Where Are They Now: Season 5 EPT Barcelona Champ Sebastian Ruthenberg
Despite turning professional in 2006, it wasn’t until the 2008 WSOP that a young German by the name of Sebastian Ruthenberg made a name for himself by winning Event #33 $5,000 World Championship Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better for $328,756 and his first gold bracelet (making him the fifth German ever to win a gold bracelet).
Three months later, Ruthenberg topped a field of 619 players – including a stacked final table containing Sam Chartier (7th - $253,908), Jason Mercier (6th - $324,946), Davidi Kitai (3rd - $455,000) and Fintan Gavin (2nd - €792,000) – to in the EPT Barcelona for $1,941,401.
Ruthenberg took a 5-1 chip lead into heads-up play and it took just three hands for him to capture the title. In the final hand, Gavin moved all in preflop with the 
and Ruthenberg called with the 
. The board ran out 
and Ruthenberg’s two pair emerged victorious.
Ruthenberg, who was born February 6, 1984 and studied IT at university, has $3,457,186 in career tournament earning, with nearly $2.4 million of that coming in 2008. Prior to that he won $100,836 and $441,672 in 2006 and 2007 respectively, and after two slow years from 2009-2010 where he earned a combined $81,650, he stormed back in 2011 and won $442,238, which included a 55th-place finish in the WSOP Main Event for $130,997 and runner-up in the EPT Berlin €10,000 No Limit Hold’em 8 Max for $163,668.
Ruthenberg’s success earned him a coveted spot as a Team PokerStars Pro and he continues to represent the site at stops around the world as well as on the virtual felt. Without a doubt, Ruthenberg is among the most accomplished and relevant of the former EPT Barcelona winner.