The European Poker Tour came to Hungary for the first time, with the Hungarian Open taking place in the capital, Budapest.  It comprised of four events with all the action taking place at the Las Vegas Casino in the Sofitel Hotel.

The 4,000 + 350 euro No Limit Hold’em Freezeout main event was won by Englishman William Fry, competing in his first major live poker tournament.  The 28 year-old poker professional from Nottingham defeated a field of 531 players to win the 595,839 euro ($471,953) and book a seat at the end of season EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo.

 Fry was in a final table that included his fellow Team PokerStars player Johnny Lodden of Norway.  Also making it to the final table was online qualifier Martin Jacobson of Sweden, who had to go through the long route of qualifying online first and then progressing through the field at the Las Vegas Casino to reach the final table.  They were joined by Gino Alacqua, Ciprian Hrisco, Albert Iverson, Johnny Lodden, Marino Serenelli and Hungarian Zoltan Toth who completed the final table line-up. 

The final table was to last just under five hours with only 76 hands of poker needed to be played.  The crowd were behind Hungarian Zoltan Toth who, at the start of play, was one of three players holding over 1 million in chips.  The other two players with a chip advantage were Romanian Ciprian Hrisco and Albert Iverson.

Johnny Lodden has many times in EPT events just missed out on reaching the final table.  He broke that duck though here, only to be the first player to be eliminated from the final table.

Zoltan Toth- playing in his hometown - had amassed a good amount of chips in qualifying for the final table.  Although, he didn’t last too long as he was knocked out in seventh place.

Gino Alacqua from Italy was runner-up in another Eastern European EPT event in last year’s EPT Prague.   His hopes of going one better this time were dashed when he was sent crashing out in a three-way pot to Ciprian Hrisco.  Gino’s fellow countryman, Marino Serenelli, finished in fifth place after losing out to Fry.  Fry also eliminated the next player, who was Denmark’s Albert Iverson.

21 year-old Swedish online qualifier Martin Jacobson did well to even reach the final table but he also performed well  on the final table to reach the last three.   He eventually busted in a hand to Hrisco’s flush meaning the Swede finished in third, just missing out on the heads-up.

The heads-up then was between Fry and Hrisco.  Both players had played aggressive poker throughout the event, so it wasn’t expected to last long.  Both of them were also playing in their first major live event with Hrisco only taking up the game some eighteen months ago.
After only a few minutes of play it was all over as Fry’s pocket jacks were too strong for Hrisco’s cards.  Hrisco was rewarded with 342,608 euros (£271,360) for being runner-up.
Fry follows in the footsteps of fellow Nottingham resident Julian Thew who won last year’s EPT Baden Classic event.
Here are the final table standings:

    •    William Fry  595,839 (£471,953)
    •    Ciprian Hrisco 342,608 euros (£271,360)
    •    Martin Jacobson 197,904 euros (£156,748)
    •    Albert Iverson 153,216 euros (£121,371)
    •    Marino Serenelli 127,680 euros (£101,142)
    •    Gino Alacqua 100,016 euros (£79,232)
    •    Zoltan Toth 78,736 euros (£62,374)
    •    Johnny Lodden 53,200 euros (£42,144)

The European Poker Tour will return on 15th – 19th November with the EPT Warsaw event.

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