Just moments ago, Londoner and Vic regular, Victoria Coren, won the PokerStars' London EPT, taking home an incredible £500,000.
With her only major victory coming in the 2004 Celebrity Poker Challenge, this win was not only a surprise to Vicky, but also to many onlookers who had wrongly underrated her chances. With acclaimed players such as 2001 Champ Jan Sjovik, WPT finalist Chad Brown, and 2006 South of England Champion Sid Harris at the table, Victoria slip by unnoticed and become a real threat among a tough batch of fierce final table opponents.
With 10 players remaining, Vicky won a crucial hand against Michel Abecassis when her A-K outdrew the Frenchman's Pocket Cowboys, elevating her into 2nd position, only pipped by American Chad Brown. Going into the final, the chip-counts looked as such:
Chad Brown -- 760k
Vicki Coren -- 600k
Mike Muldoon -- 570k
Emad Tahtouh -- 480k
Jan Sjovic -- 460k
Peter Hedlund -- 380k
Sid Harris -- 270k
Jules Kuusik -- 240k
Whilst the other seven players mixed it up early doors, Vicky opted to sit back and wait for her opportunities, and although it allowed players like Chad Brown (right) and Emad Tahtouh to add column after column to their chip stacks, it enabled Vicky to pass under the radar (although she was always chatty), gradually climbing up the exceedingly lucrative money ladder.
So, with Sid Harris (9-9 vs J-J), Peter Hedlund (K-Q vs A-K), Jules Kuusik (A-5 vs A-J) and Chad Brown (Q-8s vs 9-9) taking 8th to 5th respectively, we were down to four, and this was where Vicky proved she was a true contender, perhaps even pushing the other three players around.
With Michael Mudloon heavily supported on blonde by his fans back at the Belfast Club in Northern Ireland, it was a big disappointment when he took 4th spot, but a relief to see that it was a fellow Brit who caused the damage.
All-in pre-flop, Michael's Pocket Sevens were in a tense coin-flip with Vicky's A-T, one which would give the victor close to a million in chips. But this accolade would fall to Vicky as an Ace hit the Flop, before a third arrived on the River to seal the deal. A disappointed, but ultimately elated Michael left the stage to a thoroughly deserved round of applause.
And it wasn't long before the biggest and most vital pot of the tournament cropped up. With Jan Olav Sjavic (left) raising from the button, Vicky re-raised on the small blind and Jan called. Once the T-T-9 Flop hit the felt, Vicky moved all-in for around 700k, a play that placed the highly respected Norwegian pro' into the think tank for a good five minutes.
After a lengthy dwell, he eventually made a cracking call with Pocket Threes, a vulnerable hand but still ahead of Vicky's A-J off. But as we all know, making a good call is only half the journey, as Vicky spiked a most welcome Jack on the Turn. The crowd erupted as it suddenly dawned on the poker journalist that she was heading into a heads-up confrontation with Emad for £500,000 in spondoolies and an EPT winner's title.
And in just two hands it was all over. After winning a monster pot on hand one with top pair against third pair, she managed to flop a straight with 6-7 against Emad's Pocket Pair on a 5-3-4 Flop. A blank on the River and that was all she wrote - we had our London EPT Champion, the first female EPT victor in the history of the tour... Vicky Coren.