Kevin MacPhee Wins EPT Berlin Main Event

The armed robbery of the EPT Berlin may have disturbed the proceedings somewhat, and left many players a little shaken, but Kevin MacPhee proved that he was mostly unphased, as he defeated a tough final table to take home the 1 Million Euro prize an the tournament trophy.

MacPhee, from Idaho, had the chip lead over Ilari Tahkokallio, Marc Inizan, Artur Wasek, Ketul Nathwani, Marcel Koller, Marko Neumann, and Nicro Behling, when play resumed after the incident.  This was MacPhee’s first major tournament final table, but he handled the pressure (and the shock of the tournament being invaded by armed men!) very well, and went on to win.

The final three was Marc Inizan, Kevin MacPhee, and Ilari Tahkkallio.  After Inizan was eliminated, MacPhee and Tahkokallio settled down for heads-up play.  This was not the first time that the pair had faced each other in heads-up play.  They had met before in an EPT London match, at which the Finn came out on top.  This time the situation was reversed, and MacPhee took the trophy, while Tahkokallio took home a 600,000 Euro consolation prize.

MacPhee, who goes by the online poker name “imalucksac” was very happy with his win, “I am a luck-sack,” MacPhee said. “What can I say? I ran extremely good and I had the nuts every time someone played back at me.”

The EPT organizers have released a statement about the robbery, saying “Yesterday at approximately 2:15pm, an armed robbery took place at the European Poker Tour event in Berlin. Nobody was seriously injured. Four armed men were involved in the robbery, which targeted the tournament registration desk outside the tournament area. No shots were fired and the suspects quickly fled after a security guard intervened. The police investigation so far has shown that the suspects had a handgun and a machete. Contrary to tabloid reports, no Kalashnikov assault rifles or hand grenades were used. The suspects did not enter the tournament area and the money taken was substantially less than what has been reported.”

According to the police, no arrests have been made at this time, however an investigation is in progress.  The police are analysing DNA found on a cash bay that a security guard snatched from one of the robbers.  The amount that has been stolen is reportedly in the six figure range.

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