The Czech Republic Josef Gulas Jr. survived the French high roller Johan guilbert to win the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event title and a prize of € 1,276,712 ($ 1,448,289) at King’s Casino in Rozvadov on Wednesday night.

Gulas leveraged every bit of his field advantage on the roller coaster of a race that had the “businessman and car salesman” started the day as a chip-crushing leader, sliding down to the small stack and struggling – multiple times – to ultimately win the biggest paycheck of his career.

“It’s an incredible feeling. I am really grateful and happy, ”said Gulas after his victory. “It was a perfect tournament with a very nice structure in the best casino in Europe. Just amazing! “

Although the final table took a long time to complete, nearly nine hours and 139 hands, it only took 15 minutes to Thomas denieof the tournament to end with a massive hand that sent him down the rail. Denie ended up all-in pre-flop with , far behind Athanasios Kidas with and this remained the case by the council of clear your way from the table for a result worth € 163,434.

Alexander Trajkovski was the next man to bust. With blinds at 125,000/250,000 (250,000 bb ante) Guilbert opened to 500,000 under the gun holding the and Trajkovski defended his big blind from the short stack with the . Trajkovski hit the top pair on the flop and check to Guilbert who bet a small bet of only 250,000. Trajkovski then checked his remaining five big blinds and was snatched by Guilbert, looking to hit a flush or running cards. The turn was the , bringing more withdrawals to Guilbert. But it was the river that sent Trajkovski to the rail in sixth place for € 217,854.

With five players remaining, only Stanislav Koleno was running out of mats and under pressure to get things done. The Slovenian placed his remaining chips in the middle on a flop of while carrying but overnight, chip leader Josef Gulas followed . The the turn didn’t help Koleno other than adding a gut straight draw, but the river put an end to those hopes, sending him to the cashier for a fifth place worth € 292,862.

With four players remaining, Guilbert doubled up thanks to Gulas Jr. (ace vs. kings) to grab a 24 million chip lead, ahead of Athanasios Kidas with 17.4 million, Alexander Tkatschew (16.9m) and Gulas (10.3m) who slipped into the short stack. And for most of an hour, very little changed except the rugs behind Guilbert who lifted a bit.

This was not the case for the next hour. Tkatschew was in the lead while Guilbert retaliated. Home country hopeful Gulas Jr. has fought for his tournament life on more than one occasion. And, after an epic chip flip, Greek player Kidas found himself on the outside looking like the short stack.

In the shortstack battle, Gulas was the aggressor as he pushed pre-flop for 22 big blinds with . Kidas, reduced to just 13 big blinds, called his stack with and the couple looked at the board of sent Kidas in fourth place for a result worth 401,344 €.

Germany’s Tkatschew took the chip lead for a short time until Guilbert managed to win him a big pot to regain the lead. Then slowly Tkatschew’s carpet started to decrease and for almost two hours he sailed on a carpet of less than 20 thick.

Eventually, however, Tkatschew couldn’t hang on anymore when he met Guilbert with another big hand. With blinds at 250,000/500,000 (500,000 bb ante), Guilbert raised from the button to 1 million while holding the and Tkatschew defended his big blind with the . The flop has come , giving Tkatschew the top pair and Guilbert the max flush draw. Guilbert didn’t have to wait long for his color to arrive because the turning point came on and now Tkatschew was leading for 1.3 million. Guilbert just called, leaving Tkatschew with a stake of around half a pot behind. The river came on and when Tkatschew moved all in, Guilbert instantly called and showed Tkatschew the winning hand. Tkatschew came out of the tournament area, finishing in third place for € 558,505.

Guilbert had a two-to-one lead over Gulas Jr. heading into the heads-up, but the momentum quickly shifted to Gulas when the pair got involved in an all-in showdown with Gulas. held against Guilbert .

After that, both players slowed down the pace of the game by exchanging blows. Guilbert regained the lead when he hit a straight flush on the river against Gulas’ straight. Then Gulas took it back when he flopped two pair with his against Guilbert on the fiasco.

Eventually, Gulas took control and grabbed a big chip lead ahead of what would be the last hand of the tournament. At the button, Gulas opened his huge chip lead by holding the and Guilbert called for just over 10 big blinds with his . The flop has come , keeping Guilbert in mind. The tour did not change anything. But the river was the , giving Gulas a pair and ending Guilbert’s tournament as a runner-up for € 789,031.

Gulas Jr. delivered a punch with victory, the WSOP Europe Main Event bracelet and the € 1,276,712 prize for first place.

WSOP Europe Main Event Final Table Results

1. Josef Gulas Jr. – € 1,276,712
2. Johan Guibert – € 789,031
3. Alexandre Tkatschew – € 558,505
4. Athanasios Kidas – € 401,344
5. Stanislav Koleno – € 292,862
6. Aleksandar Trajkovski – € 217,854
7. Thomas Denie – € 163,434