The Grand Prix Austria came to an end yesterday, after crowning the Czech Republic poker player Vladimir Burstein. He destroyed the final table in order to win the most coveted first prize of €47,520. This year’s event attracted a packed field of 5,230 poker hopefuls, who contributed to the €507,310 prize pool. Burstein sealed the win after almost 12 hours of play and a five-way deal. The winner finished off his heads-up opponent Martin Lechner, who was his main rival to the throne.

The $115 Main Event presented by partypoker LIVE Grand Prix Austria featured multiple Day 1s spread over 13 different locations. The players, who managed to make it through Day 2 of the event marched to Vienna for the final Day 3 of the event. By the end of Day 1, 280 survivors were registered in Montesino, 164 in Simmering and 98 Online players. They all had their fingers in the pie, as they bagged a minimum cash of €250. After Day 2, which continued for 3 days in total, the number of the poker hopefuls was reduced to only 41, who were heading to the final Day 3 of the event. Giorgi Tsintsadze was the unfortunate final table bubble boy, who was eliminated in 9th place.

Official Final Table Action

Dragan Zaric from Slovenia was the first to leave the official final table, banking €7,500 for his efforts. The official final table welcomed a great variety of players, including the poker dealer from Slovakia Ela Kubincova. Even though she demonstrated a great knowledge of the game, she was eliminated in 6th place for €13,500 in cash prize. The five remaining players, including E. A., Aristeidis Moschonas, Rolando Lombardi, Martin Lechner and the eventual winner Vladimir Burstein agreed on a five-way ICM deal. E. A. then fell victim to Lechner and settled in 5th place for a payout of €29,920.

Moschonas was the next player to be knocked out. He collected a prize of €32,560 and a $10,000 bonus package to the Caribbean Poker Party as part of the Golden Chip promotion. As play got going three-handed, the game took a fast pace as the players agreed on playing levels of 30 minutes each. It did not take long until Lombardi succumbed in 3rd place for €32,980.

By the time the heads-up battle began, both players had fairly even stacks of chips. They agreed to split the remaining €16,000. Lechner appeared to run out of steam and that is not a surprise having in mind the long and exhaustive hours of play. The last hand played within the event’s heads-up duel unfolded with Lechner holding [5h][3h] against Burstein’s [Jd][Jh]. The board ran out [3s][7d][6c][9c][2h] to secure Burstein with the first-place prize of €47,520. Lechner, on the other hand, ceded the honor of lifting the trophy in the air to Bursteinback and claimed €48,530 for his runner-up performance. Burstein, who shared that he plays professionally for 2 years, seems to be one of the poker’s new young guns.