Andrey Pateychuk Wins European Poker Tour San RemoRussian Student Crowned Champion Of San Remo After Tough FInal |
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Russian student Andrey Pateychuk has managed to emerge unscathed from a tough field of 831 to become champion of the European Poker Tour San Remo Season 8. Pateychuk, who first came to the poker world’s attention by finishing 15th in this year’s World Series of Poker main event, takes down his first title and, due to a deal made heads up, €680,000 for first place.
When the field was downsized to about 30, Pateychuk had to deal with the likes of EPT Dortmund champion Mike McDonald, WSOP Europe winner Elio Fox, WPT Venice hero Alessio Isaia, Lex Veldhuis, and Johnny Lodden. Lodden bubbled the final table and with the others also busting deep in the money, the event had just one remaining former EPT champion left, Kevin MacPhee.
MacPhee, 2010 Australian Player of the Year Daniel Neilson, and British pro Barny Boatman added a wealth of talent to the final and indeed the hope of a double champion, but that wasn’t to be as it was Dimitar Danchev and Andrey Pateychuk who were the final two players standing.
Bulgarian Dimitar Danchev came excruciatingly close to being crowned champion. All it took was one card, which just had to be on the river, to flip the action.
Danchev opened the button to 325,000, Pateychuk three-bet to 900,000, and Danchev made the call. The flop was 9
4 2
and Pateychuk bet 1.2 million. Danchev made it 2.6 million and Pateychuk moved all in. Danchev called quickly and flipped over 10 9
for top pair. Pateychuk revealed 7 6 and things were not looking good for the Russian student. The turn was dealt the 8 giving Pateychuk some hope, and unbelievably, the river fell the 5 to give Pateychuk the straight and 24 million in chips. Danchev was left with just 600,000 as he watched his dreams of becoming Bulgaria’s first ever EPT champion slip away.
Pateychuk finished his opponent off two hands later with pocket sevens versus the crushed Bulgarian’s K-Q but Danchev took it like a pro and told Pateychuk that he deserved it. Danchev, who has been a pro for two years, takes home his biggest cash yet, €600,000 for second place.
Pateychuk, who the day previous celebrated his 22nd birthday, said, “It feels great to win. I can’t really imagine a better birthday present than this. I wasn’t feeling that nervous today. I haven’t played so many live tournaments but I’ve played a lot of final tables online so I have a lot of experience. It was actually harder when it was 30 players and people like Johnny Lodden, Lex Veldhuis, Kevin MacPhee and Mike McDonald were still in. It was tough if they had position on you.”
Here are the final-table results and payouts:
1. Andrey Pateychuk — €680,000 (1,920 Card Player POY Points)
2. Dimitar Danchev — €600,000 (1,600 POY Points)
3. Daniel Neilson — €285,000 (1,280 POY Points)
4. Barny Boatman — €225,000 (960 POY Points)
5. Jan Bendik — €170,000 (800 POY Points)
6. Yorane Kerignard — €130,000 (640 POY Points)
7. Rocco Palumbo — €95,000 (480 POY Points)
8. Kevin MacPhee — €63,694 (320 POY Points)
The next stop on the Tour is the Club Hotel Casino Loutraki in Greece. The EPT’s first visit to Greece will run from Nov. 15-20.
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