The European Poker Tour’s 2025 finale in Prague is off to a rousing start. The first signature event of the festival, the €1,650 buy-in PokerStars Open Prague main event, drew an astounding 3,024 entries and generated a prize pool of over $5 million.
Yulian Bogdanov of Bulgaria captured the title and $465,818 after a three-way deal. His countryman Ivan Poroliev claimed third, for $431,443. Adiran Ziemichod of Poland took home the biggest prize from the runner-up position, banking $514,929.
Bogdanov earned 1,200 Card Player Player of the Year points for his win. It pushes his total for the year to 1,665 points, placing him in the top 350 players in a race presented by CoinPoker. It’s been a strong week for Bogdanov, who now has two PokerStars spade trophy wins within that stretch. On Dec. 4, Bogdanov won a €10,200 mystery bounty event at EPT Prague for $171,990.
These two wins in the Czech Republic increased Bogdanov’s career tournament earnings total to nearly $3.6 million.
Simon Lofberg of Sweden continued his history of strong results in Prague by finishing fourth in the PokerStars Open Prague main event. His three best career cashes have come at EPT Prague, with a runner-up finish in a 2019 €10,300 no-limit hold’em event and 10th in the EPT Prague main event in 2022.
Scott Margereson, a World Poker Tour champion and the winner of the PokerStars Open main event in Malta in October, finished 15th. 2025 WSOP Europe runner-up Gerald Karlic (107th), World Series of Poker bracelet winner Michael Rocco (131st), two-time bracelet winner Tobias Peters (174th), and 2024 EPT Paris main event winner Barny Boatman (225th) were among the 454 players who finished in the money.
Twelve players returned on the final day of the PokerStars Open Prague main event, with Bogdanov comfortably in third place.
Hu’s Highs And Lows
Lulei Hu, who has proven masterful at navigating massive tournament fields in 2025, started in second place. Hu won a €590 buy-in event with 5,303 entrants in July for €435,622 at the Euro Poker Millions and placed second in a €380 buy-in tournament with 4,729 entries for € 163,560 in November. Both tournaments were held at Kings Casino Rozvadov.
Though there was some movement in the early action, including a Bogdanov double, the top three stacks remained the same when they reached the final table of nine players. Hu and Bogdanov looked up at Matthias Auer of Austria, who wielded his chip lead well in the early going.
Hu was in danger of losing two-thirds of his stack nine-handed. His four-bet shove with A♠10♥ ran head-first into Rama Prema’s pocket queens. But two hearts on the flop and two more on the turn and river made Hu a flush. Prema was out in ninth, and Hu was suddenly the chip leader.
Bogdanov then rivered a spade flush against Hu, and claimed that top spot for himself. They’d trade the lead back and forth several times before Ziemichod made his move to the top in a dream three-way all in. Ziemichod’s pocket aces held off two separate holdings of pocket eights, belonging to Lofberg and Amato Landi. Landi was out in eighth, and Lofberg was left on fumes. Amazingly, Lofberg managed to 10x his stack in short order, climbing back into the tournament.
The luck would run out for Hu, however. After a few expensive pots that never reached showdown, Hu lost the majority of his stack to Poroliev, running pocket fives into Poroliev’s pocket nines. Ziemichod soon took the rest of Hu’s chips, as pocket nines held off Hu’s K♦J♦ to send Hu out in seventh ($106,470).
Bogdanov’s Road To Victory
Ziemichod had taken an iron grip on the chip lead by this point, but Bogdanov was undeterred. He continued to build his own stack at the expense of Ben Hurwitz, with Bogdanov’s pocket sevens fading a gutshot straight to put Hurwitz out in sixth ($138,505). Pocket queens against Ziemichod’s pocket jacks further closed the gap for Bogdanov.
Despite the early chip lead, the day went sideways for Auer as the other stack grew. His last 11 big blinds went in with A♥3♠ against Ziemichod’s K♠8♦, and Ziemichod promptly flopped top two-pair to claim the pot, knocking Auer out in fifth place ($180,180).
Lofberg’s comeback story finally came to an end in fourth ($234,000), having made several significant pay jumps. He got his money in way ahead, with K♠4♠ against the J♠6♠ of Poroliev on an A♠4♦3♠ flop. But a 5♣ turn and 7♥ river gave Poroliev a runner-runner straight.
The players made a three-way ICM deal for all of the money left in the prize pool, with Ziemichod locking up the biggest payday due to his chip lead. Bogdanov wrested the chip lead from him, and then busted Poroliev in third, when his K♠J♣ beat Poroliev’s pocket fours on a double paired board.
There was some back and forth, but Bogdanov ultimately pulled it out. In the final hand, his pocket jacks held off Ziemichod’s pocket sevens to secure the trophy.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Yulian Bogdanov | $465,818 | 1200 |
| 2 | Adrian Ziemichod | $514,929 | 1000 |
| 3 | Ivan Poroliev | $431,443 | 800 |
| 4 | Simon Lofberg | $234,000 | 600 |
| 5 | Matthias Auer | $180,180 | 500 |
| 6 | Ben Hurwitz | $138,505 | 400 |
| 7 | Lulei Hu | $106,470 | 300 |
| 8 | Amato Landi | $81,877 | 200 |
| 9 | Rama Prema | $62,969 | 100 |
Photo credit: Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd. / Manuel Kovsca.
