In what turned out to be a marathon final table, Antonio Buonanno was finally able to derail Jack Salter to take down the championship of the European Poker Tour Grand Final early Saturday morning. Long before Buonanno had captured the championship, Philipp Gruissem added to his legacy as a “high roller” master in winning the €25,000 High Roller event held in concurrence with the EPT Grand Final Main Event.
€10,000 EPT Grand Final Main Event
Coming into play on Friday, Salter was the master of his domain as he stared at the other seven men facing him. With his 5.17 million in chips, only Mayu Roca (4.625 million) was considered to have a serious shot at taking him down. Magnus Karlsson (2.595 million), Buonanno (2.965 million), Kenny Hicks (1.87 million), Sebastian von Toperczer (1.24 million), Malte Moennig (1.15 million) and Sebastian Bredhauer (755,000) were all considered long shots to contend for the championship but, as the saying goes, that’s why they play the game.
As the first cards were dealt, the players had no idea that they were about to go off into one of the longest final tables in EPT history. On one of the first few hands, an active Salter lost the lead in doubling up Buonanno, but he would get some of those chips back in eliminating the short-stacked Bredhauer in eighth place. Only a few hands later, Salter would be back in the lead after taking a sizable pot off of Roca to reestablish his stack.
Salter, perhaps living up to the “salt” in his name, was one of the more boisterous players at the final table. That boisterousness sometimes led to outbursts of colorful language and even berating the other players and their moves. Thus, when Buonanno stayed ahead with his pocket tens against Hicks’ A-K to eliminate Hicks in seventh place on a Queen high board, some were quite pleased that Buonanno was back in the lead.
After Moennig dropped von Toperczer in sixth right after Hicks’ departure, Buonanno held an approximately 1.5 million lead over both Roca and Salter. Moennig, even with the elimination, was still barely over two million chips and a rather sedate Karlsson brought up the rear of the five players remaining. But there was still about 300 HANDS of poker still left to be played and the players made it exciting.
Salter would slowly work out to a lead over Buonanno in the 20 hands following von Toperczer’s elimination while Moennig continued to climb the ladder. In a three-way all-in, Moennig was at risk along with Karlsson against Roca, but the hands they showed demonstrated why all thought they had the goods:
Karlsson: 3♣ 3♠
Moennig: 8♦ 8♠
Roca: 9♥ 9♠
Moennig came from behind on the Q-7-8 flop, hitting a set and leaving both his opponents drawing thin. An Ace on the turn eliminated on of Moennig’s opponents in Karlsson, but Roca was still alive with two outs. Neither came on the seven river and Moennig almost tripled up as Roca plunged down the table and Karlsson went home in fifth place.
Roca would never be able to recover from that hand, eventually leaving in fourth place at the hands of Salter. With those chips, Salter seemed to be salting away the EPT Grand Final championship as, with 11.04 million in chips, Buonanno (5.14 million) and Moennig (3.295 million) didn’t even add up to Salter’s stack. A deal was discussed between the three men but, when no consensus could be reached, play resumed. Only three hands later, Moennig would depart in third place at the hands of Buonanno and what would become an EPT classic began.
Although he started with about a three million chip edge, Salter would lose that advantage as the duo played their first 20 hands. By the time they cracked the 100-hand mark at the final table, however, Salter had retaken the lead and added to it. By the time they headed to a break, Salter held nearly a 2:1 advantage over Buonanno.
After playing through three LEVELS of action, Salter had extended that lead to nearly 5:1, but then the stunning happened. Buonanno doubled up twice to bring the match back to even and, by the next break, had actually flipped the tables on Salter to have a nearly 2:1 lead. Although Salter would come back to even up the score, two hands would end his tournament.
Salter attempted to intimidate Buonanno on one hand, nearly moving into Buonanno’s face to get a read on him on a 6-4-3-J-8 board and mumbling obscenities. Although Buonanno twice requested a clock on Salter (who had been tanking excessively throughout the tournament), it wasn’t necessary as Salter finally called. When Buonanno showed his J-8 for a turned and rivered two pair against Salter’s 10-6 (flopped top pair), it was the beginning of the end.
In the second hand, Salter would have the clock called on him once again after a ten minute tank that was again punctuated by obscenities. Once the clock ran out and Salter’s hand was mucked (Salter was way behind Buonanno, by the way), the final hand was dealt. After Buonanno raised with an A-4, Salter would push his remaining five million chips to the center with a K-7. Buonanno didn’t waste any time in making the call and, after a rather dull J-9-2-Q-3 board, Antonio Buonanno had outlasted the 18-hour final table to capture the 2014 EPT Grand Final championship.
1. Antonio Buonanno, €1,240,000
2. Jack Salter, €765,000
3. Malte Moennig, €547,000
4. Mayu Roca, €419,000
5. Magnus Karlsson, €332,000
6. Sebastian von Toperczer, €258,300
7. Kenny Hicks, €188,500
8. Sebastian Bredhauer, €128,800
€25,000 High Roller
He may not like the nickname, but he might have to get used to it. Philipp “Mr. High Roller” Gruissem overcame a talented final table while the EPT Grand Final Main Event was going on to emerge as the champion of the €25,000 High Roller tournament.
Of the 214 entries (159 players) that started the tournament, the nine men who came to the felt on Friday represented some of the best-known players in the tournament poker world. Davidi Kitai held a slim lead over Byron Kaverman and Scott Seiver at the start of play, with Gruissem, Martin Finger and Steven Chidwick holding down the mid-pack slots. Three men on shorter stacks – Chenxiang Miao, Pascal Lefrancois and John Juanda – had their work cut out for them.
Kitai extended his lead early on in eliminating Lefrancois, but he would turn around and give up that lead to Seiver in an active first few hands. Kitai would get some chips back in eliminating Miao in eighth place, but Seiver would clash against Gruissem and lose the lead when Gruissem flopped trip Aces and Seiver couldn’t get away. Both Seiver and Kitai wouldn’t go away, however, as they eliminated Chidwick (Seiver) and Finger (Kitai) to get to five handed play.
Gruissem would seize control of the tournament when, on a 5♣ 10♣ 5♥ 6♣ 2♣ board, he was able to get Kitai to invest a huge chunk of his stack. After Gruissem showed his A♣, Kitai could only show a K♣ for the second best hand and drop down to 1.1 million in chips. Gruissem then used those chips to take out Kaverman in fifth place to further his edge.
Juanda’s tournament came to an end after a valiant battle, his K-Q being run down by Seiver’s K-J on an 8-10-10-Q-A board. Kitai, still reeling from the flush versus flush loss, would eventually be taken down by Gruissem to bring about heads up play. Rather than drag out the battle, Gruissem and Seiver chopped up the remaining prize pool and decided to go all-in without looking every hand after that to determine who would get the trophy and other prizes for the champion. On the first hand, Seiver moved in and, after peeking, Gruissem made the call and elicited a laugh from Seiver. Seiver’s 3-2 was alive against Gruissem’s pocket Queens and, although the 4-10-K-A flop and turn brought some excitement, an eight on the river ended the tournament with Gruissem taking the spoils of victory.
1. Philipp Gruissem, €993,963*
2. Scott Seiver, €857,637*
3. Davidi Kitai, €526,400
4. John Juanda, €426,800
5. Byron Kaverman, €337,650
6. Martin Finger, €256,400
7. Stephen Chidwick, €187,200
8. Chenxiang Miao, €136,900
9. Pascal Lefrancois, €113,250
* – denotes heads up deal
With the close of Friday’s action, the EPT has now wrapped up Season Ten. While many in Europe prepare for the upcoming battles at the World Series of Poker, the EPT’s Season Eleven schedule kicks off sooner than many might expect. In mid-August, the EPT will be back with its first stop in Barcelona, Spain, as one of the preeminent tours once again takes to the felt.
