The final table of the first €25,000 Single-Day High Roller will begin soon. Stunningly, both Arturo Vidal and Gerard Pique of FC Barcelona made the final table.
PokerNews will deliver extra coverage of this event as soon as the cards of the final table are in the air.
Kazuhiko Yotsushika raised to 75,000 and Juan Pardo in the small blind asked for the stack size of Yotsushika before moving all in. Mike Watson in the big blind had nine big blinds behind and used two time bank extensions before making the call, Yotsushika folded.
Mike Watson:
Juan Pardo:
The flop changed nothing yet but Pardo took the lead on the turn. A blank followed on the river and that sent Watson to the rail in 9th place for €48,740.
Joao Vieira moved all in for his last three and a half big blinds and Gerard Piqué on the button announced "I call," Kazuhiko Yotsushika and Arturo Vidal in the big blind quickly folded.
Joao Vieira:
Gerard Piqué:
The flop left Vieira with just two outs, and he failed to catch any of them on the turn and river run out. He was eliminated in 8th place and takes home the applause of all other finalists as well as €63,870 for the efforts.
Kazuhiko Yotsushika moved all in for around 1.2 million from early position and Ramin Hajiyev called all in from the button for around 400,000. Juan Pardo in the big blind glanced at his cards and quickly called.
Ramin Hajiyev:
Kazuhiko Yotsushika:
Juan Pardo:
The flop provided no help for both players at risk while Yotsushika turned a flush draw with the .
A blank followed on the river and Hajiyev was eliminated in 7th place for €82,350, Yotsushika claimed €104,200 for his 6th place finish.
Juan Pardo raised to 80,000 first to act and was called by Arturo Vidal from two seats over. On the flop, Pardo continued for 80,000 and he called the shove of Vidal for another 225,000 on top.
"Madre mia," Vidal immediately said and was in trouble with the . Pardo had him dominated with and the turn locked up the elimination for Pardo, the river was a formality. Once again all remaining players and the rail applauded as Vidal headed out of the tournament area.
Hirokazu Kobayashi llimp-jammed the button and Gerard Piqué called from the big blind for his last 755,000.
Gerard Piqué:
Hirokazu Kobayashi:
The flop improved Kobayashi to two pair, but Piqué had three jacks and counterfeit outs. He immediately spiked the on the turn and the river ensured his double up to leave Kobayashi on fumes.
Michael Addamo was all in from the button for around 10 big blinds and Juan Pardo looked him up, trying to knock out the Aussie after several previous attempts had not been crowned by success.
Michael Addamo:
Juan Pardo:
Addamo had been behind in the previous showdowns against Pardo as well and this time he was drawing dead on the turn of a board to secure a Spanish victory in the first €25,000 Single-DayHigh Roller. Addamo had to settle for third place and a payday of €229,420.
The heads-up duel between Gerard Piqué and Juan Pardo lasted all but a few moments and it was a flip that decided over the outcome of the tournament with the chips in the middle preflop.
Gerard Piqué:
Juan Pardo:
The mighty ducks were marginally ahead on the flop and Piqué even picked up a flush draw on the turn. However, it wasn't meant to be as the river came a blank to eliminate the FC Barcelona defender in 2nd place for €352,950.
For Pardo, it is yet another success in a High Roller tournament and the biggest score of his live poker exploits thus far.
The first Single-Day High Roller of the 2019 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona festival has come to an end with a familiar face of the High Roller circuit on the winner shot. Juan Pardo topped a field of 70 entries to take home the biggest share of the €1,680,700 prize pool, knocking out seven of the eight finalists to claim the top prize of €491,600.
However, the spotlight of the final table was on two football stars that currently play for FC Barcelona and were both in action fewer than 24 hours ago. Gerard Piqué and Arturo Vidal were both part of the match squad that beat Real Betis Sevilla with 5-2 at the world-famous Camp Nou stadium and Vidal also scored a goal.
Just one day later both showcased their talents at the poker table and stood their ground against some of the biggest names in poker and High Roller regulars to earn their portion of the seven-figure prize pool in the €25,000 Single-Day High Roller.
Vidal finished in 5th place for €134,460 and Piqué made it even further, as he came runner-up to Pardo for €352,950. It was the fifth cash of poker aficionado Piqué during PokerStars sponsored events at Casino Barcelona and he has already racked up more than half a million in poker tournaments.
Michael Addamo finished third after a lengthy short stack battle and among those to cash were also Hirokazu Kobayashi, Kazuhiko Yotsushika, Ramin Hajiyev, and Joao Vieira. Bubble boy of the tournament was 2013 WSOP Main Event champion Ryan Riess. Japanese star Gakuto "Gackt" Oshiro also took part in the event but busted before the money.
Final Result €25,000 Single-Day High Roller
Place
Winner
Country
Prize (in EUR)
Prize (in USD)
1
Juan Pardo
Spain
€491,600
$545,672
2
Gerard Pique
Spain
€352,950
$391,772
3
Michael Addamo
Australia
€229,420
$254,654
4
Hirokazu Kobayashi
Japan
€173,110
$192,140
5
Arturo Vidal
Chile
€134,460
$149,241
6
Kazuhiko Yotsushika
Japan
€104,200
$115,655
7
Ramin Hajiyev
Azerbaijan
€82,350
$91,403
8
Joao Vieira
Portugal
€63,870
$70,893
9
Mike Watson
Canada
€48,740
$63,870
Pardo was already thrilled prior to the start of the final table and also managed to get a group picture with both football stars before the action kicked off. The Spaniard, known under his online alias of Malakastyle, had taken a short vacation and returned to the live poker tables in style to secure another six-figure result.
"I am obviously really happy, everything went my way," Pardo told Spanish poker media after his victory.
When asked about the experience with the football stars, Pardo had the following to say.
"I was like a little kid with Piqué and Vidal at the tables," and he also managed to send both of them to the rail on his road to victory.
Pardo started the final table second in chips trailing only Kazuhiko Yotsushika, but it didn't take long for the Spaniard to take over control. Mike Watson lost a flip to Pardo when he failed to hold up with eights against ace-king and Gerard Piqué was responsible for the second elimination when he got there with ace-queen against the eights of Joao Vieira.
A double-elimination cemented the status of overwhelming chip leader for Pardo soon after. Facing the open-shove of Yotsushika and the all in call of Ramin Hajiyev on the button, Pardo glanced at pocket kings in the big blind and had an easy call. Yotsushika tabled ace-eight and Hajiyev turned over pocket jacks.
Pardo also knocked out Arturo Vidal when he held up with ace-king versus ace-nine, and Hirokazu Kobayashi would be his next victim. Left short after a clash with Piqué, Kobayashi got it in with queen-six suited and Pardo called with king-queen to send the next opponent to the payout desk.
Michael Addamo was a cat with nine lives on the final tables as he doubled several times through Pardo. Eventually, the Aussie could not come from behind once more with treys versus nines and Pardo set up a heads-up duel with his idol Piqué. It lasted just a few moments as the deuces of Pardo remained ahead of the ace-nine suited of Piqué despite an additional flush draw.
While Piqué and Vidal will be back on the training pitch soon, the poker and High Roller action at Casino Barcelona continues without a break and the PokerNews team will be there to cover all the action from start-to-finish.