EPT Barcelona 2018: Max Silver Wins €10,300 High Roller For €600K

The three-day long €10,300 High Roller at the 2018 European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona gathered a field of 439 runners and witnessed a lot of electrifying action. Outlasting the gigantic field was United Kingdom’s Max Silver (cover image) who took home the trophy and prize money of €600,924, after agreeing to a three-way deal with Hungarian Norbert Szecsi and Dutchman Joris Ruijs.

Talking about his win, Silver said, “It feels great! There’s nothing like getting stuck many buy-ins and then at the last minute climbing out of it! Barcelona is always one of the biggest 10k fields of the year, so it’s logical there is more value in it than usual 10ks. There were still a ton of tough players; the final table was also tough but I thought everyone played well.”

“I haven’t played much recently, so this is kind of a surprise. That being said, I felt comfortable in this event – any event you win, you end up feeling pretty comfortable! I’ve been playing a lot less poker recently, and with this win hopefully I can play even less!”he added.

Day 2 Recap

151 players returned for Day 2 and were joined by two dozen more players before the registration closed. After 11 hours of gruelling play, only 18 players remained in the fray with the American pro Seth Davies (2,595,000) topping the leaderboard.

With only the top 63 places assured payouts, the money bubble burst when Byron Kaverman moved all in for his last 16 big blinds with ace-king. He was called by Siarhei Chudapal with pocket eights. After an eight fell on the flop and turn, Kaverman was eliminated and the remaining players were all guaranteed at least €18,100.

Several notables managed to finish in the money including Dario Sammartino (19^th for €39,600), Michael Soyza (23^rd for €35,350), Julien Sitbon (27^th for €31,100), Guillaume Diaz (31^st for €26,850), Justin Ligeri (38^th for €22,600), PokerStars Team Pro Jeff Gross (43^rd for €19,560), Benjamin Pollak (47^th for €19,560), Stephen Chidwick (48^th for €19,560) and Felipe Costa (59^th for €18,100).

Final Day Recap

Following 10 eliminations the eight-handed final table was set up, which included Marcin Chmielewski (10^th for €64,300), Gen Nose (11^th for €64,300), Day 2 chip leader Seth Davies (12^th for €55,780), Eder Takashi Murata (13^th for €55,780), Rustam Hajiyev (14^th for €48,970), Louis Nyberg (15^th for €48,970), Mikalai Vaskaboinikau (16^th for €43,860), Siarhei Chudapal (17^th for €43,860) and Rens Feenstra (18^th for €39,600), while Johnny Nedved (9^th for €77,500) bubbled the final table.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Cord Garcia – 4,165,000

2. Orpen Kisacikoglu – 4,095,000

3. Norbert Szecsi – 3,270,000

4. Joris Ruijs – 3,175,000

5. Max Silver – 2,930,000

6. Richard Kirsch – 2,240,000

7. Zhong Chen – 1,140,000

8. Niall Farrell – 450,000

Final Table Recap

The first elimination from the eight-handed final table was Britain’s Niall Farrell. Norbert Szecsi opened to 175,000 and Farrell 3-bet all in for 1,020,000, putting his tournament life at risk. Szecsi called and tabled against Farrell’s . The flop fell giving Szecsi a pair of sixes. The turn and river were of no help to Farrell, leading to his eighth place finish.

About an hour later, Cord Garcia opened for 200,000 and Zhong Chen called from the big blind to see the flop . Chen check-raised to 550,000 after Garcia made a continuation bet for 200,000. Garcia moved all-in, prompting Chen to snap-call. Chen held , while Garcia tabled . The remaining two streets brought and . While Chen had flopped a set of sevens, Garcia rivered a jack-high straight eliminating Chen at seventh place.

Following Chen’s elimination, Cord Garcia did not stay at the felts for long. After Szecsi completed his small blind, Garcia raised for 450,000 from big blind. Szecsi tanked for a little while and then raised 1,200,000. Garcia immediately shoved all-in and Szecsi snap-called with a slightly bigger stack.

Cord Garcia

Norbert Szecsi

The runout missed both players and Garcia bounced off in sixth place.

Next to depart was Turkey’s Orpen Kisacikoglu. Szecsi raised to 250,000 from the button while Max Silver and Kisacikoglu called from the blinds. The flop brought and Silver checked, while Kisacikoglu moved all-in and Szesci snap-called. Silver folded, and the remaining two players tabled their cards.

Orpen Kisacikoglu

Norbert Szecsi

While Szesci had flopped a pair of eights, Kisacikoglu had the outs for a clubs flush. The turn :@2 had no impact but the on the river bettered Szesci’s hand to a three-of-a-kind, thus eliminating Kisacikoglu is fifth place.

Down to four-handed play, the game continued for about three more hours before Richard Kirsch ended his run in fourth place. He opened to 500,000 from the button, Szecsi 3-bet all in and Kirsch called with his last 3,100,000. Kirsch pitted his pocket sevens against Szecsi’s pocket tens. The community cards fanned out busting Kirsch.

With only three players remaining, Szecsi (11,500,000) had a massive chip lead over Silver (6,250,000) and Joris Ruijs (4,200,000). They struck a three-way deal following which Szecsi received €626,357, Silver got €540,924 and Ruijs took €488,819. With €60,000 and the trophy still to play for, the game resumed.

Soon thereafter, Silver completed his small blind and Joris Ruijs checked. The flop brought and Silver bet 200,000. Ruijs called to see the turn and Silver bet 600,000. Ruijs called yet again to see the river card . Silver moved all-in, putting Ruijs’s tournament at risk. The latter tanked for 30 seconds and eventually called tabling , while Silver turned over . While Ruijs had flopped two pairs of eights and deuces, Silver rivered a five-high straight, ending Ruijs’ run in third place.

By the time the heads-up play began between Max Silver (11,550,000) and Norbert Szecsi (10,400,000), the former had overtaken the chip lead and continued to build on his lead till the end. On the final hand, Szecsi raised from the button to 450,000 and Silver 3-bet to 1,600,000. Szecsi 4-bet shoved all-in and Silver called.

Max Silver

Norbert Szecsi

The board ran , culminating in Szecsi’s runner-up elimination for €626,357, while Silver won the additional €60,000 and the trophy resulting in a total first-place prize money of €600,924.

Final Table Results (EURO)

1. Max Silver – €600,924*

2. Norbert Szecsi – €626,357*

3. Joris Ruijs – €488,819*

4. Richard Kirsch – €295,960

5. Orpen Kisacikoglu – €232,080

6. Cord Garcia – €181,830

7. Zhong Chen – €136,700

8. Niall Farrell – €97,100

*denotes three-way deal

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