Sebastian Ruthenberg Wins European Poker Tour BarcelonaSebastian Ruthenberg becomes EPT Season 5 Main Event Champ on Day 4 |
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There were eight at the felt and then Ruthenberg said move over, move over...
Well, it was something like that, on a final table that would give the United Nations a run for its money at the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour main event in Barcelona. With a player each from Denmark, Belgium, Canada, America, Italy, Ireland, and two from Germany, the first to go was Denmark when Martin
Nielsen got all of his chips into the middle preflop and the young American, Jason Mercier called him down. Their cards were:
Nielsen: A
2
Mercier: 10
10
Board: K
5
52K
Nielsen was eliminated in eighth place, and took home €119,000 in prize money.
Canada was next when Samuel Chartier went all in against Irishman Fintan Gavin preflop. Chartier held K10 and Gavin A9. The board ran out J72J3, and Chartier was eliminated in seventh place, taking home €178,000 for his efforts. This hand made Gavin the third player at the table to hold at least a million in chips.
A few hands after being crippled by Belgium-born Davidi Kitai, Daniele Mazzia found that his tormentor had returned to finish the job. The Italian showed no surrender however, when his A-8 was dominated by the A-K of Kitai, and the board ran out Q-8-7-Q-8. Mazzia survived but he was still short, and soon found his entire chip stack at risk once again. This time Kitai held 10-10 and Mazzia Q-10. The board came J-9-9-3-8 and with the 8 on the river, Mazzia made his straight and survived. The Italian fans in attendance made sure that the audience knew their favourite was alive and kicking.
The Irishman was at it again when he raised preflop to 160,000 and Jason Mercier reraised all in. Gavin made the call and they flipped over their cards:
Mercier: 77
Gavin: QQ
Board: K33A5
And with that Mercier was eliminated in sixth place for €227,000.
Italian Mazzia wasted no time after the dinner break by doubling up once again. This time against one of the Germans, Dren Ukella. Neither player hit on the 5-3-2-8-3 board, but Mazzia’s AJ dominated Ukella’s QJ and his stack became third in the ranks.
Shortly after the double up of Mazzia courtesy of Ukella, the German had the favour returned to him via Fintan Gavin. Ukella held A-K preflop against the Gavin's K-10, and the board rolled out 98785. At this point, the final table looked destined never to lose a player but Ukella’s luck was short-lived, and with a flop of 1092, Gavin got his revenge. The Irishman made a large bet and Ukella moved all in. Gavin made the call and they flipped up their hands:
Gavin: Q9
Ukella: A4
Turn and River: 710
The German took home €292,000 for his fifth place finish.
With four players remaining, Gavin was the chip leader with 2,987,000.
Italy was next to go, after two pivotal hands. First, Mazzia lost a 2 million pot to Kitai when his pocket nines fell to Kitai’s pocket tens. Knocked down to under 100,000 for the second time at the final table, there was no coming back for the Italian, and he was all in on the next hand against German Sebastian Ruthenberg. The board read QJ10A8 when Mazzia flipped over Q-8. Ruthenberg held J-9 however, 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.
With three left, Kitai moved all in with AQ and ruthless Ruthenberg called him down with pocket fours. The board rolled out J76K2 and Kitai's deep run in the tournament was over. The Belgium player was eliminated in third place, earning €455,000. This impressive finish comes one year after he placed 11th in this event during season four on the EPT.
On the third hand of heads-up play Gavin moved all in preflop and Ruthenberg made the call. They then turned over their hole cards:
Gavin: 74
Ruthenberg: K9
Board: A72K8
Gavin was eliminated in second place, taking home €792,000 for a fantastic performance, and Ruthenberg became a champion, as well as a poker millionaire, with his €1,361,000 winnings and his first EPT title.
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