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German professional poker player Andreas Krause has captured the Full Tilt Poker Merit Cyprus Classic after defeating Matthieu Clavet in the heads-up final.
There, a back-and-forth encounter saw the German start with the chip lead only to lose it within a few hands after Clavet doubled through him in dramatic fashion.
A pre-flop raising war broke out, and with neither player willing to back down, all the money found its way into the middle with Clavets A5 trailing Krause’s pocket eights.
The flop was safe enough for Krause, but with Clavet staring elimination in the face, an ace from space arrived on the turn to double him up and hand him the chip lead.
His time in front didn’t last long, however, as moments later the pair found themselves contesting another all-in pot after the money went in on a 5c 4c 3d flop.
Again Krause held the advantage with his 5x 6x giving him top pair and a straight draw against Clavet’s Ac 9x, but this time his hand held up to put him back in front.
Ten minutes later Clavet was forced to make his final stand and found himself in a coinflip situation holding Ac 7s against Krause’s pocket fives. However, with the board running out a safe Qs 3c 3s 3d 4d, the pair held and the title was finally settled.
The win bagged Krause a career-best prize of $415,780 to add to the $1.7 million that the German has already won at live events in his career thus far, but more importantly, it gave him the right to be called FT’s Merit Cyprus Classic champion. |