Markku Koplimaa Wins Record-Breaking EPT Barcelona €1,100 National for €585,500
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The first major event of the 2019 PokerStars.es EPT Barcelona festival has come to a conclusion at Casino Barcelona and it was Markku Koplimaa that claimed the title, trophy, and top prize of €585,500 in the record-breaking €1,100 EPT National.
Throughout four starting days, a total of 4,682 entries emerged to create a stunning prize pool of €4,541,540. The final table line-up included eight different nationalities.
Koplimaa defeated mixed game specialist Adam Hendrix heads-up, the latter taking part in his first-ever first-ever EPT and was railed on the final table by shooting star Ali Imsirovic as well as the WSOP bracelet winners Stephen Song and Yaser Al-Keliddar. While Hendrix may have missed out on the trophy, a maiden trip to Barcelona was sweetened with a payday of €346,500.
“It feels awesome; amazing, I don't have any words for it. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
For 33-year-old poker pro Koplimaa, who has already racked up more than $7 million in cashes online, several milestones were set with the victory. He earned the biggest prize for a poker player from Estonia on the live poker circuit, became the number one on his country's all-time money list, and crossed more than $1 million in live cashes. On his road to victory, Koplimaa was railed by fellow countrymen Ranno Sootla and Henri Kasper.
“It feels awesome; amazing, I don't have any words for it. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience” an overwhelmed Koplimaa said in his interview after the victory before adding “You have grinded four long days and give it your everything, it is really hard to describe.“
When asked about the final table in general, he had the following to say.
“The final table was pretty tough, but I had a chip advantage and could play more aggressive because there was a short stack. There were some really good players, and it is really good to have a lot of chips.”
Koplimaa's plans for the rest of the evening and the remainder of the festival were rather simple: “Maybe drink one beer and relax, go out and celebrate a bit. I will play more poker here for sure, the Main Event and some other events. I came here to grind."
2019 PokerStars.es EPT Barcelona €1,100 National Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize in € | Prize in $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Markku Koplimaa | Estonia | €585,500 | $652,928 |
| 2 | Adam Hendrix | United States | €346,500 | $386,734 |
| 3 | [Removed:328] | Lithuania | €263,200 | $293,762 |
| 4 | Matias Arosuo | Finland | €212,100 | $236,728 |
| 5 | Barry McGovern | Ireland | €168,100 | $187,619 |
| 6 | Jose Quintas | Portugal | €129,100 | $144,091 |
| 7 | Jai Saha | United Kingdom | €95,100 | $106,143 |
| 8 | Lawrence Whyte | United States | €67,500 | $75,338 |
| 9 | Jose Prieto Pulido | Spain | €54,670 | $61,018 |
2019 PokerStars.es EPT Barcelona €1,100 National Final Day Action
The final day started with six players remaining out of the enormous field, and six different nationalities were represented. Markku Koplimaa started in the top spot, just half a big blind ahead of [Removed:328].
The early action was fast-paced and with several all-in showdowns in quick succession. Very similar to the previous day, Barry McGovern dominated the early action and was also responsible for the first casualty. First, he nearly doubled his stack after jamming against [Removed:329] on a queen-high board and then won the rest of it with eights against the pocket fives of Jose Quintas.
But the Irishman, who was railed by his two brothers, took a big hit soon after when his ace-king failed to hold against the ace-ten of Adam Hendrix as a ten appeared on the flop and river. Soon after, McGovern got it in with ace-nine for top pair, and Koplimaa had the best of it with seven-six for two pair and a flush draw.
It was Koplimaa that dominated the next part on the final table as he slowly but surely pulled into a commanding lead.
Matias Arosuo was left short, doubled once, only to bow down to the aggression of Koplimaa. It was no surprise that the Estonian dealt the final blow to Arosuo when he jammed with jack-nine into pocket treys and turned an unbeatable straight in a battle of the blinds.
The domination of Koplimaa continued as he had two-third of the chips in play with [Removed:329] and Hendrix on the ropes. Both short stacks secured a double and Hendrix then doubled once more, through [Removed:329], to leave the Lithuanian short. A few minutes later, it was all over for [Removed:329] when his kings were cracked by the ace-five of Koplimaa.
Heads-up was a very brief affair and lasted all but ten minutes. Half a dozen hands were played when Hendrix three-bet jammed for around twenty big blinds with king-five and Koplimaa snap-called with pocket eights. An eight came right on the flop, and the Estonian rail celebrated a few seconds later.
While the €1,100 EPT National has concluded, the action in Europe's biggest poker festival of the year is about to heat up further with the ongoing €100,000 Super High Roller, the €2,200 EPT National High Roller, the €25,000 6+ No-Limit Hold'em, and the upcoming €5,300 Main Event. Last year, a new record was set with 1,931 entries for the flagship event of the festival. With numbers up all across the board in the early events, that number may well be surpassed once more.
Stay tuned for all the action from the poker tables in Barcelona right here on PokerNews!
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