Antonio Matias wins EPT Vilamoura

Antonio Matias wins EPT Vilamoura

Monday, 23 November 2009

Portugal’s Antonio Matias gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about after winning EPT Vilamoura. Matias went into the final table with a resounding chip lead and despite a few wobbles throughout the day he worked his way through to a heads up encounter with 67-year-old Pierre Neuville.

The two-handed action didn’t last long. The chips went in with Matias holding bottom two-pair and Neuville top pair with an inside straight draw. The turn gave Matias a full house and with it a first prize of €404,793. Neuville was forced to settle for €257,681.


The 54-year-old Matias, who is a travel agency director by day, becomes the oldest player to win an EPT event and is the first home based winner since Sandra Naujoks won in Dortmund last season.


"I like to think of myself as a citizen of the world," said Matias. "But it is very satisfying win an EPT in my home country. I just decided to play the way I play, and hope that luck didn't turn its back on me. When I got the chip lead yesterday the only thing I had on my mind was winning."


The final table positions and payouts were as follows:


1. Antonio Matias €404,793
2. Pierre Neuville €257,681
3. Jeff Sarwer €156,170
4. Jan Skampa €117,128
5. Joao Silva €78,075
6. Michel Abecassis €62,468
7. Ryan Franklin €46,851
8. Andrei Vlasenko €31,234



Tags: Poker News, Antonio, Matias, wins, EPT, Vilamoura