2014 CarbonPoker Card Player Player of the Year Update -- Dan Smith and Jason Mercier Join Top 10

The 2014 European Poker Tour Barcelona festival was a huge success, with several events setting record for the tour. As a result of all of the large fields the series has also had a big effect on the 2014 Card Player Player of the Year race, sponsored by CarbonPoker. Here is a look at what went down this week in Spain:

EPT Barcelona €10,300 High Roller

The €10,300 no-limit hold’em high roller at the EPT Barcelona drew the biggest field for an event of it’s kind in EPT history when 393 players turned out to build a prize pool of more than €3.8 million ($5,072,968 in U.S. dollars.)

In the end Belarus’ Ihar Soika emerged victorious topping an accomplished final table to win his first live tournament title, the €747,200 first-place prize and 1,500 POY points. In the end it came down to a heads-up battle between Soika and American superstar Jason Mercier. Soika was able to convert his heads-up chip advantage, sending Mercier to the rail in second place with €473,500 and 1,250 POY points. This was Mercier’s fifth final table showing of 2014 and as a result he has climbed to eighth place in the overall POY standings with 3,106 points and year-to-date earnings of $2,778,584.

Fourth-place finisher Ami Barer, who won the Aussie Millions main event for over $1.4 million in January and has now made three final tables since then, earned €276,900 and 750 points for his deep run. As a result of his success on the tour this year he has moved into third place in the rankings with 3,580 points and year-to-date earnings of $1,930,121.

EPT Barcelona €2,200 No-Limit Hold’em

A total of 425 players registered for the €2,200 no-limit hold’em side event at the EPT Barcelona to build a total prize pool of over $1 million. In the end American poker pro Dan Smith emerged victorious, topping a tough final table to win $213,730 and 1,080 POY points.

This was Smith’s second title of the year, having won the gigantic $100,000 super high roller at Bellagio this summer for just over $2 million.

Smith has made five final tables in total in 2014 in addition to finishing 20th in this year’s World Series of Poker main event for $286,900. As a result the 2012 Player of the Year race runner-up now sits in seventh position in the overall standings this year with 3,110 and year-to-date earnings of $2,627,723.

EPT Barcelona Main Event

The 2014 European Poker Tour Barcelona €5,300 no-limit hold’em main event drew the largest ever field on European soil in the tour’s history. A total of 1,496 players turned out to the 100th EPT main event to build a €7,480,000 prize pool. From that sea of entrants the field was whittled down over seven days until only only player remained: German online poker pro Andre Lettau. For the win he earned his first live title, the €794,058 and 1,920 POY points. With this win alone he was catapulted into 40th place in the overall POY race standings.

The 27-year-old entered the final table in the middle of the pack. He survived to three handed play, with American-born poker pro Sam Phillips holding a sizable chip lead over him and 50-year-old EPT Barcelona senior’s event winner Hossein Ensan, who parlayed his winnings from that event into a seat in the main event via a satellite. After plenty of deliberation the three made a deal that ensured Ensan €652,667, Lettau €704,058 and Phillips €1,021,275 while leaving €90,000 and the title to play for.

Ensan was the next to be eliminate, but by that point things had already changed drastically. Phillips, who had began three handed play as the massive chip leader, entered heads-up play at a more than 5-to-1 chip deficit after doubling both of his opponents and losing a few other big pots. Despite the chip disparity the heads-up match took more than six hours. In the end Phillips was semt to the rail as the runner-up, earning €1,021,275 and 1,600 POY points for his strong showing.

Here is a look at the current top 20 in the POY standings:

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