“It’s a brick!”
It took a decade to find a two-time winner on the European Poker Tour. Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald came close in January 2014, finishing second in the 2014 PCA Main Event.
Three months later, it was Victoria Coren Mitchell who made EPT history in the San Remo Main Event.
The moment was immortalized by long-time EPT commentator James Hartigan, who delivered his iconic line with more than a touch of hysteria.
Giacomo Fundara had aces and had been out-flopped by Coren Mitchell with 
.
The chips went in on the 
turn.
“He has 12 outs,” says Hartigan, his voice cracking. “Any other card on the river and we have our first two-time EPT champ!”
“Just an unreal tense moment right now,” says Joe Stapleton in the commentary booth.
“The entire poker world calling for a deuce,” says Hartigan. “No ace, king, no ten, no seven,” he implores as the dealer puts the 
down on the river.
“It’s a brick! It’s a brick! Vicky Coren has done it! She’s the first player in ten seasons of the European Poker Tour to win two Main Event titles.”
Watch the final hand in the video above – it’s one of the defining moments in EPT history.
Coren Mitchell: Trailblazing poker player
Arguably the UK’s most famous poker player at the time, Coren Mitchell was also a trailblazer for women in the game. She started playing when poker was still overwhelmingly male-dominated.
The Vic in London was her hunting ground, and that’s where she won her first EPT Main Event title and £500,000 in 2006.
In her book For Richer, For Poorer: A Love Affair With Poker, she wrote about the feeling of winning that night.
“I can't take £500,000 away tonight, it is crazy, so I sign a slip to leave it on deposit, but I take about £80,000 and give some money to old friends in the cash games who look like they might need it, and I throw some more at the waitresses and ask them to bring drinks for everyone in the card room.
“And I am here with my Tuesday players and the Vic players and my brother, and it is madness, everyone is clinking glasses and hugging me, and I love them all so much, it's so right to see my brother among them.
“Eventually the casino closes and we move on to the Gutshot Card Club in Clerkenwell and we drink till late and go home when it is light, and I sit in my study staring out of the window and waiting for people to wake up.”
Coren Mitchell moves away from the game
Coren only won four open tournaments in her poker career, which also saw her as a high-profile PokerStars pro for seven years. Two of them were EPT Main Events.
In November 2014, seven months after winning the San Remo EPT Main Event, Coren Mitchell resigned from PokerStars on principle.
She wrote on her blog, “On Friday night, PokerStars.com announced that it will be rolling out online casino gaming alongside its internet poker. As a result, on Saturday morning, I terminated my endorsement contract with them.”
That saw her drift from the game, which is poorer without her, to concentrate on her TV career. She’s presented the popular quiz show Only Connect since 2008 and is the host of comedy talk show Heresy on BBC Radio 4.
Two other players have now won two EPT Main Event titles: Mikalai Pobal (2012 and 2019) and Michael Watson (2016 and 2023).
Images courtesy of Neil Stoddart/Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
