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Seat 8: Raul Mestre, 44, Valencia, Spain, PokerStars Ambassador – 4,525,000
Raul Mestre is widely considered to be one of the most influential figures in Spanish poker having founded one of the first coaching sites in Europe and mentoring countless players to successful professional careers. EducaPoker is still going strong 17 years after it began, and Mestre is similarly proving to be a force still at the tables.
Mestre burst onto the scene during the earliest days of the EPT and made his first final table in Prague in 2008. Three years later, he finished fourth in Barcelona for what remains his biggest career tournament score. He moved away from the live tournament scene for the best part of a decade, focusing on both his growing family and business, as well as playing cash games online. But his recent return, now wearing the patch of Team PokerStars, has shown he's still got what it takes.
“Back then I was so focused on the results,” he says. “I was grinding full time and it was harder to enjoy the process. Now, I honestly don’t care that much about the results. I try to play my best, I try to focus on what I think is the right play in each situation. And that’s the reward in itself.”
For all that, he's still exceptionally keen to take down an EPT event. “It would be absolutely amazing to win the title,” he says. “My friends and I joke that this is like my second job, because it has been so long since I was here.”
He adds that he's had to make a few adjustments after returning to the felt. “The biggest difference for me is the shot clock,” he says. “Back then, we didn't have it. But it makes a much better experience for the players.”
Player bios courtesy of Jan Kores/Florenze Mazet/Howard Swains/PokerStars
Career statistics
The Hendon Mob Earnings: $1,070,583
EPT Main Event cashes: 3
Best result: 4th, 2011 EPT Barcelona (€244,000)
Tournament progression
Day 1: 121,000 (55/177, 1B)
Day 2: 868,000 (2/151)
Day 3: 1,627,000 (4/48)
Day 4: 2,910,000 (2/20)
Day 5: 4,525,000 (2/8)
Key hands
Mestre was put to the test on Day 3 when Yurii Zabrodotskyi shoved all in for three times the pot on the river. With three spades on the board, Mestre called off with a straight. Zabrodotskyi was caught bluffing with the nut flush blocker, and Mestre won 1,800,000 in what was the biggest pot of the tournament at that point.