What a difference a day makes. Whereas Day 5 of the 2014 European Poker Tour (EPT) PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event was short – just four and a half hours – Day 6, which consisted of just the final table, was long. Very long. Seventeen hours long, counting breaks. The stacks were fairly deep to start, with even the shortest stack having over 30 big blinds, but seeing the final table last as long as it did was a surprise. This was World Series of Poker-esque. After starting at noon EST Monday, Dominik Panka finally emerged victorious over Mike “timex” McDonald at about 5:00am Tuesday, capping the marathon final day and winning $1,423,096.
As one might have expected based on the preceding paragraph, it took quite some time before the first elimination occurred. About three hours into final table play, Fabian Ortiz, who began the day in the middle of the pack, raised pre-flop to 135,000 with A-K. McDonald re-raised to 325,000 with two red Queens, Ortiz moved all-in, and McDonald quickly called. None of the community cards were higher than a 9 (and no wheel for Ortiz), and Ortiz was out in eighth place.
It was until after the dinner break, another 4+ hours, that the next knockout happened. Again it was an pre-flop raising battle resulting in an all-in. This time, Pascal Lefrancois committed all of his chips with pocket Sixes and Isaac Baron called with A-K. Unlike in the first elimination, the pocket pair did not hold as an Ace landed on the river and Lefrancois was gone in seventh place. A quarter million dollars will have to be some consolation.
It “only” took another hour for Shyam Srinivasan to be shown the door. After a raise and call pre-flop, Srinivasan moved all-in for 2.665 million, a bet that was called by the caller of the previous raise, Dominik Panka. This was a tough-luck elimination for Srinivasan, as he was well ahead to start with pocket Jacks against Panka’s Tens. But the flop gave Panka a set, elevating him into the lead and sending Srinivasan home in sixth place.
Another hour went by and Daniel Gamez opened the betting in a hand by raising to 300,000 (big blind was 120,000) with Q-T of hearts. Panka called, but McDonald tripled that bet with Tens, prompting Gamez to move all-in for about 3 million. Panka folded and McDonald called. The flop was all low, but the turn did give Gamez a sweat with a heart flush draw. That was all the excitement for him, though, as neither a Queen nor a heart manifested on the turn, giving the hand to McDonald and eliminating Gamez in fifth place.
Shortly thereafter (only about 30 minutes later…how about that?) the final table’s original chip leader, Madis Muur, was done. Another raise, raise, raise all-in and Muur was committed pre-flop with Q-T against Panka and his A-K. A Ten was the first card to appear on the flop, but a King came in right behind it, keeping Panka in the lead. The turn and river changed nothing and Muur exited in fourth place, over half a million dollars richer.
After that, the three remaining players made a deal. At the time, Panka was the chip leader with 14.06 million chips, followed by Baron with 9.995 million and McDonald with 6.365 million. They agreed that Panka would get the most prize money in the chop, guaranteeing him $1,323,096. Baron received $1,207,599, McDonald got $1,064,000. That left $100,000 on the table, which would go to the eventual winner, along with the PCA title.
Two hours after the deal was made, the heads-up pairing was determined. Panka raised pre-flop with A-9 of spades and Baron shoved for 3.805 million with K-Q. Panka gave it a lot of thought, but finally decided to call. It was a good thing he did, too, as the flop produced all spades, giving him the flush and the pot. Isaac Baron was eliminated in third place with his agreed-upon winnings.
Going into heads-up play, Panka had the lead on McDonald, 16.9 million to 13.655 million.
McDonald immediately took the chip lead and for a little while, looked like he was going to keep pulling away to eventual victory, but Panka pulled back even and the two kept it close for a couple hours. The turning point came about three hours into heads-up play. Panka raised pre-flop to 500,000 with Q-5 and McDonald called with 9-7. McDonald checked the 6-5-6 flop, but raised when Panka bet 1.2 million. The turn produced a King, to which McDonald bet 1.5 million. Panka called, bringing on the Ten on the river. Both players checked and Panka won the pot with low pair. There were bigger pots than this six million chip one, but it meant Panka all of a sudden had a commanding lead, 24.6 million to just 5.9 million. Had the pot gone the other way, Panka would have still had the lead, but McDonald would have been one double-up from flipping the table.
And just a few minutes later, it was over. Panka raised pre-flop and McDonald moved all-in for 5.39 million. Panka called, showing A-2, up against McDonald’s paltry 7-4 of clubs. The flop of 2-5-J paired Panka’s deuce, but that really meant nothing, as McDonald needed to pair-up, anyway. The bigger news was that no clubs were dealt on that flop, taking away any chance of a flush. The dealer gave McDonald what he was looking for – a Seven – on the turn, but dashed his dreams of becoming the EPT’s first-ever two-time winner when he dealt an Ace on the river. McDonald was eliminated in second place and Dominik Panka won the first EPT Main Event of 2014.
2014 European Poker Tour PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event – Final Table Results
1. Dominik Panka – $1,423,096*
2. Mike McDonald – $1,064,865*
3. Isaac Baron – $1,207,599*
4. Madis Muur – $581,040
5. Daniel Gamez – $447,040
6. Shyam Srinivasan – $328,020
7. Pascal Lefrancois – $242,020
8. Fabian Ortiz – $173,220
*Result of three-way deal