Benny Spindler Crowned EPT London Champion

Benny Spindler outplayed a tough final table to take down the title at the European Poker Tour London Main Event. Spinder gained a massive chip lead early at the final table and never relinquished control on his way to winning his first EPT event.

Spindler, a German poker pro, was a constant presence on the leaderboard throughout the tournament from the very first day, which helped him reach the final table with plenty of chips to make himself a factor. After gaining the chip lead early in final table play, he then managed to gain nearly half the chips in play by winning a coin flip hand against Martins Adeniya, who had come into the final table with the most chips.

In the end, Spindler and American Steven O’Dwyer combined to be responsible for knocking out all six of the other players at the final table. When they entered heads up play, Spindler had an approximately 5-3 chip lead, though O’Dwyer was considered by many to be the more experienced player. O’Dwyer gained notoriety earlier this year by becoming the first player to win an Epic Poker League Pro/Am Event.

In the end, heads-up play did not last long. O’Dwyer moved all-in with KJ suited, and was immediately called by Spindler’s AK. Spindler flopped an ace, and held on to defeat O’Dwyer and claim his first major tournament victory.

For first place, Spindler won a prize of £750,000 – brining his lifetime tournament winnings to just over $3.1 million – while O’Dwyer took home £465,000 for second place. In total, EPT London awarded over £3.35 million in prizes, with 104 of the initial 691 players making the money. The final table prizes were as follows:

1 Benny Spindler £750,000

2 Steve O´Dwyer £465,000

3 Andre Klebanov £265,000

4 Juan Manuel Pastor £200,000

5 Mattias Bergstrom £155,000

6 Kevin Iacofano £120,000

7 Martins Adeniya £86,350

8 Miroslav Benes £64,000