EPT Barcelona: Poland’s Mikolaj Zawadzki Clinches Maiden EPT Title in €1,650 NLH Mystery Bounty (€95,418)

The two-day-long €1,650 NLH Mystery Bounty at the 2022 PokerStars and Barcelona Casino European Poker Tour came to a close on August 20, with Poland’s Mikolaj Zawadzki (cover-image) topping the 666-player field (including 124 re-entries) to win his maiden EPT title and a career-best €95,418.

Zawadzki entered the heads-up battle with an almost 2:1 chip lead over Netherlands’s Tobias Peters (2nd for €83,498), who found the €25,000 mystery bounty. The match was short as Zawadzki quickly defeated Peters to lift the coveted EPT trophy.

After Gianluca Bernardini`s elimination (4th for €40,240), the play was paused for players to draw bounties, but the €100,000 grand bounty prize was yet to be drawn. After much deliberation, the three remaining players agreed on an ICM chop of the regular prize pool and decided to split the remaining €101,000 mystery bounty prize pool.

They carried on playing for the €12,680 left in play and the trophy, with Zawadzki eventually walking away with the top honours.

With the victory, Zawadzki picks up his biggest-ever live score, squeaking past the $53,900 he earned earlier this year in the 2022 WSOP Main Event and his previous biggest score of €70,000 ($ 80,733) from a runner-up finish in a €1,650 event in the WPT National Barcelona in 2012.

Some notables who posted deep runs in the event included Day 1A chip leader Ezequiel Waigel (10th for €8,800), Day 1B chip leader Stefan Drusca (33rd for €2,640), and bracelet winners Jason Wheeler (27th for €3,480), Sergiu Covrig (66th for €2,000) and Karolis Sereika (78th for €1,740).

The $1,650 buy-in NLH Mystery Bounty generated a €959,040 prize pool. The top 99 places got paid with a min-cash worth €1,740.

Final Table Chip Count

1. Gianluca Bernardini – 5,020,000
2. Lessa Calheiros Quintella – 3,930,000
3. Tobias Peters – 3,110,000
4. Mikolaj Zawadzki – 2,175,000
5. Mathias Duarte – 1,675,000
6. Yordy Bakker – 1,650,000
7. Darren Rabinowitz – 1,470,000
8. Emrah Yildiz – 1,315,000
9. Christophe Devaux – 950,000

Final Table Recap

Almost an hour after the final table redraw, Mathias Duarte (9th for €10,840) became the first final table casualty as he lost his stack to Mikolaj Zawadzki.

The game slowed down after Duarte’s departure. The subsequent elimination came an hour and a half later in level 31 when Gianluca Bernardini eliminated Brazil’s Lessa Calheiros Quintella in eighth place.

Bernardini went on a hot run, for he eliminated Emrah Yildiz in seventh place not more than five minutes after packing off Quintella.

Minutes later, Bernardini was involved in a three-way showdown with Zawadzki and Christophe Devaux. This time, however, Zawadzki emerged victorious to get a much-needed double-up and more. Devaux fell out in sixth place, and Bernardini took a massive blow.

Almost half an hour later, early in level 32, Bernardini got involved in another all-in showdown, this time against Darren Rabinowitz. Bernardini won the flip, eliminating Rabinowitz in fifth place.

With only four players remaining, the tournament slowed down a bit before Zawadzki knocked out Gianluca Bernardini right at the start of level 34.

Just as Bernardini walked out, the play was paused for the players to draw bounties. There were four draws during this break, and Bernardini pulled out a €1,000 bounty first, followed by three more draws, all of them for €500.

At this point, three mystery bounties remained. Two €500 bounty and the grand €100,000 bounty were still looking for drawers. However, during this breather, the remaining three players decided to make an ICM deal of the regular prize pool and agreed to split the remaining €101,000 mystery bounty prize pool.

According to the deal, Mikolaj Zawadzki locked in €82,738, Yordy Bakker was guaranteed €63,764 as the short stack, and Tobias Peters €83,498.

They left €12,680 and the trophy in play.

As they got back to their seats in level 35, the short-stacked Yordy Bakker fell out in third place at the hands of Zawadzki.

The heads-up match between Mikolaj Zawadzki and Tobias Peters did not last long.

Just a few hands in, Zawadzki moved all in from the small blind with , and Tobias Peters called for his remaining 4,300,000 with . The community cards opened , pairing Zawadzki’s ace and giving Peters a broadway draw. However, the turn and the river were inconsequential for Peters, awarding Zawadzki his first EPT title.

Final Table Results (EURO)

1. Mikolaj Zawadzki – €95,418*
2. Tobias Peters – €83,498*
3. Yordy Bakker – €63,764*
4. Gianluca Bernardini – €40,240
5. Darren Rabinowitz – €30,560
6. Christophe Devaux – €23,810
7. Emrah Yildiz – €18,310
8. Lessa Calheiros Quintella – €14,090
9. Mathias Duarte – €10,840

*denotes a three-way deal

Content & Images Courtesy: PokerNews & PokerStars

Cover Image Courtesy: Tomas Stacha

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