Stephen Song Wins European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event

At just 29 years of age, Stephen Song has already amassed a sizable tournament poker hardware collection. The professional player from Greenwich, Connecticut will have to make room next to his World Series of Poker bracelet and WPT Prime Championship trophy for a new marquee addition: the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona main event golden spade. This was his 13th recorded title.

Song overcame a field of 1,975 total entries in the €5,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament that ran from Sept. 1-8 inside Casino Barcelona, earning a career-best payday of $1,432,328 for the win. He now has more than $8.1 million in lifetime earnings to his name.

This victory also awarded 2,160 Card Player Player of the Year points to Song. This was his first title and fourth final-table finish of the year. With 2,650 points and nearly $1.6 million in to-date POY earnings, he is now ranked 73rd in the 2024 POY standings presented by Global Poker.

The top 287 finishers earned a share of the prize pool in this event, which ended up being worth more than $10.6 million when reckoned in US dollars. After two starting flights and five more days of combined-field action, just six players remained heading into the final day of play.

Song held the chip lead to start. Andrew Hulme was able to earn an early double up with pocket aces on his way to overtaking the top spot in the chip counts. Rania Nasreddine, who finished third in the EPT Monte Carlo main event earlier this year, scored the first knockout of the day. Her A-K held against the Q-J suited of Boris Kuzmanovic (6th – $340,659) to narrow the field to five.

David Coleman was the next to fall. The American poker pro defended his big blind with J9 facing a small-blind raise of 1,100,000 from chip leader Hulme, who held QQ. The flop came down J33 and Hulme made a 750,000 continuation bet. Coleman called and the 2 rolled off on the turn. Hulme bet 1,450,000 and Coleman called again with his jacks and threes. The A on the river prompted a shove from Hulme, despite the late appearance of an overcard to his pocket queens. Coleman made the call and was shown a winning overpair by his opponent.

Coleman earned $442,835 as the fifth-place finisher, his fourth-largest score yet. This was his 21st final-table finish of the year, with five POY-qualified titles and more than $3.6 million in POY earnings accumulated along the way. His 8,300 total points are good for second place on the POY leaderboard.

A battle of the blinds saw Nasreddine left on fumes. Marius-Catalin Pertea shoved from the small blind with 9-8 and Nasreddine called with A-K. The flop and turn were safe for Nasreddine, but a nine on the river gave Pertea the double-up and left Nasreddine with fewer than three big blinds. She was soon all-in with A3 trailing the A8 of Hume, which made two pair on the flop. Nasreddine was drawing dead by the turn and was eliminated in fourth place ($575,646). She now has more than $1.7 million in lifetime earnings, with the majority of that coming from her back-to-back EPT main event final table showings this year.

Song was the clear chip leader heading into three-handed play. That gap was closed considerably, though, when Hulme’s A6 outraced Pertea’s 55. A six on the river sent Pertea, who qualified for this tournament online for just $55, packing in third place ($748,307). This was far and away the largest score yet for the Romanian.

Heads-up play began with Song holding 33,550,000 to Hulme’s 25,980,000. The two struck a deal to redistribute the remaining prize money, locking up $1,293,832 for Hulme and $1,369,281 for Song while leaving the title and $63,048 to play for.

Song was able to get a big bluff through to extend his lead. In the final hand, Song shoved from the button with A7 and Hulme called off his last nine or so big blinds with 88. The board came down 565349 and Song turned a seven-high straight to win the pot and the title. Hulme walked away with the payout he negotiated for in the deal. This was the largest score yet for the player from the UK, topping the $350,000 he earned as the 18th-place finisher in the 2023 WSOP main event.

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

Photo credits: Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd. / Danny Maxwell.

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