In a battle that lasted over four hours, the United Kingdom’s Niall Farrell battled through a difficult final table to take down his first major championship at the European Poker Tour’s stop at the Portomaso Casino in Malta. As Farrell was taking home his title, the United States’ Byron Kaverman was putting another notch in his belt for 2015 in winning the €10,000 High Roller championship.
EPT Malta Main Event
Six men came back on Saturday to take part in the final table festivities (Daniel Dvoress and Nabil Cardoso, eliminated in seventh and eighth places respectively on Friday, will earn credit for an EPT final table finish) with Alen Bilic holding about a 2.5 million chip lead over Farrell. The rest of the field – Jaroslaw Sikora (2.455 million), Sam Greenwood (1.605 million) Rainer Kempe (1.515 million) and Giulio Spampinato (1.18 million) – had their work cut out for them if they were to get back into the match.
Farrell would establish himself as the chip leader only 19 hands into the day’s play. Raising the pot up to 125K, Farrell saw Greenwood move all in out of the big blind and was sitting on a tough decision. With some chips to play with – and the chance to take down a difficult opponent – Farrell decided to make the call. His A♦ 7♦ might not have been the best calling cards you would think of, but it was better than the K♠ J♠ that Greenwood put on the felt. The situation got worse for Greenwood on the 2-8-2 flop with two diamonds, but it was the Ace on the turn that left him drawing dead. After the formalities of a river card, Greenwood was out in sixth place as Farrell took over the lead.
If his knockout of Greenwood was with bad cards, his next elimination would be with the best of it. Once again raising the action, Farrell saw Kempe three bet him out of the cutoff to 300K. Farrell decided that the all in move was appropriate here and it proved to be correct as Kempe immediately made the call. Kempe unfortunately had run into a cooler; his pocket Queens were dwarfed by Farrell’s pocket Aces and, once the board rolled King high, he was gone from the tournament, duplicating his performance from the EPT Barcelona that kicked off Season 12 of the EPT back in August.
Spampinato, who had come in on the short stack, couldn’t delay the inevitable as his stack dwindled. He got his final chips in the center with an A-8 offsuit, but Bilic would wake up in the big blind with pocket tens and made the call. There was a five on the flop (5-6-6) and an eight on the turn to open more options, but the four on the river sealed the fate of Spampinato in fourth place as Bilic reassumed the lead in the tournament.
Only two hands later, the tournament was down to heads up. On Hand 32, Sikora limped in and Farrell, in the big blind, pushed the short stack around with a raise from the big blind. Sikora was undaunted, however, pushing back with an all-in three bet that Farrell immediately called. Sikora’s A-10 was nice, but it shrank in comparison to Farrell’s A-J. After the board ran out and didn’t connect with either man, Farrell took down the hand and eliminated Sikora in third place.
With both players very close in chips, they decided to chop up the remaining money. Under the deal, Farrell took home €444,300 for his efforts and Bilic was happy with his €440,000. The EPT Malta trophy and €90,000 were left on the table and the duo fought tooth and nail for the final prizes.
How hard was the fight? Farrell and Bilic battled for 68 hands – more than double what the first four eliminations had taken – before the penultimate hand was dealt. Off the button, Bilic pushed the action with a raise and Farrell made the call from the big blind. After an A-7-6 flop, Farrell would check-call another bet out of Bilic and, after a five came on the turn, Farrell check-called again. When a Queen came on the river, Bilic moved all in and, after some deliberation, Farrell made the call. All Bilic could show was an 8-2 for complete air as Farrell tabled 6-5 for two pair and the championship.
1. Niall Farrell, €534,300*
2. Alen Bilic, €440,000*
3. Jaroslaw Sikora, €265,840
4. Giulio Spampinato, €203,840
5. Rainer Kempe, €161,340
6. Sam Greenwood, €125,660
7. Daniel Dvoress, €91,550
8. Nabil Cardoso, €62,570
(* – reflects final table deal)
€10,000 High Roller
Continuing what has been a breakout season, Byron Kaverman added another six-figure score to his tournament resume in taking down the €10,000 High Roller event at the EPT Malta.
201 entries were recorded for the €10,000 High Roller event and, by Saturday, only 19 players remained in the tournament. Mukul Pahuja was in the lead with Kaverman in pursuit, but there were dangers at every turn. Within the first two hours of play, the 19 players had become 11 and Kaverman had moved into the lead as the only player over two million in chips. Once Dominik Nitsche was eliminated in ninth place by Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, the final table was set.
Pahuja wasn’t pleased about losing the lead and he took on the task of retaking his lead with a vengeance. Pahuja knocked off 2015 World Series of Poker Europe Championship Event winner Kevin MacPhee in eighth place to go over three million in chips and push Kaverman back down to second. He continued to rule the roost as he bumped off Roberto Romanello before Vaskaboinikau eliminated Vladimir Dobrovolskiy in fifth place to bring the tournament to four handed action.
Ihar Soika was the first to leave the quartet, Pahuja holding a better two pair than Soika did, and after Pahuja took down Vaskaboinikau, it looked like the tournament was Pahuja’s to win. Holding a nearly 4:1 lead over Kaverman, Pahuja looked to knock him out early in heads up play. Instead of killing him with his A-5, Pahuja instead gave more ammunition to Kaverman and his A-K after it ran out with a King on the turn. They would fight for more than a half-hour before a change in fortune came about.
After a Pahuja raise, Kaverman made the call and saw a 5-6-3 rainbow flop. Kaverman would check-raise Pahuja’s 125K flop bet, making it 550K, and Pahuja made the call. An eight on the turn brought a bet from Kaverman this time and another call from Pahuja, but the Jack on the river set off the fireworks. With a potential flush on the board, Kaverman moved all in and was able to get a call out of Pahuja. Pahuja’s pocket Aces were strong, but they weren’t strong enough to beat Kaverman’s 9-7 (turned straight) as Kaverman used the double up to take over the lead.
Having the Aces cracked took the fight out of Pahuja. Only a few hands later, Pahuja would call a Kaverman all in, tabling A-4 for his tournament life against Kaverman’s pocket fives. The board would run out 9-2-8-J-6, delivering no Ace for Pahuja and earning Kaverman another big victory.
1. Byron Kaverman, €430,800
2. Mukul Pahuja, €290,100
3. Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, €204,500
4. Ihar Soika, €165,800
5. Vladimir Dobrovolskiy, €131,180
6. Roberto Romanello, €99,620
7. Bryn Kenney, €72,730
8. Kevin MacPhee, €53,150
Kaverman’s victory pushes him over the $3 million mark in earnings for 2015, but the money is only an extra. Kaverman has been able to take down a WSOP bracelet this year and, with the EPT High Roller title, has earned 10 six-figure wins in 2015. This latest victory also may move Kaverman into contention in many of the Player of the Year races in the tournament poker world.
