Mikalai Pobal Wins the EPT Barcelona!

Belarusian Mikalai Pobal is the first champion of EPT Season 9. To claim the title he had to triumph over a 1,082-player field and a final table which included Ilari 'Ziigmund' Sahamies, Joni Jouhkimainen, and John Juanda.

Mikalai Pobal

The PokerStars EPT Barcelona Main Event began with 1,082 players, and now just one of them is left standing - Belarusian Mikalai Pobal. For his accomplishment, Pobal will take home €1,007,550, a Shamballa Jewels bracelet, and an HD3 Slyde watch.

Prior to this event, Pobal's lifetime live tournament earnings were just €7,500 from a 104th place finish at the EPT Berlin.

What happened at the final table?

Juanda & others hit the rail - John Juanda began the day in 7th place with 1,890,000 chips, but he was the first to exit the event. Considering the likely size of his bankroll, the €76,100 he'll take with him may not even cheer him up. Juanda was followed to the rail by Antonin Duda (€125,950), Sinel Anton (€178,400), Samuel Rodriguez (€230,900), and Anaras Alekberovas (€301,750). The tournament really got interesting when 3-handed play began.

Drunken Finns - At the dinner break, 3 players remained - Mikalai Pobal and Finnish Ilari 'Ziigmund' Sahamies and Joni Jouhkimainen. When the break was over, the Finns returned wearing sequin-covered hats and sipping from glasses of an orange beverage. Apparently, they thought the final table of a tournament with a 7-figure first-place prize was a great time to do some drinking.

Joni Jouhkimainen slips - Although he began the day in 8th place, when the players returned from the break Joni Jouhkimainen had roughly 3/4 of the chips in play. His lead got slightly smaller in the first several minutes after the break, and then Ilari Sahamies took the lead in a crazy hand that never even reached the flop.

Sahamies raised on the button, Jouhkimainen 3-bet to 1.175 million from the small blind, Sahamies 4-bet to 2 million, and Jouhkimainen 5-bet to 3.12 million. Ziigmund quickly moved all-in and forced Jouhkimainen to fold. Their hands may surprise you - Ziigmund had , and Jouhkimainen had .

Probal checks behind with the nuts - In order to prevent collusion, most live tournaments have a rule that states players can't check on the river with the nuts when they're last to act. In a hand against Joni Jouhkimainen, Mikalai Probal rivered the nut flush in position but didn't notice it and checked behind. He was upset when the pot came his way and he realized his error, and to add insult to injury he received a one-round penalty in accordance with EPT rules.

Joni Jouhkimainen out in 3rd - Although he had a huge chip lead 3-handed, the young Finn ultimately busted to his countryman in a standard hand. All of the chips got in preflop, and Ziigmund's beat Jouhkimainen's by catching an board.

Sahamies' aggression bites back - In the final hand of the tournament, Ziigmund's aggressive style got the best of him. He raised on the button with and Mikalai Pobal reraised holding . Sahamies decided to move all-in, and Pobal of course called. The board ran , and Mikalai Pobal became the EPT Barcelona champion.

EPT Barcelona Final Table Payouts
Place	Name	Prize
1st	Mikalai Pobal	€1,007,550
2nd	Ilari Sahamies	€629,700
3rd	Joni Jouhkimainen	€404,050
4th	Anaras Alekberovas	€301,750
5th	Samuel Rodriguez	€230,900
6th	Sinel Anton	€178,400
7th	Antonin Duda	€125,950
8th	John Juanda	€76,100
Players: 1 (1,082)   |   Prize pool: €5,247,700

Check out some videos from the final day of play at the EPT Barcelona:

by Matt Kaufman