EPT Barcelona: Alexander Ivarsson Wins €2,200 EPT National High Roller For €498,520

The second high roller event at the 2019 European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona, the €2,200 EPT National High Roller has crowned a champion. The tournament saw 1,491 hopefuls ponying up the €2,200 across two starting flights, and 224 of them took to the felts on Monday to play down to a winner. After an intense day of high-octane action, it was Alexander Ivarsson (cover image) who triumphed over the field to walk away with the title.

As reported by us earlier, the largest-ever contingent of Indian players has made the trip to the premiere stop this year, and quite a few deep runs have already been recorded by the team. There were at least four Indian players who were reported in action on Day 1A of the EPT National High Roller, and this included Jai Saha who most recently finished seventh in the EPT National event. Bharath Janardhan, Rahul Melwani and Rakesh Lalwani were the others who found a mention on Day 1A, but none of them could make the cut for Day 2. Similarly, even on Day 1B, no Indian player could make the cut.

As for Ivarsson, the Swede`s poker resume is dotted with numerous EPT cashes, but a title had so long eluded him. In fact, this win got him his first-ever live title not to forget a career-best €498,520, nearly doubling him live tournament winnings.

Coming into the final table as the shortest stack, Ivarsson charted a spectacular rise up the rankings and fended off some serious competition from iconic players like Ari Engel and Anthony Zinno. Ivarsson, in fact, dispatched both Engel and Zinno in a single hand to rise to prominence and there was no looking back for him after that.

The 1,491-strong entry-field (1A – 1,012, 1B – 479) led to a €2,892,540 prize pool and all the 224 players (1A – 152, 1B – 72) who came back on Day 2 were guaranteed to take home at least €3,320.

EPT8 Madrid winner Frederik Brink (12th for €26,580), Bart Lybaert (14th for €23,450), Alexandre Reard (20th for €17,550), Ali Imsirovic (24th for €12,350), Norbert Szecsi (41st for €7,950), and Tony Dunst (61st for €6,980) were some notables who ran deep in the event.

A frantic pace of eliminations on Day 2 saw players hitting the rail fast, and the nine-handed final table was convened once Ivarsson eliminated Roberto Silvani (10th for 30,630).

Joonas Helin (9,880,000) was holding the most chips when the final table began with Sorin Flutur (7,975,000) the next big stack. Ivarsson was the shortest of them all with only 1,700,000.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Joonas Helin – 9,880,000
2. Sorin Flutur – 7,975,000
3. Anthony Zinno – 6,825,000
4. Max Deveson – 6,025,000
5. Raed Alawadhi – 5,260,000
6. Alin Mitrache – 3,010,000
7. Tomasz Pajak – 2,470,000
8. Ari Engel – 2,090,000
9. Alexander Ivarsson

Final Table Recap

Minutes into the final table, Poland’s Tomasz Pajak was axed in ninth place by Ari Engel. Not long after that, Romania’s Alin Mitrache hit the rail in eighth place.

Ivarsson had already doubled up twice by then, and his stack was hovering around the 5 Million-mark. He further added to his burgeoning stack by taking out both American pro Anthony Zinno and Canada’s Ari Engel in seventh and sixth place respectively. The hand in question saw Ivarsson’s king-queen of spades pitted against Zinno’s pocket queens and Engel’s jack-eight. Ivarsson had flopped a flush draw, and he got there on the river to score the double whammy and reach a monstrous 15 Million in chips.

Two levels later, the second Romanian on the final table, Sorin Flutur became the next player to hit the rail, his falling to Raed Alawadhi’s .

Within minutes, U.K.-based pro Max Deveson fell prey to Ivarsson who moved all-in with , and Deveson called holding . The audience got to its feet as the flop gave Ivarsson two-pair. The on the turn and the on the river brought no succor for Deveson, who was eliminated in fourth place.

Ivarsson then set his aim on Finland’s Joonas Helin, eliminating the latter in third place. Helin moved all-in from the small blind with and Ivarsson snap-called from the big blind with . The flop brought flush draw outs for Helin, but the on the turn gave Ivarsson a pair. The on the river quashed Helin’s chances of a double up, and with that, the heads-up match was set.

The heads-up between Kuwait’s Raed Alawadhi and Ivarsson lasted only one hand. With four million in the middle, the board ran , and Alawadhi checked while Ivarsson fired a bet of 2.2 Million. Alawadhi check-raised all-in for 9.35 Million, prompting Ivarsson to ask for a count. He eventually called, and the cards were tabled.

Raed Alawadhi

Alexander Ivarsson

Ivarsson’s pair of jacks kept him ahead, and he was declared the champion after the on the river made it official.

Final Table Results (EURO)

1. Alexander Ivarsson – €498,520
2. Raed Alawadhi – €287,550
3. Joonas Helin – €201,210
4. Max Deveson – €149,030
5. Sorin Flutur – €117,350
6. Ari Engel – €88,470
7. Anthony Zinno – €64,720
8. Alin Mitrache – €44,210
9. Tomasz Pajak – €36,150

Content & Images Courtesy: PokerNews

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