This year’s EPT Barcelona €5,300 buy-in tournament drew the biggest main event field in the European Poker Tour’s history. The 1,785 players who subsequently entered the event helped create a prize pool worth €8,657,250, and seven days of action later it was Polish player Sebastian Malec who would eventually walk away with the title, as well as €1,122,800 ($1,271,042) in prize money.
The huge turnout saw 359 players receive cash payouts, and amongst the more notable pros seeing a return on their investments was Philipp Gruissem in 99th (€11,170), Eugene Katchalov in 67th (€15,410), Jason Mercier in 50th (€17,920), Byron Kaverman in 32nd (€21,300), and Sam Grafton in 30th (€26,550).
German player Uri Reichenstein subsequently entered the final table in pole position, and proceeded to eliminate Zorlu Er in 5th, and Thomas De Rooij in 4th. Sebastian Malec (A-8) then took care of the UK’s Adam Owen (Q-J) in 3rd to usher in heads-up against Reichenstein for the title.
At this stage, Reichenstein held a 32m to 21.35m chip lead over Malec, and the battle would rage on for a further 5 hours before the deciding hand was played. Malec (Ah-3h) moved all-in on a Qh-Js-6h-8h-8d board, and after Reichenstein (10h-9c) made the call with a straight, he had to settle for a runner-up finish worth $904,436. Malec’s ace-high flush, however, won him the title, with the 21-year-old Pole also becoming one of the EPT’s youngest ever champions.
Furthermore, Malec only qualified for the €5,300 Main Event via a €27 online satellite. Before playing poker, the Polish player had played competitive chess from the age of 6 to 15, but started following the game after his chess coach travelled to Las Vegas to compete in the 2010 World Series of Poker. Whilst studying at the University of Warwick in 2014, Malec said he fell in love with the European Poker Tour, and elaborating further explained:
“It [EPT11 London] was only two hours away so I thought why not? I was reading literally every update from the tournaments back then and watching all the live streams.”
Final Table Results:
1: Sebastian Malec $1,258,210
2: Uri Reichenstein $904,436
3: Adam Owen $724,188
4: Thomas De Rooij $599,633
5: Zorlu Er $483,595
6: Andreas Chalkiadakis $370,123
7: Harcharan Dogra Dogra $258,803
8: Pavel Plesuv $185,964
Malec’s final hand was the poker moment of his life, and possibly that of his opponent, Uri Recihenstein too, just for different reasons. “The reason I love the hand is because it has a bit of. Sebastian Malec turned €27 into an EPT title and €1,122,800 (Neil Stoddard photo) When PokerStars announced that the European Poker Tour was being morphed into a worldwide PokerStarsLive tour, some people started reminiscing about some of the most memorable moments the EPT had ever produced. Late Sunday night in Barcelona, 21-year-old Sebastian Malec might have put himself at the top of that. The European Poker Tour (EPT) is a series of poker tournaments similar to those in the World Poker Tour (WPT), created by John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Texas Hold 'em popularity.
Malec Stories Refine by tag: malec shadowhunters aleclightwood magnusbane clace sizzy themortalinstruments magnus tmi alec simonlewis jaceherondale claryfairchild clary jace isabellelightwood lightwood jacewayland claryfray izzylightwood. Sebastian Malec out-dueled Uri Reichenstein to win a record-breaking EPT Barcelona for €1.2m in one of the most memorable tournaments in European poker history. 100% Up To $888 and $88 free.
After a rollercoaster final day, Sebastian Malec has become the latest EPT Main Event champion in fine style in Barcelona, winning €1,122,800 after overcoming Uri Reichenstein heads-up in dramatic fashion.
The final day featured seven players instead of six, thanks to Harcharan Dogra Dogra's late, late fold last night, but the only remaining Spanish player in the final field was first to bust. After finding no spots to make a move, Dogra Dogra was in the big blind when Thomas de Rooij raised to 450,000 from the cutoff. Down to six big blinds, he defended from the big blind. After seeing the flop, Dogra Dogra immediately went all in for 750,000, and De Rooij snap-called.
Thomas de Rooij:
Harcharan Dogra Dogra:
After a on the turn, the on the river gave De Rooij a higher pair. The friendly restauranteur and local hero Dogra Dogra was 'out out' for a massive €230,950 payday.
Very soon after Dogra Dogra's exit, Andreas Chalkiadakis was the next one to bust, earning €330,290. Chalkiadakis shoved all-in for 4,075,000 (20BB) with . Adam Owen held and re-shoved all in. With no surprises on the board, Owen eliminated the Greek player in 6th place.
It wasn't long before Zorlu Er joined Chalkiadakis on the rail. The Turkish player defended his big blind with after Uri Reichenstein raised to 400,000 on the button with . The flop of saw Reichenstein flop the flush, and after check-calling the flop, Er did the same on the turn, then called all in for his tournament life on the river. Er banked a massive €431,550 for his fifth place finish.
The remaining players took a quick break to discuss a potential deal, but could not come to a satisfactory conclusion. After the busted deal-making session, De Rooij was eliminated in fourth place. After a damaging hand against Adam Owen, De Rooij was down to just three big blinds when he shoved under the gun with . Uri Reichenstein looked him up with and flopped a pair of threes to knock out De Rooij. The Dutchman got a massive check of €535,100 for his fourth place, easily the biggest finish of his career.
It was only a couple of minutes later before Adam Owen joined his rival on the rail. Sebastian Malec called with from the button, Uri Reichenstein called in the small blind with , and Adam Owen moved all in from the big blind with for 5.6m chips. Sebastian Malec moved all-in over the top to fold out Reichenstein, and Malec's ace-high held up to send Owen out of the door with €646,250.
Sebastian Malec went into the heads-up play with 21.35 million against Uri Reichenstein's 32 million, but the lead swung back and forth multiple times during an intense five-hour battle. At times, Reichenstein looked to be in control, then Malec would move back into contention with a series of plays which stepped outside the lines of convention.
Twice, the Polish player hero-called on the river when ahead in chips, in a desperate attempt to end the duel with his name on the trophy. Each time, however, Reichenstein had the goods and got back into it. The stoic Reichenstein made a sharp contrast to the young and excited Malec, who stood up multiple times, calculating odds out loud and talking himself through every decision.
After the long grueling battle with the stacks dead even, it suddenly ended in one dramatic hand that will find its place in EPT history. Reichenstein turned a straight as Malec turned the flush and the EPT 'Selfie Moment' was born, Malec sitting on the rail with a member of the audience taking a selfie while watching his opponent hand him the victory by making the fateful call which would end the tournament.
Malec Poker Player
Congratulations to Sebastian Malec from Poland, who outlasted the field of 1,785 players to become the biggest ever EPT Main Event's champion here in the beautiful Catalan city of Barcelona, Spain. We hope you enjoyed the coverage of EPT Barcelona by the PokerNews live reporting team and can't wait to bring you the next thrilling moment in live poker. Until next time!
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