Steve O’ Dwyer has aced probably one of the toughest final table in the history of European Poker Tournament (EPT) and won the Monte Carlo EPT Grand Final on Sunday night. O’ Dwyer bested 531 players to grab the title and received a huge amount of €1,224,000 as prize money. He started his day on the final table as the chip leader and after seeing some ups and downs throughout the day he managed to outplay other players. After winning he accepted that when the day started, he knew that he needs to play some outstanding game and need some luck to garb the title.
Some of the best poker players were there in the final eight. Andrew Pantling, Jason Mercier, Jake Cody and World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (WSOP APAC) Main Event winner Daniel Negreanu were amongst the other players who were present on the final table. The first one to leave the table was Australian Poker player Grant Levy. Pantling played executioner’s part for Levy. The next one to follow was Jason Mercier. Though he displayed some outstanding game but it was not enough to save him and he busted out at 7th place. The remaining six players kept the game going and after an hour two players hit the rail in the same hand. Noah Schwartz and Jake Cody, both members of Team PokerStars, got eliminated at 6th and 5th place respectively.
Daniel Negreanu was next in the line to leave the final table. He received €321,000 to finish at 4th place. His earning from this table helped him to place himself on the third place on the all-time tournament winning list only after Antonio Esfandiari and Sam Trickett. With only three players left on the final table, the action was lightning fast. Players were trying to outplay each other in every hand and were taking chip lead one after another. Finally O’ Dwyer eliminated Johnny Lodden to face Pantling for the title. Pantling played magnificent game and gave the champion a good run for his money. But it was simply not his day and he had to bow down after a long and furious battle. After winning this title O’ Dwyer has also improved his ranking in the player of the year list.
Final Table Result
| Rank | Name of the Player | Prize Money |
| 1. | Steve O’ Dwyer |
€1,224,000 |
| 2. | Andrew Pantling | €842,000 |
| 3. | Johnny Lodden |
€467,000 |
| 4. | Daniel Negreanu |
€321,000 |
| 5. | Jake Cody |
€251,000 |
| 6. | Noah Schwartz |
€189,000 |
| 7. | Jason Mercier |
€137,000 |
| 8. | Grant levy |
€103,000 |