EPT Berlin ends on High Note


Sunday April 28, 2013 : POKER FESTIVITIES IN BERLIN END (Update)
 
Canadian and German victories in a successful EPT festival of poker
 
The Pokerstars European Poker Tour Berlin has occupied the front pages of most online poker media this week, culminating in exciting High Roller and Main Event final table action over the weekend.
 
28-year-old Canadian live and internet poker ace Griffin Benger took the honours in the High Roller event, claiming the main prize of Euro 429,000 – a new career earnings high for him.
 
Benger was around the middle of the pack when the final table formed, facing Aaron Lim from Australia, Philippe Ktorza from France, Czech player Martin Kabrhel, Russian ace Max Lykov, Joni Jouhkimainen from Finland and Brit pro James Mitchell.
 
Playing an outstanding game, the Canadian was out ahead in the chip leads early in the action, mainly at Lykov's expense. He was to maintain that lead through most of the match, ending up in the heads up against Aaron Lim, who was fresh from his World Series of Poker APAC victory in Melbourne .
 
Lim was unable to beat Benger's overwhelming chip lead and had to be content with a runner up prize of Euro 240,000, leaving the Canadian with the big money, the High Roller trophy and of course the expensive Shamballa winner's bracelet.
 
German pro Daniel Pidun is the new EPT Berlin main event champion, having worked his way through a record entry field and a tough final table that included Robert Haigh, Lasse Frost, Pascal Vos, Alexander Helbig, Roman Herold, Julian Thomas and Roman Korenev.
 
Pidun's aggressive playing style soon had him among the final table chip leaders, and he leveraged early success into a commanding lead which he did not relinquish as the match progressed.
 
In only six hours the affair was done and dusted after Pidun despatched runner up Robert Haigh in the heads up, sending him home with a still-impressive second placing check for Euro 531,000. Haigh had no answer to a chip count an order of magnitude greater than his own, and did not last long.
 
Pidun claimed the hefty main prize of Euro 880,000 and the honour of being the first German to win the EPT Berlin. He has previously managed only ninth and seventeenth place finishes in the main event, and this was his biggest career-earning win yet, along with a seat at the EPT Grand Final in Monaco later this year.