Daniel Colman Beats Dan Cates To Win EPT Grand Final Super High Roller for €1,539,300

Daniel Colman

The 2014 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller kicked off the final stop of Season 10 in grand fashion, and now after three days of intense play a winner has emerged in Monaco. Daniel Colman, a 23-year-old from the United States who plays online under the name “mrGR33N13,” topped a field of 62 entries (50 unique, 12 reentries) to win the €1,539,300 first-place prize. Colman was the only player in the tournament to fire three bullets, mean he invested €300,000 into the event.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Daniel ColmanUnited States€1,539,300*
2Dan CatesUnited States€1,283,700*
3Igor KurganovRussia€1,128,300*
4Richard YongChina€637,600
5Rono LoChina€493,340
6Paul PhuaMalaysia€385,000
7Ole SchemionGermany€307,000
8Olivier BusquetUnited States€241,000

*Denotes three-handed deal

Leading up to the eight-handed final table, play was dominated by the group of Macau businessmen. On the flipside, Igor Kurganov snuck into the final table as the extreme short stack. Amazingly, Kurganov battled back and found himself with the chip lead after 68 hands.

Daniel Colman Beats Dan Cates To Win EPT Grand Final Super High Roller for €1,539,300 101
Olivier Busquet

On Hand #68, Olivier Busquet was crippled after running tens into the pocket rockets of Paul Phua. The World Poker Tour Alpha8 commentator was left with just two big blinds, and they went in the next hand. He managed to make a straight, but it was no good as Dan Cates wound up with a full house. Busquet took home €241,000 for his eighth-place finish.

In Level 19 (30,000/60,000/10,000), on Hand #72 of the final table, Colman, who relocated to Brazil after Black Friday in order to continue playing online poker, made it 125,000 from the button with the JJ, and Ole Schemion, who is fresh off his EPT10 Sanremo High Roller win, three-bet to 335,000 from the big blind with the 99. Colman shoved all in and Schemion made the call for his tournament life.

The J10Q on the flop gave Colman a set, but Schemion picked up an open-ended straight draw. The 7 looked like something, but changed nothing. Schemion still needed an eight or king, but wouldn't get either as the 7 blanked on the river. Schemion, who qualified for the tournament by winning a €10,000 satellite, was eliminated in seventh place for €307,000. He’ll earn even more points on the EPT10 Player of the Year leaderboard, which he most assuredly will win when the festival in Monaco closes.

It took a while for the next elimination to occur. In fact, it didn’t happen until Hand #114 of the tournament when a short-stacked Phua got his chips in holding the 87 against the AJ of Colman. The board ran out 10J47K and Phua was out in sixth place. From there, the start-of-the-day chip leader Rono Lo was felled in fifth place, and he was followed out the door by Richard Yong, who picked the worst possible spot to shove.

Daniel Colman Beats Dan Cates To Win EPT Grand Final Super High Roller for €1,539,300 102
Let's make a deal!

At that point, the final three players struck the following deal:

Daniel Colman€1,298,300
Daniel Cates€1,168,300
Igor Kurganov€1,128,300

That left €241,000 for the winner and €115,400 for the runner-up. One might think things would be over relatively quick after that, but it took another 46 hands before the next player would fall. It happened on Hand #179 when Colman moved all in from the small blind and Kurganov snap-called off for 1.715 million from the big blind. The blinds were quite big at this point, so it was no surprise to see them get it in.

Colman: Q8
Kurganov: A2

Kurganov got it in good and had a 58% chance of doubling on the hand, and that jumped to a 3-1 lead when the flop came down AQ10. The 9 turn gave Colman some more outs, and much to Kurganov's dismay the 8 river was one of them. Kurganov walked away with €1,128,300, which was a nice score considering he was the extreme short stack at the start of the day.

Daniel Colman Beats Dan Cates To Win EPT Grand Final Super High Roller for €1,539,300 103
Heads-up play

Cates began heads-up play with a sizable chip lead, but Colman managed to wrestle it away through patient play. It took 23 heads-up hands, then Colman, who is a WCOOP Heads-Up champion, was able to dispatch his opponent. In what would be the final hand, Cates moved all in with the Q10 and Colman, who looked down at the K6, asked for a count. Eventually, Colman called the 11-big-blind shove and seemed pleased to be a 58% favorite.

The 396 flop paired Colman's a six, but Cates was still drawing to the same outs. The 3 turn wasn't one of them, and he had six cards he could catch on the river to stay alive. The dealer burned one final time and put out the A, the last card of the 2014 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller. Thanks to the deal, Cates took home €1,283,400 for his runner-up finish.

Congratulations to Daniel Colman, the 2014 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller champion. In addition to his cash prize, Colman also receives a stunning bracelet worth €10,000 from Shamballa Jewels, official bracelet sponsor of EPT Season 10 super high roller events.

Here's a look back at the EPT Super High Roller champs from Season 10:

EventBuy-inEntriesUnique PlayersReentriesPrize PoolWinnerPrize
EPT Barcelona SHR€50,000514011€2,448,765Vitaly Lunkin€771,300
EPT London SHR£50,000574116£2,736,855Martin Finger£821,000
2014 PCA SHR$100,000564511$5,433,120Fabian Quoss$1,629,940
EPT10 Grand Final SHR€100,000625012€6,015,240Daniel Colman€1,539,300

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Executive Editor U.S.

Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

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