Roberto Romanello wins EPT Prague

Welsh pro Roberto Romanello has won the EPT Prague Main Event. He takes home €640,000 to double his lifetime earnings.

The 34-year-old pro from Swansea outlasted 562 players to secure the tournament top spot and win his first major poker title, held at the Hilton Prague last week.

Players forked out €5,000 to take part in the six-day tournament for a shot at the EPT trophy. But of course it all came down to the final table, where the Welshman went heads-up against Italian Emilliano Bono.

Romanello went into the heads-ups with a 3:2 chip advantage and mantained a lead throughout. In the final hand he called Bono all-in with pocket 10s and the Italian’s A-J off-suit fared badly when 10d 4c 4d was dealt on the flop, giving Romanello a full house. Bono’s fate was sealed by the turn, which left him drawing dead and Romanello victorious.

Romanello took up poker five years ago, playing online when a football injury left him housebound and the following year he began entering live tournaments. By September 2006 he had won the Barcelona Open, taking home an impressive $53k, and last year he came close to a first EPT victory, final tableing in the Copenhagen Main Event for $100k.

But his latest win is by far the most significant of his career and pushes his all-time earnings to $1,741.000, making Romanello the third biggest Welsh winner of all time.