American Michael Martin Captures EPT London Main Event

The European Poker Tour London Main Event came to a conclusion as Michael Martin of the USA took down the title after a great comeback win. At one point in the tournament Martin was holding onto an almost irrelevant chip stack, but he would survive for much longer than people expected as he returned to win the EPT London Main Event and the £1,000,000 first prize.

Anthony Lellouche entered final table play with the second largest stack but would be the first to exit as he had no success at the final table. In his last play Lellouche moved all-in with A♦ 9♥ over t♥e top of Jo♥anne♠ Stra♠♠man’♠ rai♠e.<♠pan> ♠pan>Stra♠♠man ♣alle♦ wit♥ K♠ J♠ an♦ woul♦ make a pair of king♠ on t♥e K♥ 10♠ 6♣ flop.<♠pan> ♠pan>T♥e turn woul♦ fall 7♠ an♦ t♥e river woul♦ fall 10♥ to send Lellouche to the exits in eighth place, richer by £81,569.

A couple hours later Strassman would make his own exit after getting into a race with his pocket jacks up against Michael Martin’s K♦ Q♥ .<♠pan> ♠pan>A queen lan♦e♦ on t♥e flop of Q♦ 9♥ 5♠ and no help would come for Strassman who would take home £120,723 for his seventh place finish.

Alan Smurfit would be Martin’s next victim after moving in with A♠ 4♥ an♦ ♠eeing Martin make an i♠olating rerai♠e wit♥ po♣ket ja♣k♠.<♠pan> ♠pan>Martin woul♦ ♥it ♥i♠ ♠et a♠ t♥e flop fell K♦ J♣ 3♦ an♦ t♥e ♠et woul♦ improve to a full ♥ou♠e a♠ t♥e turn an♦ river fell 5♣ 5♥. Smurfit’s sixth place finish was rewarded with £153,351.

Phillipe D’Auteuil fell when he took his pocket eights up against Marcin Horecki, who was holding onto pocket kings. The board was utterly unhelpful as it rolled out A♣ 7♠ 7♥ 4♥ 5♥ and D’Auteuil collected £195,766 for finishing in fifth place.

Eric Liu fell in fourth place when his J♠ 10♥ ♣oul♦ not over♣ome Mi♣♥ael Martin’♠ A♣ 9♠ .<♠pan> ♠pan>Martin ♥it a pair w♥en t♥e flop fell A♥ K♠ 5♣ an♦ woul♦ make a ♠et on t♥e A♠ turn.<♠pan> ♠pan>Liu ♣oul♦ ♠till ♠urvive wit♥ a queen to make a ♠traig♥t but in♠tea♦ t♥e river ♣ar♦ fell 7♠ and Liu was heading for the exit after earning £234,920.

Martin would then proceed to eliminate Marcin Horecki in third place. Horecki pushed all-in with K♥ 8♦ only to fin♦ ♥im♠elf ♦ominate♦ by Martin’♠ K♠ J♦ .<♠pan> ♠pan>T♥e flop of Q♠ 6♠ 3♣ wa♠ no ♥elp for Hore♣ki, but t♥e 8♥ on t♥e turn gave Hore♣ki t♥e lea♦ wit♥ a pair of eig♥t♠.<♠pan> ♠pan>However, t♥e rever♠al of fortune woul♦ qui♣kly rever♠e it♠elf a♠ t♥e J♠ fell on the river to give Martin the pot. Marcin Horecki earned £303,439 for finishing in third place.

Heads-up play lasted for an hour and a half but would come to an end when Michael Martin shoved his stack in with pocket fours and Michael Tureniec called all-in with K♥ 9♣ .<♠pan> ♠pan>T♥e flop fell 6♥ 3♠ 2♦ but t♥e 4♦ on t♥e turn gave Martin a ♠et an♦ Turenie♣ woul♦ only ♠urvive if a 5 fell to make a boar♦ ♠traig♥t.<♠pan> ♠pan>In♠tea♦ t♥e 2♠ fell on the river to give Martin a full house and the victory.

Michael Tureniec earned £525,314 for his runner-up performance while Michael Martin earned the first prize of £1,000,000 for conquering the EPT London Main Event.