Robin Ylitalo Wins PokerStars EPT London Main Event for £560,980
Swedish pro Robin Ylitalo has won the £5,250 PokerStars.com EPT London Main Event today for a £560,980 first prize.
The 27-year-old from Gothenberg, who made the final of EPT8 Campione, beat Greek player Georgios Karakousis heads-up to win his first EPT title and a stunning watch from Official EPT 10 Main Event Watch Sponsor SLYDE.
He said: “It’s amazing to win this, the best feeling. I absolutely thought I could do it... I thought I was able, but it didn’t happen. I can’t put words to how great it feels. I have been dreaming of this for a long time.”
Ylitalo’s victory follows success at this summer’s World Series where he made the final table of the $1,500 NL event for a $ 92,550 cash as well as finishing 141st in the WSOP Main Event.
1, Robin Ylitalo, Sweden, PokerStars player, £560,980 2, Georgios Karakousis, Greece, PokerStars qualifier, £349,200 3, Leo McClean, UK, PokerStars qualifier, £249,850 4, Ludovic Geilich, UK, £193,340 5, Jeff Rossiter, Australia, PokerStars player, £152,320 6, Stefan Vagner, Slovakia, £119,225 7, Jan Olav Sjavik, Norway, £88,175 8, Kully Sidhu, UK, £60,640
The EPT 10 London Main Event started last Sunday with 604 players. 87 players made the money, claiming their share of a £2,929,400 prize pool.
PokerStars qualifier Georgios Karakousis, who runs a plastics factory in Livadia, took £349,200 for his runner-up finish. The 63-year-old grandfather has already had several cashes in EPT High Roller events including runner-up in Madrid.
Leo McClean, a project manager from Northamptonshire in the UK, who won his seat on PokerStars for just £93, came third for £249,850. He also receives his £5,250 buy-in back for winning the Last Longer contest run by Skrill, the Official Payment Provider sponsor of EPT Season 10.
Other finalists included Glaswegian UKIPT Marbella Ludovic Geilich (4th), GuangDong Asia Millions runner-up Jeff Rossiter (5th) and EPT3 London finalist Jan Olav Sjavik (7th).
This season's Main Event players came from 54 countries. More than a quarter of the field were from the UK and three British players made the final: Geilich, McClean and Kully Sidhu from Birmingham (8th),
This is the first time that the PokerStars.com EPT London Poker Festival has been held at the glamorous Grand Connaught Rooms in London's West End - a fitting setting for a spectacular 11-day, 36-event schedule combining the very best of the UK & Ireland Poker Tour and European Poker Tour.
Every single day of the EPT London Main Event was broadcast live on PokerStars.tv with expert commentary from hosts Joe Stapleton, James Hartigan, Matt Broughton and Marc Convey as well as numerous guest appearances from the likes of Team PokerStars members Liv Boeree and Chris Moneymaker as well as Aussie Millions finalist David Yan, who bust the event in 12th place for £32,810. On the final day, the broadcast was shown – with a one hour security delay – in 13 languages including Russian, German, French, Spanish, Slovenian, Portuguese, Romanian, Flemish, Italian and Chinese.
Nearly 30 members of Team PokerStars Pro competed at EPT London with both Henrique Pinho and Theo Jorgensen making the money. Among the celebrities who took part were Norwegian Eurovision stars Madcon, former Norwegian international footballer John Carew, and French rap star Bruno "Kool Shen" Lopes.
