Battling through the largest ever tournament field in Spanish history, Germany’s Martin Schleich overcame a difficult final table to take home the title at the European Poker Tour stop at the Casino de Barcelona last night.
The eight players who came to the final table on Thursday spanned the globe, but were heavily weighted with the hometown Spanish players. There were four Spaniards, a Frenchman and a German in the mix, but the attention of much of the crowd was on two top pros that made the final table. The Ukraine’s Eugene Katchalov, looking to complete the mythical poker “Triple Crown,” was in tough shape at the start on the short stack, while Israel’s Saar Wilf was looking to take down his first major title.
After a noon start, the players wasted little time getting into the action. Katchalov improved on his standing by doubling up twice in the early going, but the action wouldn’t be as kind to the final woman left in the event. France’s Isabel Baltazar got her stack to the center with a pair of ladies, but ran into Katchalov’s pocket Aces. After an uneventful board, she was eliminated in eighth place.
One of the Spaniards at the table, Juan Manuel Perez, was eliminated by chip leader Tomeu Gomilla in seventh before Katchalov would strike again. This time Katchalov, holding pocket threes, was able to outrun a short stacked Wilf’s A-2, moving the Ukrainian up the ladder again and sending Wilf out of the event in sixth place.
Katchalov would continue to run well through the final table, eventually moving into the chip lead. After Schleich defeated Gomilla in a classic race situation, pocket Queens against A-K, to eliminate Gomilla in fifth, Katchalov would once again dismiss one of his tablemates. After Raul Mestre pushed his stack to the center, Katchalov made the call and was in difficult straits. Behind Mestre’s A-5 of diamonds with his Q-10 off suit, Katchalov would eventually wind up with a Queen high straight to eliminate Mestre in fourth place.
The remaining three players – Katchalov, Schleich and Spain’s Dragan Kostic – would then enter into an extended battle for the crown. Over four hours of play, none of the men could take a firm hold of the final table. When the end came for one of the players, it was in a truly dramatic fashion.
Katchalov, whose earlier rush seemed to leave him, found a hand to get the remainder of his chips to the center with, pocket sevens. He was called down by Schleich, however, who had him trumped with pocket nines. The first card in the window was a surprising seven, sending Katchalov’s followers into a frenzy, but once the cards were fanned, a nine was in the mix as well. The set over set situation didn’t change by the river, eliminating Katchalov short of his Triple Crown aspirations in third place.
When heads up play began, Schleich held an almost 2:1 lead over Kostic, who was attempting to become the first Spaniard to win the EPT Barcelona. Kostic was able to pull close to Schleich during the heads up action but would fall short. Kostic reraised all in on the final hand with A-7, only to find that Schleich had him trumped with an A-9. After a Q-5-2-K-9 board was revealed, the European Poker Tour had a new champion in Martin Schleich.
1. Martin Schleich (Germany) €850,000
2. Dragan Kostic (Spain) €532,000
3. Eugene Katchalov (Ukraine) €315,000
4. Raul Mestre (Spain) €244,000
5. Tomeu Gomila (Spain) €185,000
6. Saar Wilf (Israel) €145,000
7. Juan Manuel Perez (Spain) €105,000
8. Isabel Baltazar (France) €73,000
The 811 player field for the tournament was impressive on several accounts and EPT officials have to be encouraged about the rest of the season for 2011. The Barcelona tournament was the second stop for the Season Eight schedule of the EPT and it improved on what were dismal numbers from the first stop of the season in Tallinn, Estonia. That tournament only drew a 282 player field, vastly down from the 420 runners who took to the felt in 2010. This year’s EPT Barcelona also set a record for the largest ever tournament in Spain, eclipsing last year’s 758 player field for the event.
The reasons for the increase could be twofold. Barcelona tournaments normally draw better than other European events due to the picturesque locale. Secondly, the EPT tournament this year featured a €5000 buy in versus the €10,000 buy in of 2010.
The next stop for the EPT is in one of its old stomping grounds, the Hilton London Metropole for the EPT London. That tournament begins on September 30, with the final table to be played out in the £5000 tournament scheduled for October 6.
