The Italian Job: Bonavena Wins EPT Prague

After a marathon final table in Prague, Salvatore Bonavena has become the first Italian national to win a title on the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour.

Bonavena came into the final table of the EPT5 Prague main event holding the chip lead over a largely anonymous final table, and over the course of 12 hours characterized by questionable play and head-scratching decisions lost it, then regained it, then lost it again.

Eventually, however, he'd prevail, defeating fellow Italian Massimo Di Cicco in heads-up action to claim the title, the €774,000 first prize and the chance to talk to PokerListings.com's own Rod Stirzaker.

Raul Mestre: Had a plane to catch!

The story of the most donkerrific EPT final table in recent memory began at 1 p.m. CET at the Casino Atrium in the Prague Hilton, when Bonavena and Di Cicco entered John Duthie's Terror Dome with six other contestants to square off for all the proverbial marbles, with Bonavena the chip leader and Di Cicco fifth on the leaderboard. It wouldn't take long for the carnage to begin.

On the second hand of the day, Raul Mestre decided he had better places to be, four-betting all-in pre-flop with A 7 and pricing Finland's Fredrik Nyberg into a call with pocket nines. The flop brought an ace and it looked like suck-out city, but Nyberg would hit runner-runner hearts to flush Mestre from contention, making him the eighth-place finisher and the beneficiary of €71,800 in severance pay.

If I ruled the world ...

As the action continued, the players at the final table quickly divided themselves into two very distinct groups: those who appeared to have no idea what they were doing (the majority) and those who seemed comfortable in their surroundings (Andrew Chen, Nasr El Nasr and Nyberg, pretty much). Check out the live updates log for bocoo evidence of the former.

Anyways, El Nasr would find himself the next to hit the road, busting in seventh place after his K J failed to improve against Chen's pocket tens. The German pro would flop a diamond flush draw but couldn't get there by fifth street and was gone, collecting €99,500 for his troubles as he made his departure.

Kara, who are these people?

A succession of egregious decisions and ridiculous suck-outs would follow as the field marched past the dinner break and Andrew Chen continued to build his stack from a class-worst $309,000 at the start of the day.

Chen would get lucky early with a couple of come-from-behind double-ups and later sent Nygard packing after shipping from the small blind with Q-2 on his short-stacked rival, who called in the big blind with A-8.

The flop would bring a deuce and that's all the Canadian would need, sending Nygard packing in the six spot for a €130,000 payout.

You only live twice, Mr. Bond!

Chen would continue to roll, getting Francesco Cirianni next after the latter shoved with A 8 and the former called with A Q. No help for either player on flop, turn or river and Cirianni, clear favorite for "most eccentric final tablist" award, was out in fifth, taking €166,000 as his reward.

For his next trick, Chen would assume the chip lead, making an absolutely sick call on Alexiou Konstantinos in a $900k pot with ace-high on the river to catch his Greek rival bluffing with a busted straight flush draw. It was the stuff of dreams, that call, and it solidified Chen's standing in the media room and on the live broadcast as the favorite to take down the title.

Tip your waitresses, I'm out!

Konstantinos, meanwhile, would see his day come to an end soon after, getting it all-in on the button with pocket threes against Bonavena's K-Q. The flop came 6-2-2 and the turn the seven, prompting Konstantinos to sit down and prepare to rake his newly doubled stack as the EPT commentators looked on, agog.

Sho 'nuff, the river was a king and that's all she wrote for Konstantinos, whose play on Saturday prompted many observers to openly rue the fact that they couldn't buy in to the final table themselves. It was ugly. Anyways, dude takes €199,000 for his time.

Know I'm either going to end up dead, or behind bars!

Chen, meanwhile, would relinquish his chip lead to Bonavena after making perhaps his only mistake of the day, firing three barrels into the Italian whilst holding nothing but air on a K-K-3-A-8 board in a battle of the blinds. Bonavena must have seen something he liked, because he made the call with naught but bottom pair to nearly cripple the Canadian and take a stranglehold on the match.

A few hands later, Chen was gonzo, roasted in third place after his K-Q failed to improve against Bonavena's A-6. The Italian flopped a gut-shot and got there on the turn, leaving Chen drawing slim with only a chop to save him. He couldn't get there and was out, taking €257,000 and nightmares of that one failed bluff as his sole souvenirs of his time.

Mano a mano!

As heads-up play between Bonavena and Di Cicco began before a teeming throng of Italian supporters, the former held a nearly 3-1 chip lead over his rival. It wouldn't last. Di Cicco would do his best Doyle Brunson impression and double with T-2, pulling even with Bonavena.

But Sweet Salvatore still clung to the lead, and with both combatants playing fast and loose the end came surprisingly quickly after such a long day. Bonavena and Di Cicco saw a flop come 8 3 2 and somehow got all of the money in the middle, with Bonavena holding 8 7 and his adversary only able to muster, well, A 4.

Who da man?

Di Cicco needed an ace or five to stay alive, but the board finished out 6 J to clinch the victory for a very emotional - and very exhausted - Salvatore Bonavena. The man of the hour was mobbed by a collection of fans that included Team PokerStars Pro pro Dario Minieri and the entirety of the Italian foreign press, while Di Cicco sought solace in the arms of the other half of the Italian poker community and his €445,000 runner-up check.

Check out our winner interview with Salvatore Bonavena and peruse the final results for yourself.

That about wraps it up from the Czech Republic, but the EPT will return early in 2009 as the Old World once again invades the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure at Atlantis Resort. Until then, congrats to both finalists, tough luck, Andrew Chen, and happy holidays to all from PokerListings.com!