Mikita Badziakouski Wins 2022 European Poker Tour Barcelona €100,000 Buy-In Super High Roller

Mikita Badziakouski has won the 2022 European Poker Tour Barcelona €100,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em super high roller event, defeating a field of 68 entries to secure the title and the top prize of $2,038,596 USD. This was the third-largest score of the 30-year-old poker pro’s career, and it increased his lifetime earnings to just shy of $40 million. As a result, he now sits in seventh place on poker’s all-time money list.

Badziakouski won this same event back in 2018, the first year that the EPT upped the buy-in to the six-figure price point in Barcelona. He did not return to the Casino Barcelona the following year to back up that victory. Given that the EPT Barcelona series was not held in 2020 or 2021, his win this year amounts to a title defense for the Belarusian.

“For me, it’s back to back,” he told PokerStars reporters after coming out on top. “It’s amazing, I really love it.”

In addition to the tile and the money, Badziakouski was also awarded 720 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion of this high-stakes event. This was his third title and 16th final-table finish of the year, with nearly $6.4 million in POY earnings accrued along the way. As a result, he has climbed into 13th place in the 2022 POY race standings, which are sponsored by Global Poker.

The top nine finishers made the money in this nosebleed-stakes showdown. Pedro Garagnani was eliminated on the money bubble, running pocket fives into the pocket jacks of Kevin Paque to set the final table late on day 2. Four-time bracelet winner David Peters was also eliminated that night before the final eight bagged up their chips, with his pocket jacks unable to overcome the pocket aces of Teun Mulder. Peters, who recently won a $50,000 buy-in event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, earned $197,059 for his latest deep run in a high roller tournament. The score saw him surpass $44 million in lifetime earnings.

The final day began with Paque in the lead and Badziakouski in seventh chip position among the remaining eight contenders. Two-time bracelet winner Nick Petrangelo was the first to be eliminated on day 3. He was part of a three-way all-in preflop, with his A-J trailing the pocket queens of Badziakouski and A-K suited of Mulder. A set of queens secured the pot for Badziakouski on the river, helping him climb several spots on the leaderboard. Petrangelo took home $254,822 as the eighth-place finisher.

Not long after that, Badziakouski picked off a bluff from recent €50,000 high roller winner Mike Watson to move into the outright lead. Watson was soon all-in and at risk against the A-Q of Badziakouski and Q-10 suited of bracelet winner Ben Heath. Badziakouski rivered an ace to win another three-way showdown, sending Watson to the rail with $329,569. Watson also earned 180 POY points for his 11th final-table showing of the year. He now sits in eighth place in the POY standings as a result, with 4,101 total points and more than $4.1 million in year-to-date POY earnings.

A classic preflop race spelled the end of Dutch tournament star Teun Mulder. His pocket tens could not outrun the K-J suited of nine-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel. Mulder flopped middle set, but Seidel picked up flush and straight draws. He improved to a flush on the turn and held from there to narrow the field to five. The $428,098 Mulder earned as the sixth-place finisher was the fourth-largest recorded score of his career.

Bracelet winner and two-time Super High Roller Bowl event champion Timothy Adams was the next to fall. He committed all but one small chip preflop with A-6 suited and found himself in rough shape against the A-Q of Badziakouski. Adams called off his last chip despite missing the flop, and was drawing dead by the turn. He earned $557,209as the fifth-place finisher, growing his career earnings to $29.9 million as a result. The Canadian poker pro remains in second place on his country’s all-time money list, trailing only Daniel Negreanu ($45.5 million).

Heath shoved for his last ten big blinds with 8-7 suited when it folded to him in the small blind. Paque looked down at pocket queens in the big blind and made the quick call. Heath picked up a flush draw on the turn, but a blank on the end sent him packing in fourth place ($723,698).

Paque was still the shortest stack heading into three-handed play despite having eliminated Heath. He slid even further before his final hand arrived. Badziakouski min-raised to 320,000 on the button with K7 and Paque defended his big blind with 75. The flop brought K75 to give both players two pair. Paque checked and Badziakouski bet 200,000. Paque check-raised to 425,000 and Badziakouski called. The 8 on the turn saw Paque check and Badziakouski bet 500,000. Paque check-raised all-in for 1,905,000. He received a quick call from his opponent and would need to find a seven on the river. The 4 was no help and Paque was knocked out in third place, earning $941,141 for his podium finish.

With that Badziakouski took 10,860,000 into heads-up play with Seidel, who held 6,140,000. It was a back-and-forth battle with multiple lead changes. It was Badziakouski who was ahead when the final hand of the tournament was dealt. Badziakouski open-shoved from the button for just over 11 big blinds effective with A4. Seidel called with QQ from the big blind. The board ran out A103J10 and Badziakouski made aces and tens to lock up the pot and the title.

Seidel earned $1,325,084 as the runner-up, growing his lifetime earnings to more than $42.5 million, good for sixth on the all-time money list. This was the fourth-largest score of the living legend’s tournament career, and the sixth seven-figure cash he has recorded in his decades of professional play. Seidel also earned 600 POY points in this event. This was his ninth final table of the year, with nearly $3 million in POY earnings accrued so far. As a result, he now sits in 14th place in the POY standings, just one spot behind Badziakouski.

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

Photo credits: Tomas Stacha / Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.

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