PokerStars.com EPT German Open - Live Updates

Sandra Naujoks has proved virtually unstoppable in the second half of this EPT and she has just won the trophy!

There was a stroke of luck in the final hand, the two players getting it in preflop and Sandra finding herself in bad shape, holding A♠ 9♣ to Kanisch's A♣ Q♥.

Naujoks looked likely to be ousted at the final hurdle. A flop of A♥ 7♥ 2♦ did nothing to change the balance of power, and Kanisch had one hand on the trophy.

Then the Black Mamba struck again!

The 9♠ spiked on the turn to turn the tables and shift the momentum back in her favor. Needing a queen on the river, Kanisch watched the 8♦ peel off to end his tournament as he finished runner-up for €533,000.

But Sandra Naujoks it was who conquered a strong final table to pick up the trophy, plaudits and €917,000 in prize money!

A superb result. We can only applaud Naujoks for her strong performance as she becomes the third German to win an EPT title this season.

Join us shortly for some shots of the glamorous winner and our recap of what has proved a hugely enjoyable, action-packed and dramatic final!

Sandra Naujoks just took a massive step toward becoming the second female winner of an EPT.

Following some trappy preflop action, Sandra and Kranisch got their chips in on a 5-6-7 board, Kanisch confident with his pocket jacks, only to find the dangerous and deadly Sandra had been playing possum effectively with her pocket aces!

Quite the cooler; when the board blanked out, Sandra's stack was doubled through, giving her the chip lead with $5 million to Kanisch's $1.5 million.

She is on the verge of history!

Following Sandra's double-up at his hands, the fruit-loving, poetry-reading, cravat-wearing Gork was left short, and when Kanisch raised and Sandra called, in a move reminiscent of Cengizcan Ulusu's demise earlier, Gork decided to flip a coin to determine his action.

The coin decided ... he would move all-in!

He did so, and Kanisch quickly reraised to squeeze Sandra out of the pot. She wasn't happy, but his raise worked and so he and Gork were heads-up with Gork's tournament life hanging in the balance.

Pocket sevens for Kanisch; K♠ T♦ for Gork, who was delighted to find himself in a coin-flip situation.

The flop briefly threatened Kanisch, falling Q♦ 5♣ 2♣ J♦ to give Gork 14 outs on the river to make a superior hand, but the blank five that appeared was not one of those, meaning Kanisch eliminates Marc Gork in third spot.

We'll miss his crazy antics at the table.

Gork picks up a nice chunk of change - €307,000 to be exact - for his third-place spot and we are now heads-up for the title!

The players are on a short break but when we return Sandra "The Black Mamba" Naujoks will take on Holger Kanisch for the EPT Dortmund title!

Update: Heads-up play is now under way, with Kanisch holding $3,666,000 to Naujoks' $2,980,000 as action kicks off.

Sandra Naujoks had seen her sizable chip advantage melting away, with several ill-timed moves resulting in her $3.8 million stack knocked down to $1.5 million.

She then made a standard raise, only for Gork to shove all-in over the top.

Despite having put 35% of her stack, she tanked for a little bit ... and then called!

It proved surprising that she had tanked, seeing as she had pocket tens, and when Gork flipped up sixes, she was in great shape for a double-up.

Well, the board ran out J-9-5-8-2 with ne'er a six in sight and she had recouped much of her losses, propelled back into the chip lead with $3.2 million!

Play resumed three-handed following a short intermission and as they came back, Sandra Naujoks and Marc Gork became entangled in a preflop battle that saw Sandra evenutally calling Gork's shove with J♥ T♥.

Hoping to be live, when Gork revealed K♠ J♠, Sandra made a quick technical analysis of the situation.

"Oh s***," said Sandra.

Both players hit a jack, but with his superior kicker, Gork took down the pot and doubled through to $2.4 million or so, whilst the previously big-stacked Naujoks had taken a big hit.

T-J suited may have seemed like a weak hand to felt there, but it is likely the remaining three German players have struck some sort of deal, meaning they are liable to display a greater willingness to gamble now the payouts have been somewhat flattened.

Just minutes after sending EPT4 Dortmund champ Mike "Timex" McDonald home in fifth, Sandra Naujoks continues her reign of terror, getting Swede Johan Storakers all-in preflop in another massive pot.

Storakers holds A♥ Q♦ and is dominated by the Black Mamba's A♣ K♥. The flop comes 9♠ 8♥ 2♠ and big slick still leads.

The 2♦ on the turn gives Storakers some outs to chop, but the 2♣ on the river cannot save the PokerListings.se blogger and he's out in fourth place, taking  €237,000 for his time.

Naujoks has won nearly all of the hands after the return from the dinner break, and now enters three-handed play with a commanding $4 million in front of her.

Since the resumption of play it has been German Sandra Naujoks who has turned the heat up on the table, shoving to pick up the blinds several times.

She then saw a K-Q-J two-club flop with Marc Gork and when Gork led for $125k, Sandra moved all-in!

Gork had been reading poetry indifferently in his seat, but put down his book for a moment to consider the situation more carefully. Then he folded and Sandra was left with $1,500,000 in chips, good for second place!

Then this momentous hand took place.

Holger raised it up from UTG, then Mike McDonald shoved all-in for $915k. Once again, the lady who has been the story of this final table got involved, calling the Canadian's shove!

Everyone else folded to leave the pair heads-up and Timex looked like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, announcing "I hope I have three outs!"

It turned out he was in better shape than he had hoped as Naujoks tabled tens. A $2 million pot was being played for!

Needing a king or jack, McDonald hoped in vain as the dealer dealt out a Q♠ 7♥ 5♠ 6♦ 3♠ board.

Amazing! No second title for Timex - he was knocked out in fifth, winning €197,000 for his troubles.

"I was happy with how I played," revealed Timex as he left the tournament. He'll be back as I think we all know.

The players have retaken their seats to play out to the conclusion.

Can Timex continue to push the table around as he was prior to dinner? We'll soon find out.

Game on!

The titanic nature of the blinds at this stage reduces the opportunities for any post-flop poker, meaning right now it is all about shoving and folding.

Sooner or later, two reasonable hands were likely to bump heads and indeed just moments ago Luca Pagano moved all-in, and Gork, who had him marginally covered, made the call!

Action!

Pocket sevens for Luca and a flipping ace-nine for Gork. With a $1.7 million pot in the offing, the flop fell K♦ T♠ 4♠.

It was a good flop for Luca, since his opponent failed to pair up. However, his face fell as a nine appeared on the turn to leave him virtually down and out and once the river blanked out.

Luca was left rubbing his sweaty forehead in dismay and climbing down from the platform, any hopes of a first EPT triumph dashed.

He picks up a healthy €153,000 for his performance, but the dejected manner in which he left the stage underlined how disappointed the Italian was at failing to nail the win.

With that elimination the players are now taking an hour's break to eat dinner, after which time the final five combatants will return to battle to the death.

See you then!

Mike "Timex" McDonald has moved all-in in six of the last 11 hands, whether over open-limpers, open-raisers or just straight open-shoving by his own self.

Nobody dares call, and Timex is up to $1.3 million and climbing as his fearless strategery pays off.

Holger Kranisch is starting to lay the smack down now, using his big stack effectively to bully the rest of the table.

He is in one of those beautiful situations where the congregated smaller stacks are all afraid to take him on with such large money jumps for laddering up just a single place.

A few moments ago Gork looked like he might take him on, raising it up, only for Kranisch to pop in a three-bet.

Gork, who has had a steady stream of fruit delivered to him as he plays, stared him down whilst comically sucking on a banana, but the impassive Kranisch refused to buckle in the face of such fruity resistance.

Eventually Gork laid it down, enabling the dominant Kranisch to pick up yet another pot and consolidate his powerful position.

Then, suddenly, the strangely quiet Mike McDonald sprung into action!

His stack had shrunk down to $326k and he moved in, only for Gork to raise over the top and take the Canadian on.

McDonald looked as though he had been waiting patiently for a hand, and he had found one in A♣ Q♦. Meanwhile Gork had elected to take him on with 8♠ 7♠ from the blinds.

A flop of A♥ 8♦ 4♦ had a little for everyone but the J♦ and A♦ on the turn and river closed the door on Gork's hopes of busting Timex, whose flush took down the pot and doubled him up to $800k.

He's back in the game!

William Thorson had managed to chip up by moving all-in with reckless abandon but eventually, something had to give, and after he shipped $480k on the button his fellow Swede, Johan Storakers, made the call in the small blind.

It was a relatively quick call and belied Storakers' relative weakness; the PokerListings.se blogger turned up K♣ J♦, but was ahead of Thorson's 9♥ 8♠.

The flop was a doozy, coming T♣ 9♠ 7♣ to give Thorson the lead but leave Storakers with a double gut-shot draw.

The turn was the K♠ and Storakers retook the lead with his overpair, and after the river was the 4♠ Thorson was eliminated, out in seventh place and taking €116,500 for his efforts.

EPT hostess Kara Scott talked to Thorson after the hand, telling the Swede he must be very disappointed in his result.

"Yes," Thorson said. "I'm very disappointed. It feels bad to be on the wrong side of luck all the time."

Holger Kanisch has just doubled through William Thorson, crippling the Team PokerStars Pro pro in a battle of the blinds that sees Kanisch engineer a suck-out to bring his stack back up to the $1 million mark.

The hand saw Kanisch open-shove with Q♣ 8♣ and run into Thorson's A♠ K♣. The flop came naught but blanks, but the turn was the 8♦ and Kanisch took the lead as the pro-German crowd cheered.

The river was a six and Kanisch took the hand, doubling through Thorson, who is left with only $390k to his name.

A few hands later, Mike McDonald four-bet Kanisch all-in with pocket tens to the German's A-K. The flop came K-Q-J and Kanisch flopped top pair while McDonald picked up an open-ended straight draw.

Timex needed to hit an ace or a nine to send his rival to the rail, but the turn was a seven and the river a six and the kings held, giving Kanisch another pot and close to $1.9 million.

McDonald is down to $500k.

Much to the delight of professional typists everywhere, Cengizcan Ulusu, the man with the impossible name, has been eliminated from contention in eighth place at this final table.

In the hand that predicated his untimely demise, Ulusu raised to $150,000 after William Thorson limped in, only to see Mike "Timex" McDonald move all-in over the top.

The action folded back around to Ulusu, who gave the matter some thought before deciding to flip a coin to help him make a decision.

Well, he must have liked the result, because he made the call, but quickly found the situation to be nothing close to a coin flip: Ulusu's K♦ 2♦ were far behind McDonald's pocket kings.

Easy game.

The flop came 8-6-2 with one diamond, giving Ulusu a few outs to bust the champion, but the turn was a six and the river a four and the kings held, giving McDonald the pot and doubling him up to chip-leader status.

On the next hand, Ulusu got all-in and was called by Johan Storakers before Marc Gork moved all-in over the top.

Storakers was priced in to call and did so with pocket sixes, while Gork held pocket jacks and Ulusu J-9.

The flop came Q-J-3, all spades, and Storakers' 6♠ suddenly looked deadly.

The turn, however, was the K♦ and the river the 2♦ and the jacks held, doubling up Gork and consigning Ulusu to the rail.

The Turkish pro will take €85,000 for his eighth-place finish.

Seat 7: Luca Pagano, 31, Treviso, Italy - Team PokerStars Pro - $1,115,000

Already the record holder for the most EPT cashes, Pagano added his 10th in-the-money finish here in Germany, bringing his total EPT earnings to more than €500,000. His most recent major EPT result was the Grand Final in Monte Carlo last year where he came sixth, earning €337,000. The former computer programming student began his poker career using play money on PokerStars, but soon progressed to real money and turned a modest deposit into a monster online bankroll. He is also hugely successful in live events and was voted EPT Player of the Year last September.

Seat 8: Marc Gork, 21, Chemnitz, Germany - $540,000

'Not even half a pro.'

Gork is a German language and literature student who has been playing poker for four years, claiming, however, that he is "not even half a pro." This festival in Dortmund has now hosted the best two results of his career: firstly, the final table in the main event and previously the €300 satellite to win his seat. Prior to arriving here his biggest achievement was 14th place in a PokerStars Sunday second chance tournament. He said: "This is my first EPT and getting this far is really like a dream. But it's definitely made me want to play more events so I hope to come to San Remo as well."

Seat 4: Johan Storakers, 37, Stockholm, Sweden - $1,615,000

 Johan Storakers is something of a veteran on the international poker circuit, with a tournament resume dating back to 1996. The "Swedish Striker" has had more than a dozen final-table appearances in World Series, WPT and other big-buy-in events but, despite many appearances, has yet to go deep at an EPT main event, although he did come third in a €300 side event at EPT4 Barcelona. Storakers's biggest came in the 2008 Aruba Classic where he earned $486,000 for second place and took his live tournament winnings to over $2.5 million.

Seat 5: Mike McDonald, 19, Waterloo, Canada - $746,000

Destiny beckons for Timex.

McDonald makes his second EPT final table today, having won this tournament last season, earning €933,600, and becoming, at 18 years old, the youngest-ever EPT champion. Should McDonald win today he will become the tour's first double winner. That success was his fifth major cash in a five-week period and the biggest of his career. The former maths student - known as "Timex" online - also finished 14th at EPT4 Prague for €20,200.

Seat 6: Sandra Naujoks, 27, Dessau, East Germany - ShootingStar - $586,000

'The Black Mamba' is used to playing high-snakes poker.

Naujoks initially studied German and history to become a high school teacher before pursuing careers as a graphic designer and model. She first started playing poker with friends in a home game before going on to try online No-Limit Hold'em tournaments playing as "The Black Mamba." She began playing major live tournaments in 2008 and recorded an immediate success when she won the European Championship at the Casinos Austria Poker Tour, beating Team PokerStars Pro's Alexander Kravchenko heads-up. Naujoks has been a member of the prestigious PokerStars.de ShootingStar team since the PCA in January, but the Dortmund final table is her first EPT success.

Here are the player profiles courtesy of PokerStars.

Seat 1: Holger Kanisch, 26, Koblenz, Germany - $661,000

Holger Kanisch is an economic science student at the University of Wuppertal, but admits to spending much of his time playing online poker, $50 to $200 sit-and-gos, under the username "Tonding." He has also played a number of major live tournaments, including the 2007 WSOP Main Event and the APPT Macau, for which he qualified on PokerStars. Kanisch has no special plans for the final table except to finish as deep as possible, noting that the player he fears most is William Thorson. "He has position on me and is a very good and aggressive player."

Seat 2: William Thorson, 25, Gothenberg, Sweden - Team PokerStars Pro - $829,000

Kanisch is right. I'm the man!

Thorson is one of the most popular players on the EPT. With his fearless attitude, he can terrify everyone at the table while still wearing a huge grin on his face. Thorson has had some major EPT achievements. Eliminated in sixth place at last year's EPT San Remo, he was the final-table bubble boy at last year's PCA and finished third at EPT3 Dublin. Thorson's career highlights also include his memorable 13th-place finish in the 2006 WSOP for $907,000, and in 2007 he made the final table in the $5k Limit Hold'em event, winning $136,493. Online Thorson plays under the name "William," focusing on Omaha cash games, but prefers tournaments when playing live.

Seat 3: Cengizcan Ulusu, 38, Turkey - $537,000

If you can spell my name right, you may need medical attention!

Cengizcan Ulusu has been a professional poker player for more than 20 years. However, he only started playing Texas Hold'em a year or so ago. Ulusu, who bought himself into the event, says EPT Dortmund is certainly his biggest tournament result to date.

Welcome back to scenic Dortmeezy, where we've got a killer final table lined up on Day 4 of the PokerStars EPT Dortmund tournament for Season 5.

Canadian wunderkind Mike "Timex" McDonald looks set to replicate last year's success here in Germany by becoming the first player to win two EPT titles, but the road to a repeat will be a difficult one.

Team PokerStars Pro pros William Thorson and Luca Pagano join PokerStars.de Shooting Star Sandra Naujoks and PokerListings.se blogger Johan Storakers in the fight to keep the young Canadian down, making this one of the more impressive EPT final tables we've seen this season.

Action was scheduled to begin five minutes ago but clearly, it hasn't. There's nobody even seated at the tables, and we're a bit afraid those dastardly showgirls are going to turn back up.

Either way, stick with the big PL and we'll keep you apprised of all the haps here at Casino Hohensyburg.