2011 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour London Day 6: Oh, Benny Boy, Spindler Wins
The2011 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour London Poker Festival Main Event came to a close on Thursday after a great final table of play. Emerging victorious was young superstar Benny Spindler, who topped Steve O'Dwyer in heads-up play to take the title.
Spindler came into the final table third in chips. By day's end on Day 1b of the tournament, Spindler had the largest stack in the room. Coming into Day 2, only Lukasz Golczyk from Day 1a had more chips than him. Spindler constantly found himself as the largest stack in the room, or one of them, for the successive days. He assumed the chip lead early on at the final table after picking off a big bluff from Mattias Bergstrom.
With the blinds at 30,000/60,000 with a 5,000 ante, Spindler opened with a raise to 120,000 from the cutoff seat. Bergstrom, acting out of the big blind, was the only player to call. The flop came down K♠9♣8♠, and Bergstrom checked. Spindler fired a continuation bet worth 140,000, and Bergstrom, decided to make it a bit more, check-raising to 460,000. Spindler called.
The turn card was the 3♦ and Bergstrom pressed a bit harder. He bet 700,000, but that didn't scare off Spindler. He called and the dealer placed the A♠ out on the river, completing a possible flush draw. Bergstrom fired the same bet he did on the previous street, 700,000. Spindler made the call.
Bergstrom could only muster five-high when he turned his hand over. He held 5♦4♠ for a big bluff that was picked off. Spindler held A♦9♦ for two pair and scooped in the massive pot. Shortly after that, he won a massive flip with start-of-the-day chip leader Martins Adeniya to get an even larger stack.
From under the gun, Bergstrom opened with a raise to 150,000. Action then folded to Spindler on the button and he flat-called. In the big blind, Adeniya squeezed in a three-bet to 475,000 and Bergstrom got out of the way. Spindler took a minute and then shoved all-in, having Adeniya covered. Adeniya made the call to create a huge pot for a lot of chips.
Over seven million chips were up for grabs and it was Adeniya's A♠K♣ versus Spindler's 10♠10♣. After the board ran out J♣8♣3♥2♠J♥, Adeniya was left with just the pair of jacks on board. Spindler's tens held and he raked in the massive pot to bust Adeniya in seventh place.
O'Dwyer doubled through Andre Klebanov and then busted Bergstrom in fifth place after his tens held versus the Swede's J♠10♠. That helped O'Dwyer lessen the gap between him and Spindler, but then Spindler sent Team PokerStars Pro Juan Manuel Pastor out the door in fourth place to add even more chips to his towers.
O'Dwyer was able to bust Klebanov in third, but when heads-up play began, he was still down nearly two-to-one. Spindler held 13.49 million in chips to O'Dwyer's 7.145 million.
After a couple of hands, all of the money went in. O'Dwyer five-bet jammed with K♠J♣ and Spindler met him with a call holding A♣K♦. Spindler flopped an ace and fended off O'Dwyer from there, who could only make a pair of jacks on the hand. He was eliminated in second place to crown Spindler champion.
This is the largest win of Spindler's career after having a few close calls on EPT events. In 2009, he final tabled the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and finished in third place before placing 12th in the EPT London Main Event later that year in October. Earlier this year, he placed second in Season 7's EPT Grand Final €25,000 High Roller.
When asked whether he felt like he had a giant monkey lifted off his back, Spindler shook his head and said no. He may not be a man of many words, but he does have a lot of money in his pocket from this win.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benny Spindler | £750,000 |
| 2 | Steve O'Dwyer | £465,000 |
| 3 | Andre Klebanov | £265,000 |
| 4 | Juan Manuel Pastor | £200,000 |
| 5 | Mattias Bergstrom | £155,000 |
| 6 | Kevin Iacofano | £120,000 |
| 7 | Martins Adeniya | £86,350 |
| 8 | Miroslav Benes | £64,000 |
The next stop on Season 8 of the PokerStars.com EPT will be Loutraki, Greece in November. The Main Event takes place Nov. 15 through 20, 2011 and PokerNews will be on hand to provide live coverage. For more information about the event, check out the tournament's page.
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