Mohsin Charania Wins PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final
When it comes to truly special poker tournaments the PokerStars.com and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final is up there with the best. Everyone who is anyone made his and her way to this amazing venue, and the 665-player field contained luminaries such as Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius and Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu. One player had to top the pack at the end of the tournament, and that player was Mohsin Charania.
PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mohsin Charania | €1,350,000 |
| 2 | Lucille Cailly | €1,050,000 |
| 3 | Bernard Guigon | €545,000 |
| 4 | Sergio Castelluccio | €400,000 |
| 5 | Rodrigo Caprioli | €315,000 |
| 6 | Michael Dietrich | €245,000 |
| 7 | Clayton Mozdzen | €185,000 |
| 8 | Daniel Gomez | €130,000 |
It is no exaggeration to say that Mohsin Charania won this tournament all the way back on Day 2. In what seems like aeons ago, Charania was among a bevy of players sitting in the middle of the pack before just one hand thrust him into the limelight. It was that hand that made sure he could navigate his way through the field without getting into too many life or death spots — a key for an EPT champion.
Charania started the final table like everybody else — short stacked. The play on the penultimate day went on for so long, when the final table was determined the blinds were a Godzilla looking 50,000/100,000 with a 10,000 ante. This meant that seven players began the day with less than 30 big blinds. Charania started with 22 big blinds but looked supremely confident throughout. While Charania had the confidence, Bernard Guigon had the chips and Lucille Cailly had all the support — the rail littered with blonde wigs in a great show of French support.
The opening stages of the final table began as drearily as the closing stages of Day 4. The money at risk was huge, and each player knew that one false move would cost tens of thousands of euros, creating a staid effect on the action. Then Sergio Castelluccio and Michael Dietrich drew their lines in the sand and started to widen their shoving ranges, except nobody stepped forward to accept the proverbial smacked glove across the cheek.
It was going to take something monumental to change things, and when monumental eventually turned up, Daniel Gomez was the victim and the eighth-place finisher. Castelluccio raised to 200,000 holding K♣ K♦, Gomez moved all-in holding A♠ Q♦ and Rodrigo Caprioli found J♣ J♦ and also joined the melee. After the board ran out, the kings had improved to a full house, Castelluccio became the new chip leader, Caprioli was dented but not doomed, and Gomez was out the door.
The next player to leave the grand stage was one of the two Canadians at the table, Clayton Mozdzen and Michael Dietrich. Good friends, the two had a last-longer bet and Dietrich would have pocketed the cash. Mozdzen's elimination occurred when Castelluccio raised to 240,000 holding A♠ Q♠, Mozdzen moved all in holding A♥ 10♦ and Lucille Cailly decided to call with 9♥ 9♦. The flop fell J♣ 7♠ 6♦ and Cailly bet into the dry side pot to push Castelluccio out of the way. Ttwo community cards later, Mozdzen was out. That hand put Cailly in the chip lead.
Shortly thereafter, Castelluccio rivered a straight against Cailly to retake the chip lead before Mohsin Charania soon joined him at the top. The hand resulted in the elimination of Michael Dietrich. Charania raised in early position holding A♦ K♦, Dietrich found A♣ 9♣ in the blinds and could not best Charania's holdings.
Rodrigo Caprioli was the next elimination in an unfortunate suck out. The Supernova Elite PokerStars Online qualifier open-shoved holding Q♣ Q♥ and Castelluccio called with A♦ 8♣ in the small blind. An ace on the river eliminated Caprioli, who had qualified by using his PokerStars FPPs — turning the freeroll into a €315,000 pay day!
A pivotal moment occurred when Charania and Castelluccio clashed. Charania held K♣ K♥ and Castelluccio held 7♠ 7♦. The board stayed low enough for Charania to gain three meaty streets of value and overtook Castelluccio at the top of the counts. Then, with blinds catching up to everyone, Castelluccio and Cailly clashed with a fatal blow for one and chip leading results for the other. Castelluccio held J♦ J♥ and Cailly turned over A♠ Q♦ for Cailly. The turn brought the Q♥ that Cailly was looking for and Castelluccio was eliminated in fourth place.
Guigon was next to go, in third place. His eventual demise came after Charania had raised to 410,000 holding K♥ Q♥ and Guigon moved all-in holding A♣ 4♥. Two ladies turned up on the flop and Guigon was eliminated leaving Charania and Cailly to face each other for €2,400,000 in prize money.
The most interesting part of the heads-up encounter was the negotiation over the split of the money — more commonly known as "The Deal." It was the first time a negotiation between two parties had been placed under such a microscope, and it was a refreshing and interesting open-book policy. The final itself lasted five hands and ended in a €200,000 flip. Charania found Q♥ Q♠ at the same time that Cailly found A♦ K♣ and five community cards later Charania was crowned the EPT Grand Final champion.
That's a wrap for the EPT Grand Final Main Event but a champion will be crowned in the €25,000 Heads-Up on Tuesday, so please join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team for all the action.
Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
