Day 2 of the "Single Day" €25K High Roller was not part of the original plan at EPT12 Barcelona. But while the first day was a marathon, the second added one was a sprint, ending in short order with Martin Finger earning the trophy and €865,900 first prize.
It was a huge 152-entry field that forced revision of the original "Single Day" plan.
The €25K High Roller had begun on Tuesday, and 16-and-a-half hours later it was Wednesday, with no winner yet determined. That's when the final three -- Martin Finger, Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree, and Martin Teltscher (all EPT Main Event winners) -- collectively agreed to pause the proceedings. About 36 hours after that, the tournament resumed.
It was a German versus two Brits, with Finger enjoying a significant chip lead. There were walks. And shoves. A necessary consequence of two players -- Boeree and Teltscher -- both hovering around 15 bigs to start.
A push from Teltscher went uncalled by Finger, despite a hopeful shout from Igor Kurganov from the rail that it had. One followed from Boeree, and again Finger declined.
The level changed. The stacks got shorter (relatively). And with the next Boeree push, Finger pushed back. Boeree had five cards with which to make queen-ten beat ace-four, and by the turn had both flush and straight outs for which to root.
But the river blanked and Boeree was bounced in third, her €391,000 cash second-best, career-wise, behind that EPT Sanremo five years ago.
The two shorter stacks having been combined, it turned out they almost equaled Finger's, as Teltscher's 7.55 million was just a touch below the leader's 7.65 million.
Eyeing the remaining payouts of €586,500 for the runner-up and €865,900 for the winner, the subject of a deal was brought up by Teltscher. Finger declined, and a none-too-bothered Teltscher promptly claimed a couple of pots to assume a better than 2-to-1 edge.
But then came two more all-ins, with the results of each pointing Finger's way.
In the first, pocket jacks bested king-queen, helping Finger retake the advantage. Minutes later came the second.
Teltscher pushed from the button for about 13 BBs, and Finger called with the same hand with which he'd ousted Boeree. It was roughly the same odds, too, for Finger, with ace-four, as Teltscher tabled jack-nine. The community cards stayed low and high, missing those in Teltscher's hand, and Finger had won.
Another EPT High Roller champion, Thomas Muehloecker, was among the first to congratulate Finger, for whom the first prize even exceeds the €720,000 he earned for winning EPT8 Prague.
The win helps finger complete a unique tourney triptych at the EPT, having won a Main Event, a Super High Roller (the £50K in London for a career-best £821,000 score), and now a High Roller as well.
Event #36: NL High Roller - 8-Handed - Single Re-entry
Entrants: 118 (34 re-entries)
Prize pool: €3,724,000
Places paid: 24
1. Martin Finger (Germany) €865,900
2. Mark Teltscher (United Kingdom) €586,500
3. Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree (United Kingdom) €391,000
4. Jani Sointula (Finland) €320,300
5. Mike McDonald (Canada) €257,000
6. Team PokerStars Online Pro Isaac Haxton (USA) €199,200
7. Jeff Rossiter (Australia) €147,500
8. Iacopo Brandi (Italy) €108,400
Play continues at the Casino Barcelona, with many more side events happening all around while the Main Event pushes through its Day 3. Stick close to the PokerStars blog for coverage of the side action and continued features, live updates, and chip counts from the Main.
To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts from EPT12 Barcelona, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.
Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.
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