Frenchman Kalidou Sow defeated a huge field of 855 entries to take down the 2017 PokerStars Championship Prague €5,300 no-limit hold’em main event for €675,000 ($795,305).
The 37-year-old Sow came into the final day as the chip lead with 6 players remaining. Sow took the lead during the three-handed play at the final table when he flopped a straight on 10-9-8 with Q-J. His opponent Jason Wheeler also flopped the bottom straight with 7-6 and moved all-in on the river. Wheeler was able to eliminate Michal Mrakes in 3rd place ($391,172 USD), but Sow got a good lead into heads up with 14,085,000 in chips to Wheeler’s 11,630,000.
Entering heads-up with a respectable lead, Sow was able to keep the pressure and extend his lead. By the time the final hand came, Sow had a commanding lead over his heads-up mate. On the final hand with blinds running 80,000-160,000 Wheeler raised to 425,000. Sow bet to 1,375,000. Wheeler moved all-in for 6,035,000 and Sow called with 10h-10d. Wheeler needed help with Ah-9s, but the board opened Jc-7s-4s-5h-Kh. Sow’s pocket tens held up to earn him the pot and of course the title.
Final Table Payouts (USD):
| Place | Player | Earnings (USD) | POY Points |
| 1 | Kalidou Sow | $795,305 | 1,824 |
| 2 | Jason Wheeler | $671,591 | 1,520 |
| 3 | Michal Mrakes | $391,172 | 1,216 |
| 4 | Gabriele Lepore | $293,379 | 912 |
| 5 | Harry Lodge | $230,933 | 760 |
| 6 | Colin Robinson | $173,200 | 608 |
| 7 | Matas Cimbolas | $122,720 | 456 |
| 8 | Valentyn Shabelnyk | $85,963 | 304 |
| 9 | Aleksandr Mordvinov | $67,850 | 152 |
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