The post-World Series of Poker doldrums are over; major live tournament poker has started back up. Today, the €50,000 High Roller Event of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona concluded with Olivier Busquet taking the crown and €896,434.
The field was very large for a High Roller Event, with 77 total entries from 58 unique players. Going into the nine-handed final table, Norway’s Morten Klein was the chip leader with 3.74 million chips, followed closely by Russia’s Vladimir Troyanovskiy with 3.37 million and Germany’s Sven Reichardt with 3.225 million. Busquet started the final table in the middle of the pack with just over 2 million chips. Also at the final table were Scott Seiver, Dan Shak, Mustapha Kanit, this year’s WSOP Big One for One Drop winner, Daniel Colman, and the inaugural Big One’s runner-up, Sam Trickett.
Kanit was the first to be eliminated, re-raising all-in over the top of Reichardt’s pre-flop raise. Kanit was in great shape with A-Q against Reichardt’s A-8, but an 8 flopped and that was it for Kanit.
Busquet won what may have been his most important hand on Hand 36 of the final table. Reichardt raised pre-flop and Busquet shoved all-in with A♠-2♠. Reichardt called quickly with pocket Kings; Busquet was in a load of trouble. The flop was even worse for him: 8♥-8♣-K♣, giving Reichardt a boat. Somehow, some way, though, the turn and river were both Aces, which gave Busquet the improbable runner-runner full house, a better one than Reichardt’s, to allow him to double-up to near the chip lead and stay alive.
Shak was next to go, falling in 8th place when his A-8 couldn’t improve against Busquet’s Aces on Hand 42. Fifteen hands later, it was Klein’s turn to fall to Busquet’s pocket Aces.
On Hand 64, Reichardt moved all-in pre-flop with Tens, but Colman woke up with Kings. The community cards were all low and Reichardt was eliminated in sixth place. On the very next hand, Colman busted Trickett. On Hand 73, Colman snagged another pelt, eliminating Seiver in 4th place to take over the chip lead. And then, on Hand 74, Busquet sent Troyanovskiy to the rail in third, initiating heads-up play.
Going into the heads-up match, Busquet had the chip lead, 10.48 million to 8.775 million for Colman. During a break before play resumed, the two made a deal in which Busquet would get €866,434 and Colman would bank €843,066, with €30,000 left on the table for which to play.
It was a slow-go during the heads-up match, as it took almost as long, in terms of number of hands, as did the rest of the final table. Colman took the lead a few hands in, but Busquet regained it in short order. After that, it was mostly small pots with a couple larger ones mixed in for Busquet, as he slowly extended his lead. On the final hand, the two men raised and re-raised until Colman was all-in pre-flop with A-K against Busquet’s Q-J. A Queen appeared on the turn to pair Busquet up and that was all she wrote for Daniel Colman.
2014 European Poker Tour Barcelona High Roller Event – Final Table Results
Olivier Busquet – €896,434
Daniel Colman – €843,066
Vladimir Troyanovskiy – €473,200
Scott Seiver – €364,200
Sam Trickett – €288,400
Sven Reichardt – €225,500
Morten Klein – €177,500
Dan Shak – €138,600
*Tournament info and updates courtesy Pokernews.com
