If you are part of a poker strategy forum, you probably know about the hardships poker is going through in the USA thanks to Black Friday. Poker is thriving in other parts of the world, though. For example, WPT Prague has shown that poker is alive and well in the Czech Republic.

Many are pointing towards Martin Staszko’s 2nd place finish in the 2011 WSOP Main Event as a catalyst for the surge in entries, as this event broke the WPT’s record for attendance at a European event. 571 players signed up at €3,500 a piece, which created a giant prize pool of over 1.75 million Euros. That left over 450,000 Euros for the eventual victor.

Russell Carson, known as ‘rdcrsn’ in online poker rooms, was the first bust of the final table. He lost a coin flip early on in the final table, so he had to settle for 6th place. Sigurd Eskelund would join Carson on the rail just a short time afterward as his KQ was bested by Andrey Pateychuk’s JJ.

The remaining four players battled it out for awhile before Benjamin Pollak got the last of his chips in against Adria Balaguer while behind, failing to win, and finishing in 4th place.

Right before the dinner break, Pateychuk really started turning up the heat as he won some big pots. His run continued after dinner as well, as he put a bad beat on Stanislaw Kretz to send him off in 3rd place.

Pateychuk began heads-up play with a small lead but lost a big pot against Balaguer as his AK was unable to hold up against J4 suited. However, Pateychuk vaulted back into the lead by getting lucky with A6 against AJ, followed up by finishing off with Balaguer with A5 against QQ.

Fortune was on Pateychuk’s side as he won his 2nd major title in 45 days along with €468,200 in prize money. Momentum can be a powerful thing in poker as well as life. Pateychuk has tons of it right now as he can add 2011 WPT Prague champion to his resume along with his recent EPT victory in San Remo and his near miss of the 2011 WSOP Main Event final table.

1 – Andrey Pateychuk – €468,200
2 – Adria Balaguer – €239,000
3 – Stanislaw Kretz – €158,000
4 – Benjamin Pollak – €104,000
5 – Sigurd Eskelund – €80,000
6 – Russell Carson – €63,000

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