The 2011 World Poker Tour Prague Main Event saw a total of 568 players participate in its tables, and right on the spotlight is Andrey Pateychuk, who won the event by besting the rest.

A Rising Star

Andrey Pateychuk has been doing well recently, and was also able to win the European Poker Tour San Remo Main Event not long ago. The 22 year old poker pro also placed 15th at the 2011 WSOP Main Event as well, having collected around €450,000 in the tournament. He is, without a doubt, a rising star, having acquired a total earning of close to $1.5 million.

Taking the Lead

At the start of the final table, Pateychuk was on the third spot in chip count, having 2.31 million chips against the starting chip leader, Stanislaw Kretz, who had a staggering lead over the rest with his stack of 6.3 million chips. The action started out when Pateychuk managed to take a huge chunk of Kretz’s chips, and some of Adria Balaguer’s as well. Pateychuk had a couple of K’s with him and the board provided him with another K that gave him a set of trip K’s. Kretz was then the short stack of the table, and things did not last all too long for Kretz as he was eliminated by Pateychuk soon right after.

The Heads Up

As the day neared its end, Pateychuk saw himself at a heads up match against Adria Balaguer. Right at the start of the heads up play, both players were evenly matched, but as things progressed, Pateychuk was in a bit of a trouble, having given his opponent, Balaguer, a huge lead over him. Patychuk however, managed to score some of his chips back up until he eventually had the lead, leaving Balaguer, the short stack of the two players remaining. Balaguer then went all in at one point with his double Q’s, and Pateychuk called with his A-5. Of course, preflop, Pateychuck had a an inferior hand, but as the board was revealed, he managed to score a straight, which eliminated Balaguer on to second place and allowed Pateychuk to take home the title and the €450,000 prize money.

The Rankings

Right at the top of the list is Pateychuk, with a total of €450,000 followed by Adria Balaguer, with €238,000. The final table starting chip leader, Stanislaw Kretz, ended up in third, with €158,000 followed by Benjamin Pollak with €104,000. Sigur Eskeland ends up with €80,000 followed by Russell Carson with €63,000.