Jean Montury Wins First Ever EPT Malta Main Event

An impressive field of 895 entries turned out for the inaugural running of the European Poker Tour Malta €5,300 no-limit hold’em main event, building a prize pool of €4,340,750 ($4,740,898 USD). In the end it was France’s Jean Montury who emerged victorious, capturing his first EPT title and the €687,400 first-place prize.

The 40-year-old former billiards pro also earned 1,824 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. He already had two final table finishes under his belt in 2015, and as a result has climbed into fourth place in the overall POY standings with 2,232 total points and $817,303 in year-to-date earnings.

“I know I won a lot of money, but it was not about that,” said Montury after the win. “It was more about getting the trophy, winning the EPT. The heads-up was incredible, so long. My opponent won four or five all-ins, so I thought it’s almost impossible to beat him.”

The heads-up battle was indeed a marathon. 2014 EPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event champ Dominik Panka was eliminated in third place roughly seven hours before the final hand was dealt in this event. Montury was at a slight chip disadvantage to Valentin Messina when heads-up play began and the two agreed to a deal that saw Messina lock up €615,000 and Jean Montury secure €587,000, leaving €100,000 and the title to play for.

There were plenty of swings over the course of their 147-hand showdown, but by the time the final hand arose Montury held over a 2-to-1 lead. With blinds of 300,000 – 600,000 with an ante of 100,000 Messina open-shoved for 8.7 million with the 55 and Montury called with the A10.

The board ran out JJ646 to leave Messina’s pair counterfeited, making Montury’s ace kicker the winning hand. With that Montury secured the title while Messina was sent to the rail as the runner up with €615,000 ($671,695 USD) and 1,520 POY points.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at this final table:

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