Jan Bendik Triumphs At 2016 EPT Grand Final Main Event

Jan Bendik has won the 2016 EPT Grand Final Main Event, after overcoming a field of 1,098 players over seven days on his way to capturing a coveted EPT title, and walking away richer by €961,800 ($1,096,568). Following the biggest score of his career, which now pushes his live earnings to $3,142,955, the 51-year-old Slovakian pro commented:
“..if you look me up, when I’ve made it to heads-up – apart from one time, I’ve always won. That’s why I didn’t want to make any deal, I trusted myself to beat my opponent heads-up. A lot of luck had to be involved to make that happen but that’s part of the game.”
The €5,300 EPT Main Event was held at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort, and featured a prize pool worth €5,325,300. Amongst the notable pros subsequently seeing a return on their buy-ins was Davidi Kitai in 99th (€10,650), Jose Ignacio Barbero in 65th (€14,110), Fatima Moreira De Melo in 44th (€16,830), Randy Lew in 30th (€22,740), and Vanessa Selbst in 26th (€26,850).
On the last day of action, Jan Bendik entered the final table in third place, and soon added further to his stack after his A-K was good enough to send Oren Rosen (A-J) to the rail in 6th. Three-handed play then saw Adrien Allain (A-J) eliminate Jimmy Guerrero (2-2) in 3rd to usher in the heads-up phase of the tournament.
As the final battle commenced, Allain had a roughly 2 to 1 chip advantage over Bendik, and it would take a further 136 hands before the deciding hand was played. The Frenchman had moved all-in preflop holding pocket eights, only to be called by his opponent with pocket tens. While the A-8-4 flop briefly gave hope to Allain, the 10 and 3 on turn and river sealed his fate and so Adrien Allain had to settle for a runner-up finish worth €577,800, while Jan Bendik picked up the EPT title.
Final Table Results:
1: Jan Bendik, €961,800
2: Adrien Allain, €577,800
3: Jimmy Guerrero, €406,850
4: Asan Umarov, €305,660
5: Pierre Calamusa, €233,800
6: Oren Rosen, €170,950
7: Antoine Saout, €128,340
8: Dario Sammartino, €91,860