UK's Tom Middleton Wins EPT Barcelona For $1.24m

Tom Middleton has won the 2013 European Poker Tour Barcelona, after besting a field of 1,234 players over six days on his way to capturing the title, and collecting the €942,000 ($1,241,650) first place prize.
With his latest victory at the Casino Barcelona in Spain, the 26-year-old UK poker pro now boasts $2,222,102 in live tournament earnings, to go with the $1.2 million he has won online playing under the screen name ‘hitthehole’.
The €5,300 main event attracted a good-sized field to create a prize pool almost €6 million. Amongst the notable names cashing in at the event was Shannon Shorr in 181st (€8,680), Marvin Rettenmaier in 160th (€8,680),  Ole Schemion in 123rd (€10,000), David Benefield in 110th (€11,350), Martin Staszko in 25th (€29,270), and Nicolau Villa-Lobos in 18th (€40,940).
Tom Middleton, who rocketed to chip leader on Day 4, then entered the final table of eight on a sizeable 9.85 million stack, followed by Kresten Nielsen on 7.3 million, with the rest of the field a good distance behind, including Andreas Christoforou, Kimmo Kurko, Pasi Sormunen, Eduard Bhaggoe, Luca Fiorini and Benoit Gury.
Eventually, Tom Middleton (17.2m) would then proceed to heads-up against Finnish pro Kimmo Kurko (19.6m) and was able to grind out a lead for himself before the defining hand was played with Middleton’s pocket fives up against the A-4 of his opponent. The board subsequently ran out 10-6-7-K-8 to consign Kurko to a runner-up finish worth €750,000, while Tom Middleton has crowned the 2013 EPT Barcelona main event champion.
Final table payouts as follows:
1st – Tom Middleton – €942,000
2nd – Kimmo Kurko – €750,000
3rd – Kresten Nielsen – €440,500
4th – Luca Fiorini – €328,000
5th – Pasi Sormunen – €253,000
6th – Benoit Gury – €188,000
7th – Eduard Bhaggoe – €143,000
8th – Andreas Christoforou – €102,430