Friday, 29th March 2024 15:02
Home / Uncategorized / EPT9 Prague in review: No deal! Jelassi’s persistence pays off to the tune of €835,000

Ramzi Jelassi was very matter-of-fact when telling his final two opponents, David Boyaciyan and Sotirios Koutoupas, that he felt he was the best player and most likely to win. There was no arrogance, just a clarity that he had twice the stack of Boyaciyan and the advantage of years of experience over both. The Swede was still prepared to make a deal though, a wise decision given the huge jumps in money; €310,000 to €510,000 to €835,000. But he was not prepared, or even going to entertain the thought, to give up any hard-fought equity.

That role fell to online qualifier and amateur player Koutoupas who reached out to Boyaciyan, offering some pretty large concessions. The Dutch banker played hardball and held out for more. That final few thousand did not come and the deal fell apart. It ultimately cost Boyaciyan more than €100,000 when he was knocked out in third (but still for a massive €310,000). That left Jelassi and Koutoupas to thrash it out, with Jelassi now refusing to make any deal. Despite some very commendable Greek opposition, Jelassi ‘finally’ took the title and the full €835,000 beating a field of 864 players. Read the full report by clicking here.

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Ramzi Jelassi: winner of EPT Prague and €835,000

* Jelassi wasn’t the only winner in Prague. There was a whole festival with turbos, PLO and High Rollers all playing out. Check all the festival results here.

* But if you’d like to arm yourself with the highlights then know that Marvin Rettenmaier won the EPT High Roller for €365,000 to all but claim the Player of the Year title…

* …snatching it away from American Dan Smith who won his own side event to take his annual live tournament tally to a terrifying $3,739,797.

* While Jason Mercier couldn’t quite manage a fifth million-dollar year on the bounce he is already signed up for the $100,000 Super High Roller at the PCA, so 2013 may start with a bang.

* And if you’d just like to let EPT videos wash over you then click on through to PokerStars.tv’s coverage.

Check the European Poker Tour website for schedules, structures and qualifiers.

is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

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