Will Fry wins EPT5 Budapest

There hasn't been an English PokerStars.com EPT champion since Julian Thew won EPT Baden, but William Fry set that record straight by storming to the title here in Budapest. He took part in one of the most fiery final tables we have seen: the entire tournament wrapped up in under five hours.

William picked up a meaty €595,839 for the win, and we spoke to the young player shortly after his victory to get his thoughts on what this triumph means to him.

So William, now you've won the tournament, what are your plans for the money? We understand you will giving a percentage to charity?

Yes that's right. First of all, I'm going to pay off my mortgage, then I'm going to help out my family and friends. Then I'm going to look into some good charities, such as those helping with poverty in the Third World, and see if I can do my little bit.

I'll see if I can influence some of these guys, businessmen who play poker, see if we can set something up to help out. I don't know really, it's just an idea. I just want to help out!

We understand you are a full-time online cash player now, but what did you do prior to playing poker?

Like a lot of players I was actually a croupier before playing poker. I was a croupier in Wolverhampton and I was having a great time and then I got sacked!

I kind of have a problem with authority I guess!

I got sacked and poker was a hobby of mine ... I started off playing for free and made some money and enjoyed it.

Fry-ing the flag for England!

You've played poker from a young age though, is that right?

[laughing] Yeah I came out of the womb announcing raise and all-in!

Haha! Will, at what point did you think you could win the tournament?

Well, I don't want to sound arrogant but I always thought I could win it. I mean obviously the chances are not very good because there's a lot of good players out here, but I've been playing poker for three and a half years so I know what to do if I get good cards and good situations and it worked out for me.

I always thought I had a chance. They've got two cards, I've got two cards, anyone can win.

Just to ask a couple of questions about the final table itself: it was a fast-paced affair. Did you expect it to move that quickly?

It definitely was fast-paced!

I thought it would be really cagey early on but to tell the truth, I did think there were a couple of stacks that would be up for grabs. It was definitely faster than I thought though!

What for you were the pivotal moments of the contest?

Well I had a big race with pocket nines versus A-K, which I won. Then Iversen moved all-in under the gun for 10 big blinds and four-handed. I felt like my eights were good so I called and they stood up [versus his 7-9].

One pivotal moment was when I called Jacobson's shove with K-J and a king on the flop looked to have sealed the deal, but then he made trip eights on the river and I thought, "Uh-oh; back to the grind."

When I folded the A-6 heads up to his reraise, I felt like he had 8-8 or A-J or something.

Then finally he didn't believe my reraise with jacks and I was happy to call his all-in there with jacks you know.

Never mind the bollocks, here's the EPT trophy.

Will, you've got a kind of punky, Johnny Rotten appearance going on. Do you model yourself on Johnny Rotten at all?

Well, I don't model myself on Johnny Rotten but I like the punk scene and punk attitude - that free-for-all, do what you want kind of thing.

As long as you're not hurting anyone, I think you should be able to do whatever you like in this world and  I think that sometimes society and the government's laws can be a bit constricted you know!

I guess I'm a bit quirky and a bit cooky!

What levels do you normally play when you're earning your crust in the online cash games?

Well I built up from free money, going through the levels and now play $5/$10 cash games.

I've dabbled in $10/$20 and $25/$50 but that can hurt sometimes!

Now I've won this, I might be playing there a bit more though.

Oh, one last thing, just want to mention my sister who's having a baby soon. Good luck!

OK, well thanks for the interview Will and congratulations on a great performance.

Thanks a lot!

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William is the third player to take down an EPT title this season, following Sebastian Ruthenberg and Michael Martin's victories in Barcelona and London respectively.

The young English player follows in Jason Mercier's footsteps by incredibly making his first big live result of note an EPT triumph.

If he can emulate Mercier's success since that victory, we will be seeing a lot more of this young poker player, but irrespective of his future results, he has made his mark on poker history and secured a memorable triumph in what was an incredibly exciting tournament.

Read all about how he came to be EPT champion by catching up with our full updates here.