David Laka Wins Inaugural EPT Online Title After Dominant Display

November 9th, 2020 | by Kaycee James

David Laka can now call himself a European Poker Tour (EPT) champion. Not only that, he can call himself the first ever EPT Online champion.

David Laka has won more than $143,000 and the first EPT Online title in history after beating Pascal Lefrancois in Event #3. (Image: Partypoker)

The Spaniard was among 87 entrants that anted up in Event #3 of the new online series. With everyone paying $5,200 to play and 44 re-entries adding to the pot, the prizepool topped out at $655,000.

That total not only beat the $500,000 guarantee but allowed Laka to take home $143,566 after beating Pascal Lefrancois heads-up.

David Laka Does It in Style

Getting to the final stages of Event #3 was no mean feat. With stars like Parker Talbot, Jon Van Fleet, and Chris Oliver all making it deep, Laka had to play his A-game.

Fortunately for him, he was on form and the cards were on his side. When it came down to deciding the title, it took Laka just five hands to get it done.

Lefrancois knew he needed to get busy early if he was going to overturn a deficit of almost 6:1. However, his aggressive strategy, although commendable, didn’t bear fruit.

First EPT Online Title Decided

Down to just over 1 million chips, he made a final push with J♠ 8♥. Laka called with K♣ T♣ and it was up to the poker gods to decide the outcome. The flop ran out Q♠ K♥ K♠ and put the result almost beyond doubt.

When the 8♣ fell on the turn, that was enough to give Laka the title. Finally, the 2♦ brought things to an official end and, with that, the first EPT Online champion was crowned.

EPT Online Event #3 – $5,200 High Roller – Result

1 – David Laka – $143,567

2 – Pascal Lefrancois – $111,234

3 – Artem Vezhenkov – $86,183

4 – Vyacheslav Buldygin – $66,774

5 – “zufo16” – $51,736

6 – Jon Van Fleet – $40,085

7 – Chris Oliver – $31,057

As Laka was winning his first EPT title, thousands more were bidding for glory in Events #1 and 2 of the new EPT Online series.

The opening event, the $1,050 Arena Championship, attracted more than 2,000 entries and will conclude on November 12.

Event #2, the $10,300 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller, will conclude on November 9 when one player will win the lion’s share of a $700,000 prizepool.

With plenty more action to come between now and November 17, expect more famous faces to emerge victorious. For now, however, David Laka can stand tall in the spotlight as the first EPT Online champion in history.