Despite starting the EPT Barcelona final table with little more than half the chips of Giuseppe Pantaleo, Kent Lundmark personally sent the German (and four others) packing and outlasted the rest to take the title and the €825k payout. Jesus Cortes Lizano took second place and €525k, and while it must suck to come that close without tasting victory, Lizano’s runner-up status is still the best result any Spanish player has achieved at an EPT main event. The rest of the table finished as follows: 3 – Konstantin Puchkov (€300k); 4 – Shander de Vries (€222k); 5 – Giuseppe Pantaleo (€170k); 6 – Thor Stang (€130k); 7 – Georgios Skotadis (€90k); 8 – Francesco Notaro (€70k).
Meanwhile in London, there are just 12 remaining players who’ll be vying for the £145k first prize at Sunday’s final day of action at the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour main event. The dozen-strong field looks like this, in order of chip count — Lee Song (796,000); Nicolas Irving (637,000); Martin Green (595,000); Leon Bui (568,500); Chaz Chattha (488,500); Ash Miah (474,500); Paul Alterman (404,000); Jamie Burland 347,000); Lennart Valhjaltaafeldt (300,500); Chris Brammer (255,500); Danny Toffel (177,000) and James Sudworth (174,500).
Finally, we head across the Atlantic to check in on the only poker tournament that the Tea Party gives a hoot or holler about, the Heartland Poker Tour. The most recent stop at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant, Michigan saw 413 players spring for the $1,500 buy-in, one of the larger fields on this season’s tour. Ahmed Harajli took top honors and almost $177k for his troubles. Next up for the HPT is the Red Rock Casino in Vegas beginning Jan. 10, followed by the Downstream Casino Resort in Quapak, Oklahoma Jan. 20-30.