Stefan Jedlicka Wins €10,300 High Roller at PokerStars EPT Malta; Neuville Runner Up Again
The third and final day of the 2016 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Malta €10,300 High Roller saw the last eight hopefuls of a 144-entry strong field return to the tables of the Casino Portomaso. Pierre Neuville was leading the finalists but ultimately had to settle for second place as Stefan "mindgamer" Jedlicka emerged victorious for a payday of €335,200.
It has been a terrific start to the new EPT season for the Austrian. He who won the Estrellas €2,200 High Roller in Barcelona back in August for €251,500 and won the very same tournament here on Malta; emerging victorious in the IPT High Roller for €88,039.
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stefan Jedlicka | Austria | €335,200 |
| 2 | Pierre Neuville | Belgium | €228,400 |
| 3 | Theo Jørgensen | Denmark | €150,850 |
| 4 | Michael Kane | United Kingdom | €124,330 |
| 5 | Cristian Egues | Spain | €99,870 |
| 6 | Liviu Ignat | Romania | €78,220 |
| 7 | Charlie Carrel | United Kingdom | €58,670 |
| 8 | [Removed:172] | Germany | €43,300 |
The day started with the elimination of [Removed:172] in eighth place. The German was among the shorter stacks when play resumed and three-bet shoved with ace-queen. Neuville called with king-ten suited and flopped a king before even rivering a straight.
Next on the rail was Charlie Carrel who shoved from the cutoff with pocket deuces and saw Jedlicka reshove with pocket sevens from one seat over. The board brought no surprises and Carrel was eliminated in seventh place before he jumped into a Turbo Bounty Side Event and finished second to his friend Ben Heath.
Theo Jørgensen had a roller coaster of a day and became short stacked when Michael Kane cracked his aces with ace-jack. However, Jørgensen regained hope for the trophy when he got it all in against Liviu Ignat. Ignat's ace-jack suited found no help against the pocket sevens of Jørgensen and the field was reduced to the final five.
Cristian Egues had been the most aggressive player throughout the final table and his run came to an end in fifth place. The Basque three-bet shoved with ace-king and Neuville looked him up with pocket queens. The board ran out ten-high and Egues was eliminated.
Scotsman Kane, who was supported by EPT12 Malta champion Niall Farrell and Ludovic Geilich on the rail, fell in fourth place. He was at risk with king-nine suited up against the with king-queen suited of Jedlicka. Kane turned two-pair, but Jedlicka improved to a flush on the river to make it a three-handed affair.
Team PokerStars Pro Jørgensen ultimately bowed out in third place. A series of hands saw the Dane drop to 12 big blinds and he called all in out of the big blind with ace-king after Jedlicka had shoved the small blind with jack-ten. A jack on the flop and river set up the heads-up duel for the High Roller title.
Neuville and Jedlicka started out almost even in chips, but the latter pulled away several times. After almost three hours, Neuville was down to his last seven big blinds as he limped in with queen-jack. Jedlicka shoved with king-nine and the Belgian former November Niner and two-time EPT Main Event runner-up called. Neuville turned a queen, but Jedlicka spiked a six on the river to complete his straight and end the tournament. After finishing runner-up twice in EPT Main Events and WSOP bracelet events, it was another second place for Neuville.
This victory catapults Jedlicka, the younger brother of the legendary poker player Niki Jedlicka, into the top five on the Austrian all-time money list.
