Coren wins EPT

UK journalist, and sometime PokerPlayer contributor, Vicky Coren has won the latest leg of the European Poker Tour held over the weekend at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in central London.

Coren pocketed a first place prize of £500,000 from a total prize pool of £1,393,000. The tournament was played as No Limit Hold’em with a £3,500 buy-in, and attracted 398 runners.

Four-handed on the final table Coren was the shortstack, but some shrewd play, clever banter and that all important slice of luck saw her accumulate chips, and eventually overcome Aussie Emad Tahtouh in only two hands of heads-up action.

The competition attracted a strong field, featuring all the stalwarts of the British game, and a sprinkling of world stars. Phil Ivey made it to the start of Day Two only, while notables such as Isabelle Mercier, Barny Boatman, Tom Parker-Bowles, Ashley Hayles, Neil Channing and Tom Sambrook all cashed.

Vicky, 34, the daughter of humorist Alan Coren, is a regular poker pundit and writes a column for the Guardian newspaper. She gained fame as a regular on Channel 4’s Late Night Poker show and recently presented the popular BBC series Balderdash & Piffle.

Until today, her previous best win was winning £25,000 in the 2004 Celebrity Poker Challenge.

She said: “I am so happy and proud to win this tournament in the Victoria casino.The whole EPT is an amazing thing – it’s a fantasy to win any EPT event – but to win in London at the Vic is beyond my wildest dreams.”

Final standings:
1st: Vicky Coren, UK, £500,000
2nd: Emad Tahtouh, Australia, £285,900
3rd: Jan Sjavic, Norway, £168,600
4th: Michael Muldoon, Ireland, £110,000
5th: Chad Brown, United States, £58,600
6th: Jules Kuusik, Sweden, £44,000
7th: Peter Hedlund, Sweden, £36,600
8th: Sid Harris, UK, £29,300