As if followers and players hadn’t seen enough excitement in EPT9 London, Friday night saw Jan Bendik strengthening his hold on the EPT leader board. He’s been a regular player throughout the tour and many said that he was establishing a stronger hold on the Slovakian top spot, but his 1st on Friday night at the £1,100 “Win the Button Event” has him looking out from the front even more. This lead might come as no surprise to some, but others weren’t expecting this turn of events at all.
During the EPT9, Bendik has managed to have several nice wins in side events that have totalled €160,000, but he’s not slowing down any time soon. His Friday night win gives him an additional 400 points, and that is slated to have him in the lead, if not at first place on the leaderboard. This is no small feat for the Slovakian. By day, he runs an electrical company, by night he’s an up and coming poker player.
In other news, Day five saw Steve O’Dwyer feeling a bit more somber than usual, likely because of the fact that he was headed to the final table and the stakes were high. Maybe it’s because he was thinking of last year’s 2nd place finish in EPT London. A native of the US, but resident of Dublin, O’Dwyer was taking no chances as he chose to watch the colour-up.
A three-handed £10,300 High Roller Event had Talal Shakerchi in the driver’s seat against big winning opponents Fabian Quoss ($2,846,256 total winnings) and Faraz Jaka ($3,447,129 total winnings). Shakerchi by comparison has won a total of $882,305. Shakerchi is no stranger to big money; he’s a superstar when it comes to UK hedge fund management, but playing poker is supposed to be fun and Shakerchi is definitely having a good time in EPT9.
He went on to beat 112 players to win the first prize of £436,330. It was his third tournament win, and his largest. With such a busy day job, Shakerchi still plans to play, but admits he won’t have a lot of time to sink into tournaments. He still plans to keep playing – and winning. The last half hour of the game seemed almost too easy for him; a flush against Quoss’ pair and then queens to beat Jaka’s ace-queen heads up gave the game a nice, clean finish.
This all went on during the fifth day of a six-day festival of thrills, tension and lots of surprises. EPT9 London has seen some new talent come out of the woodwork, while it’s seen some long-standing pros not doing so well. In the end, there are sure to be some surprising winners and even more shocking losers.
True to her nature, London has proven to be welcoming and full of surprises. Day six is sure to offer more of the same with even more ups and downs.