Ludovic Lacay Wins 2012 PokerStars EPT Sanremo Main Event; Spindler Wins High Roller
One week ago, the European Poker Tour Sanremo, the second stop on the Season 9 schedule, kicked off with 797 players each putting up €5,300 to battle it out for poker supremacy at the Main Event. It was a long seven days of play, but in the end Ludovic Lacay captured the title, the €744,910 first-place prize, and a brand-new Shamballa Jewels bracelet.
On Thursday, the final eight players returned to the Casino Sanremo to play down to a winner. The stacks were fairly deep, so there was plenty of play to be had, and it took more than three and a half hours for the first elimination to occur. It happened when Jason Lavallee called Ismael Bojang's three-bet shove for 1,500,000.
Lavallee: 10♣10♦
Bojang: A♦K♥
It was a flip, but Bojang needed to improve. Unfortunately for him, the board ran out 6♦7♠2♥3♦8♦ and the German was sent home in eighth place for €65,450. A couple of hours later, Adrian Piasecki joined him on the rail in seventh place when his A♣9♣ failed to improve against the A♦K♣ of Lacay when the board ran out Q♥4♥10♦3♦J♦.
The next to go was the sole American at the table, Micah Raskin, who opened from under the gun and called when Angelo Recchia three-bet from the cut-off. The flop fell 8♣8♦J♠ and Raskin check-raised Recchia's 250,000 continuation bet up to 500,000. Recchia then three-bet to 875,000, Raskin called, and the 7♦ hit the turn. Raskin check-called a bet of 626,000, leaving himself just 330,000 behind, and the J♥ peeled off on the river. Raskin proceeded to check-call with A♠8♠ for a full house, but it was no good as Recchia had rivered a bigger full house with A♣J♦. With that, Raskin took his leave in sixth place.
The Irishman Jason Tompkins was the next to go in fifth place after his A♣4♥ couldn’t crack the K♠K♥ of Artem Litvinov after the two got it all in preflop. A short time later, Lavalle opened to 250,000 from under the gun before Recchia moved all in for 3,495,000 from the button. Lacay was in the big blind and moved all-in over the top. The action was back on Lavallee and he made a quick and disciplined fold with ace-king.
Recchia: A♣7♣
Lacay: J♥J♠
The board ran out 4♦10♠2♥7♠2♣ and the hope of having a home-grown champion came to an end as the last Italian in the field exited in fourth place for €225,000. After Litvinov was bounced in third place, Lacay and Lavallee, the two biggest stacks at the start of the day, engaged in heads-up play with the former holding a nearly 2-to-1 chip lead.
It was at that point the two struck a deal — Lacay locked up €644,910 while Lavallee guaranteed himself €538,089, which meant they were playing for €100,000 on the side. Once the numbers were settled, Lacay got to working chipping away at his opponent. In what would be the last hand, Lacay bet 175,000 on a Q♦4♣10♣ flop, and Lavallee raised that up to 400,000. Lacay three-bet to 750,000, Lavallee called, and turn came the J♥. Lacay came out firing with a big 1,400,000 bet, and Lavallee took his time before shoving for 4,905,000 chips. Lacay called very quickly and the cards were tabled:
Lacay: Q♣10♥ for top two pair.
Lavallee: 8♣6♣ for a flush draw.
The river brought the 10♦ and Lacay became the EPT9 Sanremo champion!
Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ludovic Lacay | €744,910* |
| 2nd | Jason Lavallee | €538,089* |
| 3rd | Artem Litvinov | €283,000 |
| 4th | Angelo Recchia | €225,000 |
| 5th | Jason Tompkins | €171,000 |
| 6th | Micah Raskin | €132,000 |
| 7th | Adrian Piasecki | €96,000 |
| 8th | Ismael Bojang | €65,450 |
*Denotes a heads-up deal
EPT Sanremo €10,000 High Roller
The €10,000 High Roller also wrapped up on Thursday, and Benny Spindler collected another EPT trophy for his mantle.
This victory marks Spindler's second EPT High Roller title, and third EPT title. He won the EPT Tallinn High Roller in 2011, and he also won the EPT London Main Event that same year. To claim this title, Spindler had to defeat a very tough final table and endure a five-hour heads-up match with second-place finisher Keven Stammen.
Spindler began the day second in chips to Joel Nordkvist, but the Swede wound up finishing in third place. When the final duel began, Spindler held the chip lead with 3.409 million in chips to Stammen's 791,000.
After some battling back from Stammen, followed by a double up, the two were much closer to even and talks of a deal surfaced. After some jockeying of the numbers, the two agreed to do a deal where Spindler would take €223,000, Stammen would take €200,000, and then there was €30,000 left for the winner. Well, that winner wound up being Spindler to give him a total score of €253,000.
On the final hand, Stammen moved all in with the 7♦7♠ — a very good hand for heads-up play — but Spindler had picked up the mother of all hands with the A♦A♠. He even had Stammen's suits dominated. The board ran out 8♦3♦3♠5♣5♥ to eliminate Stammen and give Spindler the title.
For his win, Spindler earned €253,000, the gorgeous trophy and the Shamballa Jewells bracelet.
High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benny Spindler | €253,000* |
| 2 | Keven Stammen | €200,000* |
| 3 | Joel Nordkvist | €98,500 |
| 4 | Joseph Cheong | €74,100 |
| 5 | Kent Roed | €57,600 |
| 6 | Philipp Gruissem | €41,200 |
| 7 | Igor Kurganov | €32,900 |
| 8 | Igor Yaroshevskyy | €24,700 |
*Denotes a heads-up deal
Here's Spindler's winner interview with PokerNews' Sarah Grant:
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