Matan Krakow has been around the poker scene for a long time, with live tournament cashes dating back to 2011. The 44-year-old online poker manager from Israel has transitioned away from playing professionally. In recent years, he co-authored Eli Elezra’s autobiography, Pulling The Trigger, and started a family.
Krakow proved he knows his way around the felt, though, with a career-defining win in the European Poker Tour Prague €5,300 no-limit hold’em main event. He overcame a field of 1,224 entries to hoist the trophy. The victory came with $910,558 in prize money, his largest score by far.
Along the way, he had support from his family, friends, coworkers, and even his writing collaborator, a Poker Hall of Famer.
“Eli is not just a great player, but he’s also a legend with an amazing story. He also wrote me during the tournament to say that he’s following and watching,” Krakow told PokerStars’ Joe Stapleton after coming out on top.
With this win, Krakow’s recorded earnings grew to $1,349,596. He also secured 1,920 Card Player Player of the Year points, enough to move him inside the top 300 in the POY standings presented by CoinPoker.
Thinning The Field
The massive turnout for this event built a prize pool worth nearly $7 million. The top 184 finishers made the money, with notables like Ole Schemion (54th), Barak Wisbrod (52nd), Leo Worthington-Leese (32nd), Maria Lampropulos (14th), and Tobias Peters (11th) running deep.
This event was held inside the Hilton Hotel Prague from Dec. 8-14. After two starting flights and four more days of combined-field action, the field was whittled down to just seven contenders. Bora Kurtulus was out in front, with Krakow in second position when the final day began.
A three-way all-in resulted in the first knockout of day 6, with Vitezslav Cech’s pocket jacks unable to come from behind against the pocket aces of Dimitrios Gkatzas and the pocket queens of Traian Stanciu. The nine-high runout with a pair of sevens on deck kept the aces best, ending Cech’s run in seventh place ($186,206).
Conor O’Driscoll was the next to fall, with K♦Q♦ unable to best the A♣Q♥ of Bora Kurtulus after the chips went in on a A♥A♦5♦ flop. Kurtulus held through a 7♠ and K♠ river to send O’Driscoll packing in sixth place ($242,073).
Paawan Bansal was left on fumes after running pocket kings into pocket aces earlier in the day. He put forth a valiant comeback effort and managed to ladder a couple of spots, but ultimately bowed out in fifth place ($314,730) when he was forced all-in from the big blind with J♣4♣. He was up against multiple opponents, who checked it down on a A♥K♦9♣3♥6♥ board. Kurtulus showed Q♥2♥ for a winning flush to end Bansal’s chance at a legendary chip-and-a-chair story. He was the first Indian resident player to ever make an EPT main event final table.
A memorable #EPTPrague Main Event run by Paawan Bansal is over.
The first player from India to final table an EPT Main Event, he finishes in fifth place, good for €269,000.
Join the #EPTPrague Main Event rail at https://t.co/SB357usSaR or https://t.co/ZarB0RN21O pic.twitter.com/tJSLOCsjsk
— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) December 14, 2025
Final Four
Stanciu was the next to be sent home. He had been ground down to just a couple of big blinds by the time his final hand arose. He made his final stand with 6♥4♦, calling a small-blind shove from Krakow from the big blind. Krakow held K♣3♠. The board of A♦10♥2♥9♦8♠ improved neither player and Stanciu settled for $409,091as the fourth-place finisher.
The final three soon hashed out a deal that redistributed the remaining prize money a bit, leaving the trophy and around $87,000 to play for. Krakow overtook the lead during three-handed play and began to pull away a bit, but Kurtulus soon knocked out Gkatzas in third place ($672,282) to close the gap. Gkatzas was left short after a hero-call gone wrong against Krakow. He soon shoved for just shy of ten big blinds from the small blind with K♣2♠. Kurtulus called with A♣8♥ and held through a J♠J♦5♣9♣Q♣ runout to set up the heads-up showdown for the title.
Krakow still held the lead with 19,150,000 to 17,525,000. The two traded the lead before Krakow seized control of the match. A big hand, won with two pair for Krakow, saw him build roughly a 3:1 chip advantage.
Kurtulus fought back, but he was still well behind when the final hand of the tournament was dealt. Krakow min-raised to 600,000 on the button with 7♦6♦ and Kurtulus three-bet to 2,300,000 with 8♥8♦. Krakow called and the flop came down K♦5♥4♥. Kurtulus bet 4,000,000 and Krakow jammed. Kurtulus called all-in for 11,100,000 total. The A♦ turn gave Krakow a flush draw to go with his open-ended straight draw. The river was the 4♦, completing the flush and ending Kurtulus’ run in second place ($886,158). This was by far the largest score yet for the Turkish player.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Matan Krakow | $910,558 | 1920 |
| 2 | Emin Bora Kurtulus | $886,158 | 1600 |
| 3 | Dimitrios Gkatzas | $672,282 | 1280 |
| 4 | Traian Stanciu | $409,091 | 960 |
| 5 | Paawan Bansal | $314,730 | 800 |
| 6 | Conor O’Driscoll | $242,073 | 640 |
| 7 | Vitezslav Cech | $186,206 | 480 |
Photo credit: Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd. / Manuel Kovsca.
