahead of Kilickeser, while Wright kept his head and was able to push his chip stack back up to 2.6 million, good for fourth place.
Over the next hour, Kitai would surge up the leaderboard to take command of the EPT Berlin. He would get his stack up over the three million mark after battling against Pratyush Buddiga and Geshkenbein, eliminating the latter in tenth place in two consecutive hands to end any hope of a repeat EPT champion. Cutting some chips away from Kilickeser, Kitai would take the chip lead and solidify it by eliminating Corrons in ninth place to finish the day’s activities with over five million chips.
1. Davidi Kitai, 5.695 million
2. Bahadir Kilickeser, 4.64 million
3. Andrew Chen, 3.6 million
4. Mario Puccini, 2.065 million
5. Andre Morath, 1.94 million
6. Marc Wright, 1.54 million
7. Cesar Garcia Dominguez, 1.485 million
8. Pratyush Buddiga, 1.28 million
Kitai is someone who is lamenting the final table didn’t play out today, considering the rush he was on. A 2008 World Series of Poker bracelet winner and a former World Poker Tour Invitational champion, Kitai is a well-known commodity in the poker world (although it isn’t known, if he wins this EPT tournament, whether he will be called a Triple Crown winner as the WPT Invitational is not an official event). With over $1.75 million in career earnings around the world, Kitai has made his mark on the game of poker.
Chen arguably is the second most experienced pro on the felt for the EPT Berlin final table. Having earned over $2 million in his live career (and vast amounts more online), Chen lacks that signature major championship to call his own, something that this EPT title would correct. Expect the battle to come down between these two men, although Wright may be a dark horse to watch for.
The final table will play out from the Grand Hyatt Berlin beginning at noon Central European Time (6AM Eastern Daylight Time). Live streaming of the final table begins on the EPT website one hour after the start of the tournament, with hole cards shown, and will wrap up with one man walking off with the championship of the EPT Berlin and a €825,000 first place prize.
