Way back in 2004, the EPT was in an infancy, which was evidenced by the €1,000 Main Event in Barcelona, which attracted 229 entries and created a prize pool of €229,000. The inaugural final table of the EPT Barcelona included John Kabbaj, Stefan Rapp and Luca Pagano, all of who have established themselves as quality players in the poker world. With that said, the man who emerged victorious that season was Sweden’s Alexander Stevic, who took home €80,000 for the win.
Stevic also made the final table of the Season 1 €10,000 EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, where he navigated a field of 211 players to finish third for €178,000. Stevic looked as if he could become on a star born out of the EPT’s early days, but then things slowed considerably over the next eight years.
He earned a modest $12,660 in tournament winnings in 2006 and then disappeared from the poker landscape the two years after that. His next cash came in 2009 when he took third in the Campeonato Espana De Poker €600 No Limit Hold’em for €18,750, before he was shut out again in 2010. In 2011 and 2012, Stevic put in a little more volume and managed to cash for $32,693 and $30,074 respectively, but then essentially disappeared from the poker landscape – though, as you can see, he is doing quite well here today!
PokerStars Online Qualifier Tom Gallagher deposited just €20 on PokerStars during the early summer, spun it up and via satellites won himself entries into both UKIPT Galway and EPT Barcelona. He had but €216 in his account, in fact, when he won a €215 satellite to secure his Day 1A seat at EPT Barcelona. Read more at the PokerStars Blog.
From under the gun, Dragan Kostic raised to 1,000. Nicolas Fierro reraised out of the cutoff seat to 3,000, and Kostic called to see the flop. Kostic checked, Fierro bet 3,000, and Kostic called.
The paired the board on the turn, and Kostic checked. Fierro checked behind, then the finished off the board on the river. Kostic led for 6,000, and Fierro folded.
After Ignat Liviu bet 3,200 on the flop, Jorge Ufano made the call, and then Hauke Heseding folded. The turn was the , and Liviu fired 7,400. Ufano called again.
The river completed the board with the , and Liviu moved all in, a bet worth effectively 15,000 as that's what Ufano had left. After some time in the tank, Ufano folded, and Liviu won the pot.
Half of the room has been awarded a 75-minute dinner break, while the other half of the room plays onward. At the end of this level, the first half of the field will return to play, and the second half of the room will head to dinner.
Avraham Bramli, a live satellite qualifier from Israel, was not happy and the floor had to be called. On the river he had checked, his opponent Ziv Vachar also from Israel had bet and Bramli made the call. Bramli claimed that Vachar had tapped the table signifying good call and so had turned over his high hand. When Vacher turned over his hand for the winning middle pair, Bramli was incensed claiming that his opponents’ cards be mucked and he would never have shown first. The floor duly ruled that tapping the table was not an indication of anything in that situation, the two hands were live and the best hand one. Bramli was not best pleased but accepted the ruling without further fuss.
Martin Schleich, Season 8 champion of this event, has been eliminated. He was busted by Belarus' Aliaksei Boika.
From under the gun, Roberto Romanello raised to 700. Schleich shoved all in for 1,850 from middle position, then Aliaksei Boika reraised from the button to 3,000. The blinds and Romanello folded, leaving Schleich at risk against Boika.
Schleich had the for two over cards against the for Boika. The flop, turn, and river ran out , and Schleich was eliminated.