PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona Day 5: Kent Lundmark Takes Home the Title
Kent Lundmark of Sweden is the newly crowned PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona Main Event Champion after defeating Spain's Jesus Cortes Lizano heads-up to conclude an exciting final table. The eight finalists were from eight different countries proving once again that the European Poker Tour is a very cosmopolitan affair indeed.
The final table got under way at 13:00 and just twenty minutes later a player was eliminated. Italian Francesco Notaro started the day as the short stack so it was no real surprise to see him bust out in eighth place. He did manage to double up when his K♦Q♥ flopped top pair to beat Giuseppe Pantaleo's pocket sixes but shortly after he was all-in again, this time holding A♠K♦, which was dominating the A♣Q♠ of Lizano. It looked as if the Italian was going to double up again because by the turn the board read 10♣5♠2♣6♥ but a cruel Q♦ arrived on the river to eliminate Notaro, his eighth place finish worth €70,000.
Less than ten minutes after Notaro's demise, Georgios Skotadis joined him on the rail. Thor Stang raised to 125,000 preflop and then snap-called Skotadis' three-bet shove all-in. Stang's J♣J♦ was way in front of Skotadis' 10♦10♠ and when the board ran out 2♦9♦Q♠Q♥7♥, the man who won the PokerStars Sunday Million just three weeks ago was eliminated in seventh place, which added €90,000 to his bankroll.
Over two hours passed by before the next player lost all of his chips and when he did it opened the floodgates and another two players followed suit. Stang is the man who finished in sixth place, his K♦Q♣ failing in their quest to beat the 5♠5♦ of fellow Scandinavian, Kent Lundmark, who then busted Giuseppe Pantaleo shortly after when his Q♣Q♥ stayed ahead of the German's A♠J♥. Amazingly, Lundmark was responsible for Shander de Vries' exit too, calling the Dutchman's 1,220,000 all-in bet with A♣Q♠, which held against Q♦8♠ when the board ran out 7♥6♥10♣3♣J♦.
Three-handed play lasted for almost exactly two hours and it ended when Konstantin Puchkov got caught slow-playing a monster of a hand. Lundmark min-raised preflop and Puchkov made the call. The flop came down 3♠J♠7♣, Puchkov checked, Lundmark bet 250,000 and Puchkov check-raised to 700,000. Lundmark then moved all-in and Puchkov quickly called, before showing a pair of red kings, which were up against the 7♠6♠ of Lundmark. The 10♦ on the turn kept the kings of Puchkov in front but the K♠ on the river completed Lundmark's flush and Puchkov was eliminated.
Going into the heads-up battle, Lundmark held a 12,405,000 to 10,550,000 chip lead over Lizano and he never looked back. The real turning point in the match saw Lundmark win the largest pot of the tournament to that point. In the hand Lundmark raised preflop and was called by Lizano. The flop of 3♥J♣10♥ was initially checked by Lizano, Lundmark then bet 350,000 and Lizano called. The arrival of the 4♣ on the turn sparked some real action with Lizano checking, Luundmark betting 825,00 and the Lizano check-raising to a massive 2,425,000, a bet that Lundmark eventually called. The river was the K♦ and after both players checked and showed down their hands, Lizano holding 9♣3♣ for bottom pair and a busted flush draw, Lundmark A♦J♠ for top pair and the winning hand.
Twenty minutes later and it was all over; Lundmark opened with a bet of 320,000, Lizano put in a raise to 880,000 before Lundmark asked him for a chip count. As soon as he was told of the amount, he moved all-in and was quickly called by his Spanish opponent. Lundmark held A♥Q♥ whilst Lizano's K♠J♦ needed some serious help. It did not arrive as the final board ran out 9♦9♣7♠5♠A♠ and with that, Lundmark had won every chip in play, all 22,740,000 of them, and the €825,000 first prize.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kent Lundmark | €825,000 |
| 2 | Jesus Cortes Lizano | €525,000 |
| 3 | Konstantin Puchkov | €300,000 |
| 4 | Shander de Vries | €222,000 |
| 5 | Giuseppe Pantaleo | €170,000 |
| 6 | Thor Stang | €130,000 |
| 7 | Georgios Skotadis | €90,000 |
| 8 | Francesco Notaro | €70,000 |
So that concludes EPT Barcelona. Our live reporting team is headed to the next stop, Prague, on December 13. There's still time to qualify for a package on PokerStars! We hope to see you there.
Photo courtesy of Neil Stoddart, the official EPT photographer, and PokerStars.com.
