18.12.2015, 09:40 | Autor: ept.com | tisk článku | doporučit článek

Kenneth Smaron wins EPT12 Prague €10K High Roller for €595.500

In just a few days, Kenneth Smaron turns 31 - and has just given himself a fantastic early birthday present by taking down the EPT12 Prague €10k High Roller for €595,500.

The Philly player, known as "kenny05" online, is considered a legend in nosebleed SNGs but has also been doing very well in multi-table tournaments this year as well. In the last seven months, he's made a profit of nearly $500k on PokerStars, winning a SCOOP-40 H title worth $180k in May and adding another $128k two months ago, when he was a runner-up in the Sunday Million.

Smaron, who beat a record-breaking 315-entry field in the three-day event hails from Philadelphia but, like many of his fellow countrymen, had to leave the United States after Black Friday to continue playing online and now splits his time between Costa Rica and Colombia.

Smaron has been to Europe for a few EPTs including EPT6 Sanremo and the Grand Final however this is his first time in Prague. He had already accrued some euros during this year's festival when he finished 90th for €11,540 in the Main Event - his first European cash. Now, he's become the €10k High Roller champ to collect the biggest payday of his live poker career.

Smaron, a proud fan of the Philadelphia Eagles american football team (he wears their logo on his arm), beat Polish pro Jaroslaw Sikora within just a few minutes of their heads-up battle starting. Sikora was very short stacked going in to that encounter, but his €378,280 prize improves on the €265,840 he got for his third place at EPT12 Malta. It's not the first time for Sikora has been second in a big event this year. He was also runner-up in the IPT7 Malta event in March for €97,975. The 27-year-old is one of only a few players who have cashed in all EPT Season 12 Main Events so far. He was 64th here in Prague.

Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst finished eighth in the EPT12 Prague €10k High Roller to take €74,550.

EPT12 Prague €10k High Roller final table results:

Kenneth Smaron, USA, €595,500
Jaroslaw Sikora, Poland, €378,280
Felix Bleiker, Switzerland, €283,550
Ihar Soika, Belarus, €229,470
Iliodoros Kamatakis, Greece, €180,890
Daniel Cates, USA, €138,110
Rocco Palumbo, Italy, €101,440
Vanessa Selbst, USA, Team PokerStars Pro, €74,550

The EPT12 Prague €10k High Roller attracted record-breaking 315-entry field (252 unique players plus 63 re-entries), creating a €3,055,500 prize pool shared by top 47 finishers.

Last year, Andrey Zaichenko beat then record-breaking 309-entry field to seize the title along with the €487,190 first prize.

EPT Season 12 €10k High Rollers:
EPT12 Barcelona: 506 entries, €4,908,200 prize pool, Mustapha Kanit (Italy) for €738,759
EPT12 Malta: 210 entries, €2,037,000 prize pool, Byron Kaverman (USA) for €430,800
EPT12 Prague: 315 entries, €3,055,500 prize pool, Kenneth Smaron (USA) for €595,500

EPT Prague €10k High Roller history:
Season 7: 26 entries, €254,800 prize pool, Nichlas Mattson (Sweden) for €127,000
Season 8: 50 entries, €490,000 prize pool, John Andress (USA) for €176,400
Season 9: 113 entries, €1,107,400 prize pool, Marvin Rettenmaier (Germany) for €365,300
Season 10: 176 entries, €1,724,800 Ivan Soshnikov (Russia) for €382,050
Season 11: 309 entries, €3,028,200 prize pool, Andrey Zaichenko (Russia) for €487,190
Season 12: 315 entries, €3,055,500 prize pool, Kenneth Smaron (USA) for €595,500