European Poker Tour Ends With Russian Maxim Lykov As Winner

Poker News - August 25th, 2009 - Written by Glen

The main event of PokerStars European Poker Tour came to an end on August 23rd, leaving the Russian resident, Maxim Lykov, as the winner of the main event. As with the World Series of Poker, this event was a No-Limit Hold 'em tournament with a €5,000 buy-in. Lykov out played 296 players to win his first title. Not only did he accomplish a personal first, but he also brought home the first EPT victory to a Russian player.

The final table comprised of eight players, and Vadim Markushevski was the first man out. He took home €30,000, which is no small accomplishment. Barely a half hour passed before Torsten Tent was eliminated in seventh place, and those chips were absorbed by Lykov. A €45,000 prize was awarded to Tent for his performance. Adrian Schaap was the second victim to be busted by Lykov, and Schaap left the arena with a prize of €60,000. Following two hours of eliminations, the next player to drop lasted three hours longer.

Vitaly Tolokonnikov and a pair of queens met with Lucasz Plitcha's pocket eights. A queen and an eight were both flopped, giving both players trips going into the turn. Tension ran high, but Tolokonnikov eliminated Plitcha, sending Plitcha back from whence he came with a prize of €80,000. Minutes later, Arthur Simonyan was knocked out by Alex Dovzhenko. A pair of tens allowed Alex to eliminate Simonyan, who walked with a beautiful €100,000 prize. This left the final three players with nearly 3,000,000 chips each.

Tension ran high, as each chick stack was close the next. The players had a dinner break between the fourth and third place positions, allowing boiling blood to reduce to a simmer. The biggest hand of the tournament came next, as Tolokonnikov ended up all in, just to be called by Lykov. The board ended up with Q-5-3 on the flop, then an ace on the turn, and finally an eight on the river. Lykov held A-J, while Tolokonnikov held pocket sevens. Sadly, Tolokonnikov's donkey move was not backed by the luck required to win with a low pair, though perhaps he was hoping Lykov would fold. This move allowed Lykon to enter heads-up play with nearly twice his opponents chip stack.

Lykov ended up taking the win with a set of fours, overpowering Dovzhenko's pair of jacks. A decisive Check-raise gave Lykov the upper hand, and caused him to walk away with the grand prize of €330,000 to Dovzhenko's €220,000.

To give American poker fans an idea to as of how much Lykov won, the current conversion rate would make that €330,000 amount to $472,658. Congratulations Maxim, this win was well deserved.

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