Winning the EPT Main Event on the old continent is about the biggest tournament triumph possible, which is the dream of most local and global players. Proving something like this is definitely not easy, but defending the triumph is almost impossible - only two players in history managed to do it: Vicky Coren-Mitchell (2014) and Mikalai Pobal (2019).
But this statement is no longer truth, because tonight the poker history of this series was rewritten, which was taken care of by none other than Canadian professional Mike Watson. He was already one foot out of the tournament on the fourth day of play (QQ vs AK), but a miraculous hit on one of the two outs (after an ace on the flop came on a river queen) brought him back into the game, which he ended up with a total win.
Among the 1,098 entries, Watson gradually fought his way to yesterday's 6-place final table, where he jumped from second place. Right at the beginning of the day, after a few losing hands by Lee, Watson went to the chip lead, which he further increased by knocking out Arnaud Enselme in 6th place (€180,900). After knocking out Samy Boujmala in 5th place (€253,150), Watson also took care of Joachim Haraldstad (€305,750), who was immediately followed to the cash register by the day's chip leader Leo Worthington-Leese (€397,450).
The game thus reached the final heads-up, in which Watson went with a slight advantage of 88bb:77bb against the German Leonard Maue. Also thanks to this distribution of forces, the fighters made a deal before the heads-up, which ensured them €716,085 and €697,175 in rewards, with the fact that there was still a playoff for the title and an extra €33,340 ahead of us.
The nearly two-hour heads-up was held in check by Watson, who allowed the opponent one double-up, but the second all-in/call confrontation already ended with a seat-open. On the T75A7 board, Maue decided to bluff for his tournament life with a hand of 43, which after a few minutes of tanking, Watson called correctly, and after the call, his hand of T9 sealed the historic second win.
"It's an amazing achievement, everyone knows that winning the Main Event of any major tour twice is really difficult. I feel like I had a lot of luck in the tournament, but that's part of tournament poker. Winning at PCA 2016 ($728,325) was amazing, but this win is even sweeter! Every time you win a tournament it's great, but to be able to defend the title and join such a small group of players who have done it is something really special and incredible."
Final Results of ME EPT Monte Carlo:
1st - Mike Watson, Canada, €749,425 *
2nd - Leonard Maue, Germany, €697,175 *
3rd - Leo Worthington-Leese, United Kingdom, €397,450
4th - Joachim Haraldstad, Norway, €305,750
5th - Samy Boujmala, France, €235,150
6th - Arnaud Enselme, France, €180,900
Although most of the spectators watched the main event of the entire festival, a number of other events took place alongside it, from which well-known faces of world poker took home the spade trophies. In the €50k High Roller, the trophy along with $240,408 (after a 3-way deal) went to Stephen Chidwick, who blew it heads-up to Isaac Haxton, who is experiencing an incredible heater this year. He confirmed this two days later in the €25k High Roller, where he already took home the trophy and $288,545. The last of the three famous names is Joao Vieira, who starred in the $25k High Roller, from which he took home a full $336,868 without a deal.
Source: PokerNews, PSlive
