'Lucky Fisherman' Reels in Huge Score at EPT Barcelona PokerStars Open
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Alexis Nicolai, his lucky fisherman’s hat firmly planted on his head, made a promise before coming to play the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona PS Open Main Event.
"My son is laughing at me every time I wear this. Because he said, 'you look like a fisherman, dad'. So I say, this time I’m going to have the hat, and the trophy, and win everything," Nicolai said.
His prediction came true, as Nicolai emerged from a field of 5,036 entries to take home the EPT Shard trophy and the €772,000 top prize, by far the largest score of his career.
EPT Barcelona PS Open Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexis Nicolai | France | €772,000 |
| 2 | Mengshi Tian | Hong Kong | €482,290 |
| 3 | Ben Zech | Germany | €344,560 |
| 4 | Chin Wei Lim | Malaysia | €265,200 |
| 5 | Daniele Cuomo | Italy | €203,910 |
| 6 | Jakub Sterba | Czechia | €156,830 |
| 7 | Kazuhiko Yotsushika | Japan | €120,610 |
| 8 | David Taieb | France | €92,770 |
"In the dream," Nicolai, the third straight Frenchman to win this event after Lucien Cohen and Sylvain Berthelot, said through a translator after catching a lucky straight on the river to deny Hong Kong’s Mengshi Tian.
"I just don’t realize. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe in the car tonight. Tomorrow at 7:30, I’m going to work. A job is a job, says my father."
My son is laughing at me every time I wear this. "You look like a fisherman, dad"
Nicolai, who runs a taxi ambulance company, more than doubled his career earnings with this title. His previous best score was for $64,000. He began the final table as the short stack, got dangerously short heads-up against Tian, but finally opened up with a constant barrage of all-in shoves that allowed him to battle back and snatch away the trophy.
“At the start, I was really short, and I was in a bad situation. Finally, I found a double up really quickly. We just wait for the short stack to bust, and he finally bust. Then, I have to admit, I opened some crazy hands so it was easier,” he said. “I had a bad start to heads-up, lost some hands… Then I changed my mind. I was going to talk to him more, and that’s what I did. My friend, all in. I shoved so many times, I made him crazy."
Final Day Action
Day 4 began with 13 players hoping to secure a place at the final table. Yakiv Syzghanov (13th), [Removed:526] (12th), Efrim Erdinc (11th), and Adis Zukanovic (10th) were the first bust-outs of the day and fell short of the final nine.
At the start of the final table, Kazuhiko Yotsushika was where he began the day, at the top of the leaderboard with a massive chip advantage, nearly double Tian in second place. Nicolai, meanwhile, was the short stack with just 7,450,000.
Nicolai won a race with ace-queen against Jakub Sterba’s jacks to earn an early double up. Bernardo Neves then got his last 6,000,000 in as it was his turn to race with ace-queen against Tian’s jacks, but this time the pair held to send the WSOP bracelet winner to the rail in ninth place.
Tian surpassed Yotsushika for the chip lead with that pot, and Yotsushika lost some more when he missed a straight draw against Chin Wei Lim’s pair of aces as the Malaysian high roller doubled up to more than 20,000,000. Yotsushika didn’t stay down for long, though, calling David Taieb’s all-in shove for 6,600,000 with pocket fours. Taieb had ace-jack, but couldn’t connect with the board and was eliminated in eighth.
Yotsushika then took two big hits, first paying off Tian’s flush on the river, then calling a 3,000,000 bet from Ben Zech with a pair of kings, only for Zech to show a pair of kings with a jack-kicker to win the pot. Left with just 15,000,000, Yotsushika got his last chips in shortly after with pocket sixes, but Nicolai picked up jacks to bust the former chip leader in seventh.
Tian continued his climb when he shoved the small blind and Sterba called for 8,000,000. Sterba flopped a straight against Tian’s pocket tens, but the turn gave Tian quads and the knockout as he hit 50,000,000. Tian began pulling away from the field, holding nearly half the chips in play five-handed.
Daniele Cuomo then moved all in for 8,000,000 with ace-nine, but Nicolai woke up with kings in the big blind and Cuomo busted in fifth. Zech flopped quads to double off Tian before Lim called off his last 18,000,000 against Nicolai. Lim was racing with ace-queen against tens, but Nicolai spiked top set on the flop to take a big lead as Lim was sent to the rail in fourth place.
Zech fell in third after losing his last 8,650,000 with a dominated ace-six against Nicolai’s ace-seven. Tian led 84,400,000 to 66,625,000 at the start of heads-up, and didn’t wait long to open a big advantage. He first raised to 19,000,000 on the turn, then shoved the river as Nicolai surrendered, then showed down the nut straight to leave Nicolai with just 22,000,000.
Nicolai playfully kept shoving, the words, “My friend, all in,” ringing throughout Casino Barcelona as he worked his way back up to 40,000,000. Tian finally took a stand with ace-ten against Nicolai’s ace-three. Tian was a favorite to close out the tournament, but Nicolai found a three on the flop to double up and take the lead.
Nicolai continued moving all in before Tian called for his last 50,000,000 with pocket sevens. Nicolai, though, showed down pocket nines. Tian spiked a set on the flop as both rails shouted for cards. The turn gave Nicolai outs to a straight, and he caught a jack on the river to complete his straight and send the French rail into a frenzy.
While posing for his winner’s photo, the Shard trophy planted on the table in front of him, Nicolai made sure to do one thing: he took off his hat and placed it on the trophy. He’s taking it home, just as he predicted.
