The PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona Championship reached its climax in that Spanish coastal city this weekend with Danish player Sander Lylloff taking home a giant winner’s cheque for Euro 1 170 000.
The Copenhagen-based player started the final day action only third in chip count in a final field of 13 players – all that remained of the original 543 entrants in the competition. Those 13 survivors hailed from 11 different countries, showcasing once again the universal appeal of poker tournaments of this calibre.
Stars such as Johnny Chan, Greg Raymer, Katja Thater and Daniel Negreanu fell early on, and a final table of 8 talented young players was decided after only two hours of play. The final 8 survivors, and their chip counts as final table play commenced, looked like this:
Greg Dyer (USA) – 1 606 000
Mika Paasonen (Finland) – 924 000
Mark Teltscher (UK) – 676 000
Nikolaus Jedlicka (Austria) – 569 000
Sander Lylloff (Denmark) – 502 000
Trond Eidsvig (Norway) – 452 000
Patrick Bruel (France) – 374 000
Adam Junglen (USA) – 319 000
French player (and the only WSOP bracelet holder on the table) Bruel was the first out, eliminated by Mark Teltscher in only the second hand of play and departing with an eigth place paycheck of Euro 104 500. British-based Teltscher was also responsible for the departure of Jedlicka in seventh place a few hands later, with the unfortunate Austrian still collecting a handy pay packet of Euro 154 700.
Jedlicka was the first of three players to exit in one orbit – the American Junglen was next to go to the rail only two hands later in sixth place, collecting Euro196 500 for his trouble, and the Norwegian Eidsvig finished in fifth position on the very next hand, picking up Euro 250 800 on the way home. 5 players had been eliminated in the first 20 hands of final table action….
The Finnish player Paasonen was the next to fall after a confrontation with Dyer, with the American player eliminating him after a brief but intense passage of play. The Finn finished in fourth spot with the consolation of a Euro 301 000 payday. By now Lylloff was largely dominating play, although the chip lead changed hands several times as the contest progressed and the one hundredth hand of final table action approached.
The break finally came when 20 year old US college student Greg Dyer made a move pre-flop against Lylloff after almost four hours of three handed play. He lost to the Dane’s cards and headed for the exit and a third place prize of Euro 388 800 for his impressive effort.
Heads up, it was Lylloff in the lead, with almost double the chips of his friend and roomate, the British player Mark Teltscher. The finish came only six hands later, giving Sander Lylloff his first EPT championship title, and that Euro 1 170 000 main prize cheque. Teltscher finished an honourable second, collecting Euro 673 000.