Pidun and Benger winners in Berlin
Monday, 29 April 2013
After welcoming thousands of players to the felt over the course of this year’s EPT festival in Berlin, just two winners stood in the winner’s circle on Saturday.
The first player to take home a mountain of cash was Griffin Benger. Having come to close to a title earlier in the week, the Canadian pro managed to overcome a stellar High Roller field to scoop €429,000.
A slew of talent helped push the total field beyond the 110 player mark, but when the final cards were dealt it was Benger who triumphed over Aaron Lim.
At the start of the High Roller finale it looked as though short stack Joni Jouhkimainen would be the first to exit. However, after three-betting all-in with A-J from the big against Philippe Ktorza’s A-Q, it was British pro James Mitchell hit the rail first.
With Mitchell gone it was Jouhkimainen’s turn to bow out just ahead of Martin Kabrhel and Maxim Lykov. With just three players left it was Benger who began to assert his authority over the field. Demonstrating why he’s a worthy member of Team Ivey, Benger held more than 70% of the chips in play and used then to good effect first against Ktorza then against Lim.
Indeed, after sending Ktorza to the rail with A-J, Benger was able to clinch his largest live score to-date when his Q-J connected with the Qd Td As 2c Ks board to beat Lim’s K-2.
EPT €10,000 High Roller Result:
1 Griffin Benger €429,000
2 Aaron Lim €240,100
3 Philippe Ktorza €144,000
4 Max Lykov €102,900
5 Martin Kabrhel €82,300
6 Joni Jouhkimainen €68,600
7 James Mitchell €54,900
While Benger was busy celebrating his 28th Birthday with a €429,000 payday, Daniel Pidun was capping off a remarkable three year run in the EPT Berlin Main Event with a win.
Having finished 9th in tournament in 2011 and 17th in 2012, the German amateur was able to go a few places better this year and scoop €880,000 after defeating Robert Haigh heads-up. Flanked by a host of home-grown talent, Pidun was able to hold his nerve throughout the finale and after seizing the chips lead three-handed, he final won his first major title with 9s-8s.
Moving all-in against a severely short stacked Haigh, Pudin was able to catch an eight on the flop to move ahead of Haigh’s A-K. With only two chances left to make a pair Haigh’s chances of success were looking slim and as the final cards were dealt he had to content himself with second place.
That finish pushed Haigh to second in the EPT Player of the Year rankings but also made Pudin the latest EPT Champion.
EPT Berlin Main Event Result:
1st Daniel Pidun €880,000
2nd Robert Haigh €531,000
3rd Lasse Frost €325,000
4th Pascal Vos €255,000
5th Alexander Helbig €202,200
6th Roman Herold €155,000
7th Julian Thomas €110,000
8th Roman Korenev €77,000
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Image courtesy of Neil Stoddart at PokerStars.