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Gavin Griffin Wins the EPT and Finale
Gavin Griffin acquired his ticket to the Ð10,000 buy-in EPT Grand Finale Championship by winning a seat online at PokerStars. He parlayed his satellite win into Ð1.8 million as he became the latest EPT World Champion at the Bay Casino in Monte Carlo.
Although 706 players shared a collective dream of leaving luxurious Monte Carlo as a millionaire, most of them would go home empty handed in the largest and most prestigious tournament outside of the United States. When it ended, Gavin Griffin of Chicago, IL emerged as the winner.
Griffin was the youngest player to win a WSOP bracelet; he was 22 at the time he won it in 2004. In February, he made a final table at a WSOP circuit event. Most recently, Griffin has been focusing on charity work after his girlfriend survived breast cancer. He had been promoting the two-day 39-mile Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.
Gavin Griffin started the final table as the chip leader. The table also featured tough players such as Hendon Mob's Ram Vaswani and Ireland's Andy Black. When heads-up play began, Canada's Marc Karam lead 6M to 4.6M in chips. After feeling each other out for the first hour, the two played their biggest pot on the 50th hand of heads-up play. Griffin flopped trips and scooped a 3M plus pot. He appeared to have taken over the momentum as he extended his lead to 7.3M from 3.3M. The lead was brief. Eight hands later, Karam dragged a 2.5M pot as he pulled almost even.
On the 92nd and final hand of heads-up play, Gavin Griffin raised 125K pre-flop and Marc Karam re-raised to 400K. Griffin called. The flop was 4d-3c-2s. Karam bet 500K and Griffin raised to 2M. Karam moved all-in and before Griffin called he muttered, "I think you have the best hand." Karam flipped over his hand and said, "Shit! I just have a pair of fours." He tabled 7s-4s while Griffin flipped over Kd-5s for an open ended straight draw along with two overcards. Griffin had Karam covered by just 510K as the dealer counted out all their chips. After a couple of hours of meticulous heads-up play, the EPT Championships would come down to a coinflip. The turn was 3h and Karam knew he dodged a huge bullet. His hand looked a lot better and his chances of winning increased. However, Griffin still had outs and caught on one the river when the Kh spiked which sealed the victory for Griffin.
Marc Karam won Ð1,061,820 for second place, while Gavin Griffin picked up Ð1,825,010 for first place. For the second year in a row (Jeff Williams won last year), an American won the EPT Championships. "Nothing beats the prestige of winning a bracelet, but this is a special win for sure," a jovial Griffin said as he addressed the members of the foreign press.
After the winner's press conference a media rep joked, "Fitting that an online qualifier would win the PokerStars sponsored EPT Grand Finale. On the river card nonetheless."
There's an inside joke among online players who gave PokerStars the nickname "RiverStars" due to what seems like the high propensity of river suckouts and saves. And in true RiverStars fashion, the King on the river propelled Gavin Griffin to first place.
But perhaps it was karma balancing things out in life. Griffin's girlfriend Kristin was issued a bad beat a couple of years ago when she discovered she had breast cancer. All the good will and charity that Griffin put forth might have given him a cosmic edge over the rest of the players in the tournament.
Griffin won a WSOP bracelet in 2004 and although nothing in tournament poker is more impressive than winning a bracelet, he solidified himself as a bona-fide pro as he bested some of the premiere players in the world. From legends like Phil Ivey, Greg Raymer, and Phil Hellmuth to those wild and reckless Scandis like Patrik Antonius, Johnny Lodden, and William Thorsson, Griffin outlasted all of them as he gets to add the EPT Grand Finale Champion to his resume.
Although 706 players shared a collective dream of leaving luxurious Monte Carlo as a millionaire, most of them would go home empty handed in the largest and most prestigious tournament outside of the United States. When it ended, Gavin Griffin of Chicago, IL emerged as the winner.
Griffin was the youngest player to win a WSOP bracelet; he was 22 at the time he won it in 2004. In February, he made a final table at a WSOP circuit event. Most recently, Griffin has been focusing on charity work after his girlfriend survived breast cancer. He had been promoting the two-day 39-mile Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.
Gavin Griffin started the final table as the chip leader. The table also featured tough players such as Hendon Mob's Ram Vaswani and Ireland's Andy Black. When heads-up play began, Canada's Marc Karam lead 6M to 4.6M in chips. After feeling each other out for the first hour, the two played their biggest pot on the 50th hand of heads-up play. Griffin flopped trips and scooped a 3M plus pot. He appeared to have taken over the momentum as he extended his lead to 7.3M from 3.3M. The lead was brief. Eight hands later, Karam dragged a 2.5M pot as he pulled almost even.
On the 92nd and final hand of heads-up play, Gavin Griffin raised 125K pre-flop and Marc Karam re-raised to 400K. Griffin called. The flop was 4d-3c-2s. Karam bet 500K and Griffin raised to 2M. Karam moved all-in and before Griffin called he muttered, "I think you have the best hand." Karam flipped over his hand and said, "Shit! I just have a pair of fours." He tabled 7s-4s while Griffin flipped over Kd-5s for an open ended straight draw along with two overcards. Griffin had Karam covered by just 510K as the dealer counted out all their chips. After a couple of hours of meticulous heads-up play, the EPT Championships would come down to a coinflip. The turn was 3h and Karam knew he dodged a huge bullet. His hand looked a lot better and his chances of winning increased. However, Griffin still had outs and caught on one the river when the Kh spiked which sealed the victory for Griffin.
Marc Karam won Ð1,061,820 for second place, while Gavin Griffin picked up Ð1,825,010 for first place. For the second year in a row (Jeff Williams won last year), an American won the EPT Championships. "Nothing beats the prestige of winning a bracelet, but this is a special win for sure," a jovial Griffin said as he addressed the members of the foreign press.
After the winner's press conference a media rep joked, "Fitting that an online qualifier would win the PokerStars sponsored EPT Grand Finale. On the river card nonetheless."
There's an inside joke among online players who gave PokerStars the nickname "RiverStars" due to what seems like the high propensity of river suckouts and saves. And in true RiverStars fashion, the King on the river propelled Gavin Griffin to first place.
But perhaps it was karma balancing things out in life. Griffin's girlfriend Kristin was issued a bad beat a couple of years ago when she discovered she had breast cancer. All the good will and charity that Griffin put forth might have given him a cosmic edge over the rest of the players in the tournament.
Griffin won a WSOP bracelet in 2004 and although nothing in tournament poker is more impressive than winning a bracelet, he solidified himself as a bona-fide pro as he bested some of the premiere players in the world. From legends like Phil Ivey, Greg Raymer, and Phil Hellmuth to those wild and reckless Scandis like Patrik Antonius, Johnny Lodden, and William Thorsson, Griffin outlasted all of them as he gets to add the EPT Grand Finale Champion to his resume.
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