No deal proves right move for Christos

Christos Xanthopoulous took down the top prize at the ParadisePoker Tour London, defeating Luis Fernandes in a short heads-up duel after the pair failed to agree a deal.

It means Christos secured the full £30,105 - a record amount for a PPT winner - and fulfilled the promise of being the early final table chip leader.

Charged with acting the part of monster stack going into the final, the Greek succeeded where others have failed in previous events, though not without his own dose of drama.

Xanthopoulous had seemingly lost the momentum when his AK was cracked by local player Jim Reid's Q9, but he recovered in considerable style to wrestle the chips back from his nemesis and eventually secure the honours.

Having discussed a deal once Peter Csecsetka had been eliminated in third, the final two could find no common ground and instead agreed to play according to the original prize structure.

The decision still couldn't delay a rapid finish, as both men flopped two pair on a 8♦-8♠-4♥ flop only for Christos - who was ahead by way of his kicker on the flop - to further improve on the turn.

It was then that the chips were shipped into the centre, with Luis close to drawing dead, and the blank river confirming the PPT London title was destined to be owned by the Greek.

Interviews with both Christos and Luis, unofficial fantasy poker results and more pictures will be on the ParadisePoker blog soon.