After a dominating performance on Day 5 today Pauli bagged up 6.1 million in chips - 2.5x his nearest competitor.
Two of those chasers - Kevin MacPhee and Jake Cody - happen to be former EPT Champions, though, and won't be expected to lie down.
Neither should the rest of the final table as it's stacked with tough outs from top to bottom.
Gordillo Hangs On, Spindler Bubbles
The expectation at EPT London is always for a talent-addled final table and this year things stayed true to form.
The obvious danger spots for the young Pauli are MacPhee and Cody.
MacPhee, who won EPT Berlin in the infamous "raid" year and Cody, Triple Crown winner and PokerStars pro, wear their credentials on their sleeves.
With 2.4m and 2.1m in chips, respectively, both are right well stacked to battle for a second EPT title.
Not to be overlooked are an intriguing group of pros looking to make their own mark on the EPT, starting with Irishman Kevin Killeen.
Next closest to Pauli in the chip counts Killeen, a highly respected member of Irish poker playing crew The Firm, is as big a threat as anyone to take the crown. Also in the mix is Pauli's friend Artur Koren and Spain's Pablo Gordillo. The final eight and chip counts:
1 Sebastian Pauli 6,130,000 2 Kevin Killeen 2,470,000 3 Kevin MacPhee 2,430,000 4 Artur Koren 2,420,000 5 Jonathan Bensadoun 2,340,000 6 Jake Cody 2,156,000 7 Jakub Mroczek 1,325,000 8 Pablo Gordillo 975,000
The legendary Benny Spindler, who rallied valiantly from his short stack to start the day, was the unfortunate bubble boy busting in ninth. For a full replay of the day's action and all the action tomorrow starting at 1 pm BST, check the live stream right here.
One Champion, One Orbit
The PokerListings-Team followed another former champion on Day 5, this time on his way to the final table. We noted the hands of one orbit at the table of Kevin MacPhee, who won the infamous “raid” EPT in Berlin in 2010.
Here we're late in Day 5. There are 11 players left in the field so the last two tables are both playing shorthanded. This was the situation when we approached the outer feature table:
Level 25: blinds 15,000/30,000 Ante 4,000
Kevin MacPhee (USA), 2.5 million Benny Spindler (D), 1.2 million Jakub Mroczek (POL), 850k Jonathan Bensadoun (FR), 2.5 million Kevin Killeen (IRL), 1.3 million
Hand 1: MacPhee is in the Big Blind. Benny Spindler raised to 60k and Killeen 3-bet to 150k.
MacPhee contemplated the situation for a while and then went for a 4-bet of 420k. Both his opponents released their hands.
Hand 2: Shortstack Mroczek raised UTG to 60k, Frenchman Bensadoun 3-bet to 165k, Killeen moved all-in and MacPhee folded.
Hand 3: Bensadoun raised from early position, Killeen re-raised from middle position. Fold MacPhee.
Hands 4/5: MacPhee folds in UTG+1/UTG.
The American played only one hand in this orbit but he won 271,000 chips. As one orbit cost him 65,000 chips, that meant he netted 206,000.
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