Sergio Aido and Timothy Adams win High Rollers, and Stefano Schiano and Raul Paez pick up wins in the French National Championships during PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo.
A flick of the wrist ago, had you peered into a Spanish aquarium and took note of the marine life there was only one shark. Feared the world over, Carlos Mortensen, eventually became a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.
Things are changing.
As Mortenson was cleaning house in World Poker Tours (WPT) around the world, the storks were busy above Spanish rooftops dropping off bassinets outside the homes of Mateos, Aido and Cortes – the new breed of Spanish poker player.
Mateos quickly became a global powerhouse, winning three World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets by the time he had outgrown his toy drum kit. He even overtook Mortenson as the #1 All-Time Money Earner in Spain with more than $17m in live tournament winnings.
Sergio Aido’s rise to fame, while not as spectacular, is equally as impressive, and yesterday, he binked the most significant score of his career after winning the €100,000 Super High Roller at the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) in Monte Carlo.
Aido began the final table with the shortest stack of the lot but managed to turn a mere seven big blinds into a €1,589,190, after beating his compatriot Jesus Cortes in heads-up action.
If Aido was too survive the first level, he needed to create a few bloody noses, and that’s what he did. The first to feel the rush was Mikita Badziakouki who got it in good AK>A9 only for Aido to flop a second nine. Then he out-flipped the starting day chip leader, Daniel Dvoress, AQ>55 after flopping an ace.
Aido’s ascent continued unabated.
Charlie Carrel was next to feel his wrath, exiting in sixth place after 9c5c v As2c went the way of maths during a blind on blind kamikaze assault by the Englishman.
Then Aido and his countryman Cortes would square off against the defending champion, Sam Greenwood after Aido’s pocket kings made light work of Dvoress’s Ad9h.
Aido was the man to depose the reigning champion once again finding pocket kings at an opportune moment. Greenwood made his stand with AhTs, and the other three aces remained at the bottom of the deck like rotten tangerines stuck to the bottom of a fruit bowl.
Heads-up began with Aido holding all the chips.
Aido – 10,735,000
Cortes – 2,265,000
The duel didn’t last long.
The pair got it in with Aido’s KcQh towering over the 9s2d of Cortes and neither the flop, turn or the river changed things.
The victory is Aido’s seventh, and he has now earned $10,542,720 playing live tournaments. Cortes’s runner-up finish comes hot on the high heels of his third-place finish in the same competition in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in the Bahamas, his first event of this nature.
Final table results
1. Sergio Aido – €1,589,190
2. Jesus Cortes – €1,147,750
3. Sam Greenwood – €731,530
4. Daniel Dvoress – €554,950
5. Mikita Badziakouski – €428,830
6. Charlie Carrel – €327,930
7. Wiktor Malinowski – €264,860
The Best of the Monte Carlo rest
As Aido was clearing house in the €100k, Timothy Adams was doing likewise in the €25k Single-Day High Roller. It’s the second win in successive live tournament series’ for the Canadian after winning the Triton Poker Series Main Event in Jeju for a personal best score of $3.5m. Adams collected €548,030 for this one.
Adams defeated the impressive Sean Winter in heads-up action to take the title. The Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1, Alex Foxen, finished fifth, the final table ever-present, Ike Haxton finished sixth, and Charlie Carrel made his third final table of the series finishing fourth.
The event attracted 83-entrants.
Final table results
1. Timothy Adams – €548,030
2. Sean Winter – €389,600
3. Kazuhiko Yotsushika – €255,080
4. Charlie Carrel – €196,290
5. Alex Foxen – €155,440
6. Isaac Haxton – €121,560
7. Ali Reza Fatehi – €95,660
8. Chan Wai Leong – €74,730
Moving down the pecking order, and Stefano Schiano conquered an impressive field of 1,425 entrants to win the €209,000 first prize in the €1,100 French National Championships. The win was only the Italian’s third ITM finish of his career. His second was a runner-up finish to Sandro Pitzanti in the recent €1,100 WPTDeepStacks Main Event in Malta, earlier this month, so he came into this one in form. There were also final table appearances for the WPT Champions Club member, James Romero, WSOP bracelet winner, Jacquelyn Scott, and the former World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Main Event winner, Jack Sinclair.
Final table results
1. Stefano Schiano – €209,000
2. Sam Higgs – €175,000
3. Mario Mosböck – €98,200
4. James Romero – €72,200
5. Emrah Cakmak – €56,600
6. Jacquelyn Scott – €42,800
7. Sylvain Mazza – €32,600
8. Yota Mitsui – €23,000
9. Jack Sinclair – €17,750
Aido wasn’t the only Spaniard taking down titles in Monte Carlo after Raul Paez defeated 538-entrants in the €2,200 French National High Roller. Paez overcame a final table that included the WPT Champions Club member, Dietrich Fast, and the British star, Harry Lodge.
Final table results
1. Raul Paez – €200,400
2. Antoine Goutard – €125,500
3. Dietrich Fast – €89,900
4. Pablo Brito Silva – €70,100
5. Alan Lau – €55,000
6. Loic Dobrigna – €43,100
7. Romain Matteoli – €32,250
8. Harry Lodge – €22,340
