The sixth largest EPT in its entire history is already behind us, but it has once again contributed another interesting chapter to its history. The player-packed field in the Main Event shrank day by day from the original 1,606 entries, until we reached the final day, in which only the last five aspirants to win the prestigious title presented themselves.
The final day was started by the Romanian qualifier Razvan Belea, who has maintained the chip leader position since the fourth day of play. Although he has $1.25 million in MTT winnings on his online account, in live poker it was his first participation in the EPT, which he qualified for via a $530 online satellite.
The last five started their final journey with really deep stacks, with the exception of Estonian Henri Kasper. He was unable to raise his 11bb and was the first to withdraw from the game for €317,050. The six-hour final then saw Brian Delaney ($412,200) off the table, followed by the last home player, online qualifier Fabrice Bigot ($535,850).
The unstoppable Belea also went into the final heads-up with a 2:1 lead, who did not let his Swedish opponent Jorgne in front of him even once during the two-hour heads-up. Everything ended with a hand in which Belea with 7 6hit straight on the board with 5 3 10 4 4 , while his his opponent with 10 6 went all-in on the river, followed by a call. It decided that runner-up Peter Jorgne will take home €780,000, and that the trophy, the title and the full €1,170,000 will go to Romania.
Belea will thus go down in history as the first Romanian EPT champion, after Dany Parlafes came the closest to this triumph in 2015, when he finished second at EPT Deauville. „This whole thing is unreal, I still can't believe it. It's something you've always dreamed of ever since I've been playing poker. I've always watched the EPT, dreaming of what it would be like to play there and win, and I've also played some side events a few times. I don't know what to say, I'm emotional, I just followed my dream, studied hard and finally made it!“
While a satisfied Bela was celebrating his triumph in the spotlight, the very last spade trophy of this festival was handed over. It was in the third of a series of €25K High Rollers, which brought star-studded action. Among the 40 entries, names such as Adrian Mateos, Daniel Dvoress and Steve O'Dwyer appeared at the final table, but none of these names reached the trophy. Together with a prize of €324,500, it ended up in the hands of Stephen Chidwick, who just four days ago won the same tournament, where he took home €277,020!
