Pardo goes back to back at EPT Barcelona
August 28, 2019 6:46 pm
Spanish poker pro Juan Pardo did the unthinkable at EPT Barcelona this week, after he won back-to-back No-Limit Hold’em High Roller tournaments.
Pardo’s first win came in the €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller. The tournament had a 70-player field, and for outlasting them all Pardo cashed €491,600, or $545,676 US.
Most of the attention wasn’t on Pardo in this tournament, as two FC Barcelona soccer stars, Arturo Vidal and Gerard Pique, were the talk of the field. They proved their skills weren’t limited to the pitch, as Vidal finished fifth to earn $149,251, while Pique ended up heads-up with Pardo for the tournament title.
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It was a short heads-up battle, as Pardo quickly took all of Pique’s chips on an early hand when his deuces held up against Pique’s busted flush draw. For second place Pique took home $391,775.
The very next day Pardo sat down in the €50,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller. This time the field was 76 players. The larger field and much larger buy-in earned Pardo a seven-figure payout this time, as he cashed €1,013,860, or $1,125,385 US.
The €50,000 final table lacked any soccer stars, but it may have been even tougher for Pardo, who faced down some stiff competition, including Steve O’Dwyer, Tim Adams, Ali Imsirovic and Chin Wei Lim.
It came down to Pardo and former WPT champion Seth Davies heads-up for the tournament title. Pardo began heads-up play with a 3-to-1 chip lead, but it vanished on the first hand after Davies doubled up.
After a back-and-forth battle all the chips ended up with Pardo. On the final hand it was a race when Davies was all-in with A-K versus Pardo’s pocket Queens. After Pardo hit another Queen on the flop it was all over. Davies received $800,044 for second place.
In total, Pardo cashed just under $1.7 million for the two wins.