A round-up of the final action from the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Grand Final in Barcelona including the Main Event win for Pascal Lefrancois and a finale victory for Pedro Cairat.
I once asked Jonathan Duhamel who he felt was the greatest multi-table tournament artist in the world.
No hesitation.
Poker players, and not poker writers, know where the real talents lie.
The 31-year-old, Montreal native, who has just has won the €1,700,000 first prize in the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Grand Final Main Event in the Casino Barcelona, was modest in his appraisal of one of his greatest performances to date.
“You see these events, and you just don’t think you can win.”
Magnified, no doubt, when you look around the final table after four days of hard graft and see Adam Owen, Stephen Chidwick, Dominik Nitsche and Davidi Kitai waiting to take your head off.
Chidwick in particular warrants special praise.
The Global Poker Index (GPI) World #2 finished third for his third seven-figure score this side of Christmas. The top UK pro, who won the US Poker Open in February, banking over a million dollars in profits, finished sixth in the Super High Roller Bowl China for $1.3m, and was runner-up to Jake Schindler in the €100k Super High Roller in Barcelona a few days shy of the Main Event, securing another $1.3m.
Chidwick wasn’t the only player coming into the final in form. Nitsche, who won the One Drop High Roller at the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Main Event in Rozvadov for $4m in November finished fourth in the Super High Roller Bowl China for $1.6m, and fourth in this one for another €800,000. And Davidi Kitai finished seventh a few days short of winning the €25,000 Super High Roller for €700,000.
And then you had Owen. The mixed-game specialist from the UK may not have been Lefrancois’ primary threat given his scattered skillset, but Owen loves the Barcelona gaff having finished third for close to €700,000 in the 2016 European Poker Tour Main Event, his best score to date until securing €1.3m for his runner-up finish.
But it was Lefrancois who defeated the 1,175 entrant field to capture the lion share of the prize money. The €1.7m bounty is the most significant prize ever handed to a player in the Casino Barcelona, and that’s some feat given the madness the PokerStars Championship/European Poker Tour has created in this part of the world over the years.
The event smashed the €10m guarantee, pulling in €11,397,500 overall, and if you include live satellites, the entire festival raked in and dished out more than €30m in prize money.
I think we can say that the MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona has the ingredients to be one of poker’s perennial events.
Final Table Results
1. Pascal Lefrancois – €1,700,000
2. Adam Owen – €1,300,000
3. Stephen Chidwick – €1,000,000
4. Dominik Nitsche – €800,000
5. Jan-Eric Schwippert – €602,500
6. Diogo Veiga – €450,000
7. Davidi Kitai – €325,000
8. Thomas Boivin – €225,000
Other players who crashed their cars into the rail late in this one were Sean Winter (11th), Byron Kaverman (16th) and Anton Wigg (17th).
Fahredin Mustafov Wins the Final €10k
It was another case of close, but no Silk Cut for Isaac Haxton after the partypoker ambassador lost to Fahredin Mustafov in the heads-up phase of the final €10,000 High Roller of the festival.
The €2m GTD event fell short of its mark by €60k after 194 entrants ponied up the ten large. Haxton has been in fine form since joining partypoker and will be disappointed not to book a winners photo competing in his employer’s tournament.
Mustafov has some decent scores on his resume. The Bulgarian once finished third in a partypoker sponsored World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event in Prague and is a World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) gold ring winner after winning a €5k High Roller in Rozvadov. However, this ranks as his most significant score to date.
Final Table Results
1. Fahredin Mustafov – €400,000
2. Isaac Haxton – €275,000
3. Benjamin Pollak – €200,000
4. Alex Foxen – €150,000
5. Joey Weissman – €120,000
6. Andrew Chen – €100,000
7. Dayane Kotoviezy – €85,000
8. Jake Schindler – €70,000
Other stars of the game that went deeper than a philosopher in this one were Michael Watson (10th), Anatoly Filatov (11th) and Barny Boatman (12th).
Pedro Cairat Wins the €1,100 Finale
1,136 entrants were with the partypoker crew until the bitter end, and Pedro Cairat took the €195,000 first prize after beating the Pole Grzegorz Grochulski in heads-up action in the €1,100 Finale.
The 29-year-old Argentine, now living in Barcelona, fired four bullets into the gut of this one. Significant fields bring out the best in Cairat. Last year, he beat 4,557 entrants to win the €432,178 first prize in the PokerStars National Championships in the same venue.
Final Table Results
1. Pedro Cairat – €195,000
2. Grzegorz Grochulski – €120,000
3. Uri Reichenstein – €80,000
4. Asi Moshe – €52,110
5. Jari-Pekke Juhola – €35,000
6. Said El Yousfi – €25,000
7. Mark Pedersen – €18,000
8. Arie Berrebi – €13,000
Other marines that ventured deep into enemy lines in this one included Mike Leah (17th), Louis Salter (32nd) and Paul Tedeschi (36th).
