12 October 2025
The Grand Connaught Rooms opened its doors to welcome the London leg of the PokerStars European Poker Tour - there were 10 days of intense poker with several events, culminating with the victory of Robin 'robinho' Ylitalo at the Main Event, with a £560.980 prize.
On the sixth day of the tournament, only 8 players returned to play one of the most anticipated titles of the year. Unlike usual, there weren't any stars among the 8 finalists - but they managed to produce a true poker spectacle with the help of fans and respective songs.
The action began at the 27th level of blinds (25.000/50.000), with an ante of 5,000, and it wasn't long until there was an elimination: Georgios Karakousis was responsible for the elimination of the british Kully Sidhu in 8th position.
In the next level, Jan Olav Sjåvik (which in 2005 finished in 3rd position in this event) was eliminated by the german Ludovic Geilich. Level 29 arrived and with it the elimination of Stefan Vagner - he pushed all his chips (over 2 million) into the middle of the table with Qc-Jh, and he got paid by Ylitalo's Ah-Kd.
The australian Jeff Rossiter was the next on the eliminations list - and now the action was 4-handed. With a short table, Leo McClean recovered from his condition as short stack, and started attacking his opponents blinds, showing a more agressive side.
One of the most impressive players in this event was Ludovic Geilich, although he didn't manage to go beyond fourth place, when his Qh-8h collided against Ylitalo's Ac-Qd.
The recent aggressiveness of McClean pushed him into a showdown situation: his Ad-Qd against Karakousis's 3s-3h. The board wasn't any help to the british player, and he finished in 3rd place with a 6 figure prize.
A short dinner break and, without any deal, Ylitalo and Karakousis proceeded to the final duel.
Everything ended with this hand:
Ylitalo opens to 240.000 chips with Ac-Kc at the button, and Karakousis 3bets to 620.000 chips to As-6d.
Ylitalo thinks it over and ends up 4betting the pot to 1.45 million - the greek player moves all-in (6.2 million) and Ylitalo calls instantly.
When the board comes 2s-5h-5c-8c-Jh, Ylitalo seals his fate as champion of the EPT London Main Event, with a £560,980 prize.
Check the final table classification below:
1. Robin Ylitalo - £560,980 (*PokerNews picture)
2. Georgios Karakousis - £349,200
3. Leo McClean - £249,850
4. Ludovic Geilich - £193,340
5. Jeff Rossiter - £152,320
6. Stefan Vagner - £119,225
7. Jan Olav Sjavik - £88,175
8. Kully Sidhu - £60,640
