Just two months ago he won the European Poker Tour San Remo Main Event, finished in 15th place at the WSOP Main Event back in July and now he collected the inaugural World Poker Tour event in Prague honors. The 22-year old poker prodigy, Andrey Pateychuk, from Russia is making a name for himself amazingly fast – he won two major live tournaments in just two months and finished among the top players in the world's largest poker event.
In Prague Pateychuk outplayed the field of 568 players and collected the main prize of almost half a million euros. The young Russian definitely ranks among the best live performances of the year with his total winnings coming close to $1.5 million. Although the digits might not seem highly impressive in the world where millionaires are born overnight, given the fact that Pateychuk earned his dollars in a number of tournaments gives him a huge credit.
The WPT Prague Main Event six-handed final table featured an international crowd with Germany's Stanislaw Kretz holding a huge lead at the start of the play. Short stacks Russell Carson from Canada and Sigurd Eskeland from Norway were the first ones to leave the table in sixth and fifth places respectively. Then it was Frenchman’s Benjamin Pollak's turn – he busted out in fourth place for €104,000. Pateychuk, Kretz, and Adria Balaguer from Spain were the last three players at the table.
When three-handed play began Kretz was still in the lead, however, he soon gave up his position to the new leader – Pateychuk. The game was basically decided in one hand played by Kretz and Pateychuk at the end of which the Russian collected a massive 4 million pot with three Kings and left the German seriously crippled.
Kretz didn't manage to come back after the big loss and was finally sent to the rail by the young Russian. Heads-up play between Pateychuk and Balaguer began with both players holding more or less the same amount of chips, but Balaguer soon took over the lead after a massive hand leaving his opponent down by 1 to 10. However, the Russian wasn't finished just yet and climbed back to the chip leader position once again and this time he held on to it.
On the last hand the Spaniard went all-in holding pocket Queens and Pateychuk called with A-5. The board gave the Russian a straight and the game was over. Pateychuk collected his second major poker title along with a €450,000 cash prize and a ticket to the $25,000 WPT Championship in May, 2012, while his opponent received €238,000.
After winning the EPT and WPT events Pateychuk is now just a WSOP bracelet way from poker's Triple Crown. Should the young Russian talent succeed in winning one of the World Series events he would join the small group of players that have won the three most prestigious poker trophies – Roland de Wolfe, Gavin Griffin, Jake Cody and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier.
Here are the WPT Prague Main Event Final Table Results:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrey Pateychuk | €450,000 |
| 2 | Adria Balaguer | €238,000 |
| 3 | Stanislaw Kretz | €158,000 |
| 4 | Benjamin Pollak | €104,000 |
| 5 | Sigur Eskeland | €80,000 |
| 6 | Russell Carson | €63,000 |
follow PokerWorks on Twitter! And like us on Facebook to stay updated with poker news, events, and promotions.