British professional poker player Alex Goulder is Euro 105,000 wealthier following his victory this week in the Euro 2,000 buy-in World Poker Tour National Prague Main Event after besting a field of 250 other competitors.
The final day of the event saw World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Simeon Naydenov in the lead at the Corinthia Hotel in Prague as the 19 survivors took their seats.
It turned out to be a very long day, the final table emerging with Goulder holding the chip lead and facing Niclas Adolfsson, Sebastian Langrock, Andy Seth, Zo Karim, Simeon Naydenov, Alexander Lakhov and Chris Hunichen.
The table was to last until 4 am the next morning, ending with Goulder’s victory.
142 hands in, the heads up was set when Sebastian Langrock headed for the exit and a third place prize of Euro 46,600, leaving Goulder, holding a 2 to 1 chip advantage, to face Swedish pro Niclas Adolfsson.
It took the Brit 115 hands of hard fought poker to finally grind Adolfsson down and dispatch him in second place with a Euro 72,000 prize
For Goulder, the win was another affirmation of his skill at the felt; this was his second WPT victory in recent times (he took down the WPT Second Chance competition three weeks ago). Earlier this year this impressive British player managed a runner-up placing in a European Poker Tour Estrellas event in Barcelona, and an eleventh finish at the Deauville, France European Poker Tour stop.
When we went to press Tuesday the poker action in the Prague festival was continuing to provide plenty of excitement, with the Eureka 4 Prague Main Event recording 1,738 entries – a new high for the competition.
The field includes almost 20 previous European Poker Tour champions including the formidable Georg Danzer, who was among the early eliminations, and Marvin Rettenmaier and Chris Moorman, who have also fallen by the wayside. Eugene Katchalov is still competing, but the leader of the 542 survivors going into Day 2 was Tomas Fara.