Matthew Glantz Wins PokerStars EPT High Roller Event

With the poker spotlight shining on London, all eyes were on the World Series of Poker Europe main event. However, attention was quickly drawn to the heaving field of pros and stars who turned out for the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour London £20,000 + £500 ($31,952 + $799) High-Roller no-limit hold’em event. Last year the event saw 86 players and had its first champ, Jason Mercier.

This year Matthew Glantz [pictured above left] was the last player standing from a total field of 75 which included the likes of Phil Ivey, Vanessa Rousso, Eric Seidel, Justin Smith, Nikolay Evdakov, Michael Tureniec, Benny Spindler, Tom Dwan, Joe Hachem, Vicky Coren, Humberto Brenes, Bertrand Grospellier, November Niner Joe Cada, Barry Greenstein, Luca Pagano, Mike McDonald, Greg Raymer, Sorel Mizzi, Carlos Mortensen, Juha Helppi, Dario Minieri, John Juanda, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, Alex Kravchenko, and William Thorson.

Each and every one of them were looking for the lion’s share of the $2,374,265 prize pool, but it was Glantz who walked away with $866,537 and the title in the end.

The final table players and chip counts were:

Erik Cajelais: 893,500
Matthew Glantz: 647,500
Eugene Katchalov: 530,000
Adolfo Vaeza: 468,000
Leo Fernandez: 460,000
Ilari Sahamies: 311,000
Shane Reihill: 236,000
Dennis Phillips: 218,500

Here is how the final table played out:

Shane Reihill Eliminated in Eighth Place ($71,989)

Irishman Shane Reihill (pictured right) was the first elimination of the day. He went home with $71,989 for eighth place.

Reihill and Adolfo Vaeza were all in with A K versus pocket queens. Vaeza said, “God save the queens” and although the board fell with two hearts at first, a third did not come and the poker Gods really did save the queens. However, they could not save Reihill and he hit the rail.

Dennis Phillips Eliminated in Seventh Place ($95,981)

Dennis Phillips was all in for around 240,000 and Leo Fernandez thought about it for a few minutes. He usually took his time when making these decisions, and you could almost see him weighing up his options and calculating his next move in his head. He decided to make the call and flipped over J 10. Phillips showed A 3 and the board came 9 8 3 5 Q giving Fernandez a straight.

Phillips went out of the event in seventh place for $95,981 as the players behind the TV table only began their journey on day 1A of the main event.

Ilari Sahamies Eliminated in Sixth Place ($118,343)

Eugene Katchalov moved all in and Ilari Sahamies (pictured left) called. Katchalov showed pocket jacks while Sahamies showed A 10.

No luck appeared for Sahamies however as the board came 6-4-4-7-9 and Katchalov won 732,000 in chips.

Sahamies left the tournament in sixth place, $118,343 richer.

Leo Fernandez Eliminated in Fifth Place ($166,309)

Eugene Katchalov bet 110,000 and Leo Fernandez pushed all in for 409,000.

It was 299,000 more for Katchalov to call, and without too much hesitation, he did.

Katchalov revealed K Q while Fernandez flipped over Q 10.

The J 9 7 came out on the flop giving Fernandez an open ended straight and Katchalov an inside straight. The turn was the 10 fulfilling Katchalov’s wishes, and giving him a straight to the king. The river was the 9 and Fernandez went out in fifth place for $166,309.

Adolfo Vaeza Eliminated in Fourth Place ($225,477)

Erik Cajelais was all in with Q 9 versus Adolfo Vaeza and his A 6. The board came 10 9 9 10 Q.

Vaeza hit the rail in fourth place for a payday of $225,477.

Eugene Katchalov Eliminated in Third Place ($308,566)

Matt Glantz bet 120,000 from the button and Eugene Katchalov (pictured left) shoved for 575,000 from the big blind. It was 455,000 more for Glantz to call, and he did.

Katchalov: A 3

Glantz: Q J

Board: A A 10 K 9

Katchalov sprinted ahead on the flop but everything changed on the turn when Glantz made his straight. Katchalov made his exit in third place for $308,566, and we were heads up.

Heads-Up Chip Counts:

Matt Glantz: 2,760,000
Erik Cajelais: 1,011,000

After a bit of a raising war, the two players were all in. Their cards were:

Erik Cajelais: A Q

Matt Glantz: A 8

Board: 10 2 2 K Q

Cajelais moved into the lead with 2,645,000 while Glantz was down to 1,129,000.

The players then went on a dinner break, and a few hands after their return, we had our winner.

The Penultimate Hand

Roles were reversed as Matt Glantz took the chip lead when with blinds of 30,000-60,000 they both got it all in on a flop of A A 3. Glantz had the flush draw with J 8 and Cajelais had trips with A 7. The turn was a brick but the river was a club for the flush and Glantz moved up to 2,540,000 in chips.

Erik Cajelais Eliminated in Second Place ($521,20):

Erik Cajelais (pictured right) moved all in and Matt Glantz called. Their cards were:

Cajelais: Q J

Glantz: A 2

Board: Q 9 5 A 4

At first it looked like Cajelais was going to double up through Glantz when he paired his queen, but the ace on the turn sealed his fate, and unless he takes down the main event next, he will have to be happy to take home just a WSOPE bracelet from London, and not to forget a hefty chunk of runner-up High Roller money.

The 16-event festival that is the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour London continues with day 1B of the main event tomorrow, when a field bubbling over with familiar poker faces and dangerous pros is expected to take their seats. Join Card Player then at 12 noon (GMT + 1) for all the action live from the Hilton London Metropole.

Related Articles

PokerStars Poker Media Company Sued For Millions

France Poker Series Underway In Paris

Sponsors Win And Lose At Main Event Final

Most Viewed Articles