A sensational start to EPT Season 12 ended at Casino Barcelona with the crowning of top pro John Juanda after he won the biggest EPT Main Event ever held for €1,022,593 .
With 1,694 players, including a record 502 online qualifiers, the €5,300 EPT12 Barcelona Main Event not only dwarfed last year’s 1,496 Main Event players but became the biggest EPT ever held, beating the Season 7 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas which drew 1,560 players.
Juanda, who already has than $16m live tournament winnings to his name, has come close an EPT title before when he finished second to David Vamplew at EPT London in Season 7. The 44-year-old, who beat British player Steve Warburton heads-up tonight, was certainly the most experienced player at today’s final table with recorded cashes going back nearly 20 years. As well as his EPT London runner-up finish, the World Series of Poker Europe bracelet winner has a string of great results at other EPTs including runner-up to Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier in the EPT London £20k High Roller in 2008, fourth place in the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final €25k High Roller for €426,800 last season and 11th in the Main Event in Monaco in Season 10.
Warburton, 28, who took €941,613 for second place, hails from Altrincham in the UK and travels the world playing live poker. At EPT Barcelona, he was sharing an apartment with his friend Team PokerStars Pro Matthias De Meulder who also cashed in the Main Event, finishing 28th for €32,125. Warburton has played EPTs in London, Prague, Deauville and Malta but this was his first in Barcelona – and by far his best live result.
EPT8 Madrid champion Frederik Jensen finished third, and benefited substantially from the deal made three-handed; he will be taking €810,294 back home to Copenhagen after winning his seat to the event in a €320 Deep Hyper Turbo. German player Rainer Kempe was another qualifier who achieved an incredible ROI, finishing fifth for €320,400 after also winning his seat online for just €320.
Results:
1. John Juanda, Indonesia, €1,022,593
2. Steve Warburton, UK, €941,613
3. Frederik Jensen, Denmark, PokerStars qualifier, € 810,294
4. Denys Shafikov, Ukraine, €405,100
5. Rainer Kempe, Germany, PokerStars qualifier, € 320,400
6. Andreas Samuelsson, Sweden, PokerStars qualifier, € 253,900
7. Amir Touma, Lebanon, €194,100
8. Mario Sanchez, Spain, € 137,080
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