The PokerStars European Poker Tour Berlin main event was one for the books.  This event had not only all the high stakes excitement and huge prize pools that have become expected at most major EPT stops, but also some unexpected crime, that shocked the poker world, and perhaps forever changed how casino security will handle these big buy-in events in the future.

The winner of the event and the €1,000,000 top prize that went with it, was the US’s own Kevin MacPhee, who outlasted a total field of 945 players including many internationally recognized pros, to earn easily the biggest score of his tournament career.

Along with the difficult competition that included such players as Marcel Luske, Max Pescatori and William Thorson, MacPhee also had to contend with the event nearly getting completely derailed, when on Saturday a group of armed gunman invaded the Grand Hyatt Hotel, attempting to grab a good chunk of the casino’s cash.  The gunman caused major havoc in the poker room and came dangerously close to my poker media brethren, who were covering the event live, but in the end left no one seriously injured and the event only delayed for a few hours, as organizers tried to make sense of the mounds of chips all mixed together, as a result of the poker players quickly fleeing the scene.

The final table finish positions for the PokerStars European Poker Tour Berlin main event were as follows:

1st.  Kevin MacPhee- €1,000,000

2nd.  Ilari Tahkokallio- €600,000

3rd.  Marc Inizan- €350,000

4th.  Artur Wasek- €280,000

5th.  Ketul Nathwani- €210,000

6th.  Marcel Koller- €165,000

7th.  Marko Neumann- €120,000

8th.  Nico Behling- €72,000

9th.  Alfonso Amendola- €50,000

For more information on the winners of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Berlin main event, or on the exciting happenings both on and off the felt, visit the PokerStars blog.


Story by Mark Anderson