EPT: Sebastian Ruthenberg Wins 2008 Barcelona OpenRuthenberg Takes Home €1,361,000 at the First EPT Event of Season Five |
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Many hours of poker had shrunk a record field of 619 players to eight to start the final day of competition at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona Open. Those eight players took their seats at the final table of the first no-limit hold’em championship of season five on the EPT a little after 4 p.m. local time on Sept. 14. Here is a look at the chip counts when things got started:
Seat 1: Martin Nielsen (Denmark) -- 1,229,000
Seat 2: Davidi Kitai (Belgium) -- 600,000
Seat 3: Dren Ukella (Germany) -- 734,000
Seat 4: Jason Mercier (USA) -- 526,000
Seat 5: Samuel Chartier (Canada) -- 879,000
Seat 6: Daniele Mazzia (Italy) -- 359,000
Seat 7: Fintan Gavin (Ireland) -- 701,000
Seat 8: Sebastian Ruthenberg (Germany) -- 1,204,000
The final table started out slowly, mirroring the night before, when the final-table bubble took 3.5 hours to burst. Daniele Mazzia doubled up during the first major action at the final table, and it was something he would do many times before the night was over.
When the night came to a close, Sebastian Ruthenberg was the owner of his first EPT title and €1,361,000. He adds this to the World Series of Poker gold bracelet he won this summer, and the young German now looks ahead to EPT London to defend his title.
Here is a look at how the major hands at the final table came down in CardPlayer.com’s live updates:
Jason Mercier Doubles Up
Jason Mercier just got all of his chips into the middle against Martin Nielsen and his tournament life was on the line. Their cards:
Mercier: 6
6
Nielsen: 10 10
Board: A
Q 2 6 2
Mercier won an exciting battle of pocket pairs to survive, and play continued.
Martin Nielsen Eliminated in Eighth Place (€119,000)
Martin Nielsen got all of his chips into the middle preflop, and Jason Mercier called him down. Their cards:
Nielsen: A 2
Mercier: 10 10
Board: K 5 5 2 K
Nielsen was eliminated in eighth place, and he took home €119,000 in prize money.
Samuel Chartier Eliminated in Seventh Place (€178,000)
Samuel Chartier was all in for his tournament life against Fintan Gavin preflop. Their cards:
Chartier: K 10
Gavin: A 9
Board: J 7 2 J 3
Chartier was eliminated in seventh place, and he took home €178,000 in prize money. Gavin becomes the third player at the table to hold at least a million in chips after the hand.
Daniele Mazzia Crippled
Daniele Mazzia shoved all of his chips into the middle, and Davidi Kitai made an all-in call. Their cards:
Mazzia: 7 7
Kitai: A K
Board: J J 2 A 5
Kitai doubled up on the hand, and Mazzia was left crippled on a short stack.
Mazzia Rises from the Dead…Twice
Daniele Mazzia found all of his short stack on the middle of the table a few hands after he was crippled by Davidi Kitai. This time, Mazzia held A-8, and he was dominated by the A-K of Kitai, but the board ran out Q-8-7-Q-8 to chop up the pot.
Mazzia survived, but he was still short, and he soon found his entire chip stack at risk once again. He was once again covered by Kitai. Their cards:
Kitai: 10-10
Mazzia: Q-10
Board: J-9-9-3-8
Mazzia hit an 8 on the river for a straight and, after a very fortunate chain of events, he survived. The Italian now has 670,000, and the Italian fans here in attendance made sure that the audience knew their fan favorite was alive and kicking.
Jason Mercier Eliminated in Sixth Place (€227,000)
Fintan Gavin raised preflop to 160,000 and Jason Mercier reraised all in. Gavin made the call and they flipped over their cards:
Mercier: 7 7
Gavin: Q Q
Board: K 3 3 A 5
Mercier is eliminated on the hand in sixth place, and he will take home €227,000. He has now finished in fourth and first place at the last three EPT final tables. Quite an impressive run for the young American.
Dren Ukella Eliminated in Fifth Place (€292,000)
With a flop of 10 9 2 sitting on the table, Fintan Gavin made a large bet, and Dren Ukella moved all in. Gavin made the call, and they flipped up their hands:
Gavin: Q 9
Ukella: A 4
Turn and River: 7, 10
Ukella was eliminated in fifth place, and the German took home €292,000.
Daniele Mazzia Eliminated in Fourth Place (€351,000)
Daniele Mazzia was eliminated from the tournament in two pivotal hands. First, he lost a 2 million pot to Davidi Kitai when his pocket nines fell to Kitai’s pocket tens. Mazzia was knocked down under 100,000 for the second time at the final table. There was no coming back for him this time, though. He was all in on the next hand against Sebastian Ruthenberg. The board read Q-J-10-A-8 when Mazzia flipped over Q-8. Ruthenberg held J-9, though, and took down the hand with a straight. After a performance that was at times gutsy and others just plain lucky, Mazzia was eliminated in fourth place and took home €351,000 as his faithful Italian fans cheered him on.
Davidi Kitai Eliminated in Third Place (€455,000)
Davidi Kitai moved all in with A Q, and Sebastin Ruthenberg called him down with pocket fours. The board rolled out J 7 6 K 2, and Kitai's deep run in the tournament was over.
Kitai was eliminated in third place, and the Belgian player earned €455,000. This impressive finish comes one year after he placed 11th in this event during season four on the EPT.
Heads-Up Chip Counts
Sebastian Ruthenberg: 5,050,000
Fintan Gavin: 1,180,000
Sebastian Ruthenberg Wins the 2008 EPT Barcelona Open (€1,361,000)
On the third hand of heads-up play, Fintan Gavin moved all in preflop, and Sebastian Ruthenberg made the call. They then turned over their holecards:
Gavin: 7 4
Ruthenberg: K 9
Board: A 7 2 K 8
Gavin was eliminated in second place, and he took home €792,000 in prize money. Ruthenberg won the tournament, as well as €1,361,000 and his first EPT title.
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