Yorky Pud

Switzerland may be better known for producing watches than poker players but that could be all set to change after Ronny Kaiser took down the EPT Tallinn Main Event over the weekend, the first-ever Swiss EPT Champion.

Kaiser, 21-years old and from the Swiss capital city Bern, has been playing poker for three years and professionally for most of that time. He started off playing Pot Limit Omaha cash games online and is now a regular in the largest live PLO cash games in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, often playing in game with blinds as high as €100/€200, and after this result will probably become a regular in future EPT Main Events.

Final table seat draw

Seat 1: Grzegorz Cichocki: 2,059,000 chips
Seat 2: Raigo Aasmaa: 904,000
Seat 3: Jani Sointula: 769,000
Seat 4: Stuart Fox: 514,000
Seat 5: Arvi Vainionkulma: 258,000
Seat 6: Sami Kelopuro: 1,325,000
Seat 7: Erlend Melsom: 326,000
Seat 8: Ronny Kaiser: 2,394,000

It took less than 30 minutes for the first player to be eliminated and it was the short-stacked Arvi Vainionkulma who was the unfortunate player. With blinds starting at 10,000/20,000/3,000a Vainionkulma was in desperate need of a double up but it simply never came. Kaiser had min-raised to 40,000 from early position and when the action folded to Vainionkulma in the big blind he moved all in for 220,000 with AsKh. Kaiser called with pocket fours and the final board ran out 2s-7c-5d-6d-Qd Vainionkulma busted out.

Shortly afterwards Sami Kelopuro, better-known as “LarsLuzak” online, followed Vainionkulma to the sidelines. Once again it was that man Kaiser who started the better off with a raise to 40,000 from early position and Kelopuro made the call from the big blind. The flop came down 3h-2h-9s and Kelopuro check-called Kaiser's 45,000 continuation bet. The turn was the 5s and Kelopuro check-called again, this time a bet of 120,000. The river was the 8s and for the third time Kelopuro checked, Kaiser bet 225,000 only to see Kelopuro move all in for 830,000 in total. Kaiser made the call and showed As4c for the straight, much better than the ace-high made with AdKs.

Next out of the door was Erlen Melsom, known as “Sir_Winalot9” in online poker circles. The players had only just returned from a scheduled 15-minute break when Melsom opened to 50,000 from under the gun. Everyone folded to Jani Sointula in the big blind and after counting his opponents chips he moved all in. Melsom snap-called and showed AsKc, which was dominating the AdQs of Sointula. It looked as if Melsom was going to double up because by the turn the board read 7h-5c-8d-8h but the river was the Qd and with that Melsom's hopes of becoming an EPT champion were dashed.

Melsom's demise was a fantastic result for Britain's Stuart Fox, as it netted him an extra €10,000 for doing no work at all. Just before the break Fox has been all in against Sointula, the latter's kings holding up against Fox's ace-queen to leave Fox with just 50,000 chips and on the brink of elimination. He was eliminated almost immediately after Melsom had busted out and he called off his last 41,000 chips when Kaiser had opened to 50,000. Sointula also called and it was three-handed to the Kc-8s-2c flop. Both Sointula and Kaiser checked the flop but when the Kh landed on the turn Kaiser bet 30,000 and Sointula folded. Kaiser turned over KdTs which meant the 8d6d of Fox was drawing dead. The meaningless Ac fell on the river and with the tournament was down to just four surviving players.

Four became three as Finland's Sointula felt the wrath of Kaiser, the former raising to 60,000 and then shoving for 900,000 when Kaiser three-bet to 145,000. Kaiser held a pair of sevens, whilst Sointula was holding an un-suited Big Slick. The dealer put out the five community cards, 9s-8s-6d-4s-8h, which failed to improve Sointula and the big man was sent to the rail to collect €80,000.

The surviving three players were all guaranteed scores of at least six-figures and the first to pick his up was local player,  Raigo Aasmaa. He had played very tightly throughout the final table, partly handcuffed by those around him and was quite unfortunate that the first real hand he was involved in was also his last. Grzegorz Cichocki opened to 65,000 from the cutoff and Aasmaa moved all in from the big blind. The Pole snap-called and showed AhAd, which was well in front of the KhTh of the Estonian. The aces held as the final board ran out 5d-Qd-9d-7d-4s and the 282 players who entered the €4,250 Main Event had been whittled down to just the final two players.

Going into heads-up Kaiser held a 4,912,000 to 3,537,000 chip lead over Cichocki and it was a lead that he would never relinquish. The combination of playing well and running well is usually a deadly duo, and when this happens in a one-on-one scenario the match is not going to generally last very long. This is exactly what happened, Kaiser demolished Cichocki in less than half hour, the final hand saw a visibly frustrating Cichocki raise to 60,000 from the button, Kaiser made it 165,000 to play and then called as his opponent moved all in for just under 1,000,000 chips. Kaiser showed Ac9s and Cichocki 8d6d. The 5d-Ks-Ah flop extended Kaiser's lead and the Ts on the turn locked up the hand. The 9d fell on the turn, eliminating Cichocki and awarding the title to Kaiser.

The next stop on the EPT calender is on August 27 when EPT Barcelona gets underway. Kaiser will be there, looking to become the first-ever double winner of an EPT Main Event. Can he do it? Only time will tell.

Final table payouts

1st: Ronny Kaiser: €275,000
2nd: Grzegorz Cichocki: €180,000
3rd: Raigo Aasmaa: €110,000
4th: Jani Sointula: €80,000
5th: Stuart Fox: €55,000
6th: Erlend Melsom: €45,000
7th: Sami Kelopuro: €35,000
8th: Arvi Vainionkulma: €25,000