Thursday June 6,2013 : POLISH MICHALAK TAKES ISPT MAIN EVENT TITLE
Six-way chop leaves final table participants smiling
Polish poker pro Jakub Michalak has won the inaugural International Stadiums Poker Tour Main Event at Wembley Stadium, pocketing Euro 436 000 and the title.
Michalak faced Frenchman Xavier El Fassy in heads-up with an almost 8-to-1 chip lead following the elimination of Nick Hicks.
A deal struck between the six finalists based on their chip counts before action began resulted in handsome payouts for the final six (as follows) leaving an over and above guarantee of Euro 200 000 to the winner:
Pete Linton Euro 375 000
Alban Juen Euro 290 000
Nick Hicks Euro 254 000
Gwendoline Janot Euro 243 000
Jakub Michalak Euro 236 000
Xavier El Fassy Euro 204 000
Overall, the often controversial ISPT founded by Bernard and Laurent Tapie which was billed as the biggest tournament in history, was hailed a success despite failing to attract the numbers it had hoped.