Belarusian Pobal Wins EPT Barcelona For €1 Million

admin, August 26, 2012 12:16 pm

Belarusian Pobal Wins EPT Barcelona For €1 MillionBelarusian Mikalai Pobal has won the European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event, after defeating a field of 1,082 players on his way to capturing the title, and the €1,007,550 first place prize. It took over ten hours of play on the final day before Pobal managed to emerge victorious, after which he commented:
“I don’t believe that it’s happened to me. I’m really excited about it. It is my dream which came true.”
After the €5,300 buy-in tournament got underway at the Gran Casino in Barcelona, John Juanda became the first casualty in 8th (€76,100), having pushed preflop with pocket fives into the Ah-5h of Samuel Rodriguez with the board then falling 8-4-8-7-7.
Soon after Antonin Duda (A-K) fell to the pocket kings of Anaras Alekberovas and was eliminated in 7th (€125,950),  while Sinel Anton (A-Q), too, couldn’t overcome the pocket pair (10-10) of Alekberovas and so departed in 6th (€178,400).
Next, Spain lost its last hope after Finland’s Joni Jouhkimainen dispatched Samuel Rodriguez in 5th (€230,900), and then it took another three hours before Alekberovas had to settle for a 4th place finish (€301,750) after being all-in preflop with 9-9 against the K-K of Jouhkimainen.
Yet another three hours would pass before Jouhkimainen (9-9) fell to fellow Fin Sahamies (A-J) in 3rd (€404,050), thus heralding in the final showdown between Mikalai Pobal on a 20m stack and high-stakes cash player Ilari Sahamies with 12.175 million in chips.
However, Sahamies’ loose aggressive approach backfired after 4-betting all-in with 9s-5s into the pocket aces of Pobal. The board subsequently rolled out A-Q-4-J-K to relegate the Fin to a runner-up finish worth €629,700, while Mikalai Pobal was crowned the 2012 EPT Barcelona Champion.
The final table payouts were as follows:
1st Mikalai Pobal €1,007,550
2nd Ilari Sahamies €629,700
3rd Joni Jouhkimainen €404,050
4th Anaras Alekberovas    €301,750
5th Samuel Rodriguez    €230,900
6th Sinel Anton  €178,400
7th Antonin Duda €125,950
8th John Juanda     €76,100

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