Leonard Maue
Francisco Benitez took down two major events early in the first few days of the 2022 European Poker Tour Barcelona festival, emerging victorious in the €10,200 no-limit hold’em mystery bounty event and the first €25,000 high roller of the series for nearly $590,000 in combined earnings. Benitez came within one spot of securing his third title of the series, but was defeated heads-up by German poker pro Leonard Maue.
Maue secured a career-best payday of $672,754 for the win, having outlasted a field of 102 total entries in the €25,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em single-day high roller. The score increased his lifetime earnings to more than $1.9 million.
Benitez took home $434,124 as the runner-up. This was the Uruguayan’s fourth six-figure cash of the series, with his two wins, this score, and another fourth-place finish in a high-roller event in between. He has now cashed for more than $1.2 million during this series.
Francisco Benite
Mauer earned 840 POY points for his second POY-qualified final-table finish of the year. The score saw him climb to within reach of the top 300.
The strong turnout for this event resulted in a $2,522,491 prize pool, which was paid out among the top 13 finishers. A Few big names made the money, only to fall short of the final table, including two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Nick Petrangelo (11th – $62,479) and 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event winner Dimitar Danchev.Petrangelo and Danchev were knocked out in a three-way all-in what was won by Mitch Halverson.
High-stakes cash game legend Patrik Antonius was the first knocked out at the final table. He called all-in with second pair, only to find himself up against the top pair of two-time bracelet winner Aleksejs Ponakovs.
Dzhavad Abdolvand ran A-8 into the pocket aces of Benitez to finish eighth ($97,674). Halverson (7th – $122,085) soon followed, with his pocket sevens losing a preflop coin flip to the A-10 of Maue.
Ponakovs also saw his run come to an end thanks to a race. His K-Q suited was unable to beat out the pocket sixes of a surging Benitez, and he was sent packing with $152,615 for his efforts. The Latvian poker pro also earned 280 POY points for his seventh final-table finish of the year. He climbed to 43rd place in the standings as a result.
The next big showdown saw Yasuhiro Waki get all-in with a turned two pair, but was up against a flush for Benitez. Yaki was awarded $190,745 after the river failed to improve him to a full house, while Benitez continued to pull away from the rest of the field.
2019 WSOP main event runner-up Dario Sammartino picked up A-Q in the big blind facing a small-blind shove from Benitez. He called and found himself up against pocket fives. Sammartino picked up a straight draw to go with his overcard outs, but failed to improve on the turn or river as was eliminated in fourth place ($238,496).
Imad Derwiche shoved his last 5.5 big blinds from the button with Q-4. Benitez came along from the big blind with Q-J. Derwiche received no help from the board and was sent home in third place, earning $310,009 for his strong showing in this event.
With that Benitez took a 2:1 chip lead into heads-up play with Maue. He expanded that advantage even further in the early going, but Maue managed to double up with pocket sixes besting K-8 suited. Maue then won a crucial preflop race, with 9
9
holding up against the AK
of Benitez to see Maue overtake the lead.
In the final deal of the tournament, Maue shoved from he button with 22. Benitez called with A
9. The 5436Q runout saw Maue make a six-high straight to lock up the pot and the title, stopping Benitez just short of his third win at the festival.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings (USD) | POY Points |
| 1 | Leonard Maue | $672,754 | 840 |
| 2 | Francisco Benitez | $434,124 | 700 |
| 3 | Imad Derwiche | $310,009 | 560 |
| 4 | Dario Sammartino | $238,496 | 420 |
| 5 | Yasuhiro Waki | $190,745 | 350 |
| 6 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | $152,615 | 280 |
| 7 | Mitchell Halverson | $122,085 | 210 |
| 8 | Dzhavad Abdolvand | $97,674 | 140 |
| 9 | Patrik Antonius | $78,125 | 70 |
Francisco Benitez photo credit: Danny Maxwell / Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
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