Henrik Juncker Denies Parker Talbot En Route to a Career-Best Score in Paris

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Feb 21, 2024 3 min read

After landing in Paris on Sunday, Henrik Juncker made his way over to Le Palais des Congres for the PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris. Shortly after, he decided to jump straight into Day 1b of the €2,200 France Poker Series High Roller.

Fast forward to Tuesday evening, when Juncker was putting the finishing touches on the largest score of his poker career. The Danish pro took a commanding chip lead when the final four players bagged ahead of an unscheduled Day 3, ultimately knocking out PokerStars Ambassador Parker Talbot to take down his first PokerStars trophy.

The High Roller event attracted a total of 1,794 entries and created a prize pool of €3,448,320. Play was forced to stop on Day 2, leaving four players left to come back and battle for the top prize of €544,790. Juncker sat down today with more than half of the chips in play, taking a little more than an hour to knock out all three opponents and prepare for his winner’s photos.

€2,200 FPS High Roller Final Table Results

Winner’s Reaction

While the trip to the French capital was planned, jumping straight into the FPS High Roller was not. “Extremely delighted,” Juncker told PokerNews moments after the victory. “I actually flew in [Sunday] morning, I didn’t intend to play but figured I might as well give it a shot, and here we are.”

Despite bagging a big lead overnight, Juncker had plenty of work to do on Day 2 as players were sent on a break before reaching the final two tables. “I was extremely short yesterday; I think I had four bigs with 17 left. Got a few lucky double-ups and everything went my way, played some really good poker players, better than me, so I’m really lucky to win.”

Those doubles put him back in contention, navigating his way through a difficult field to stack up almost 55 percent of the chips and head to sleep with a big advantage four-handed. “Had a good night’s sleep, had lunch with some friends talking about different scenarios playing out,” said Juncker. “I had a plan and ran good today as well, so it makes poker easy.”

That run included eliminating the final two players before play was suspended for the night and picking up right where he left off this afternoon on the added Day 3.

Final Four Action

Play began in the main room with the final four players ready for action. Short stack Guillermo Gordo started the day with just five big blinds but gave his rail something to cheer about when he quickly doubled up twice against Juncker. The second one included spiking a straight on the river to put a dent in Juncker’s advantage.

That did not last long, as the chip leader found a set in the window to win a flip against Omar Del Pino, sending the Spaniard out in fourth place. After tournament officials moved the final three to the side room at Le Palais des Congres, Juncker’s next victim was indeed Gordo.

That left the Dane with more than a 6:1 chip lead over Talbot as heads-up play began. Despite a quick double with Big Slick, the Canadian streamer known as "Tonkaaaap" ran his ace into a superior one and missed the river to end his run. Talbot earned €334,180 for the second-place finish, falling just shy of the title.

That glory was left for Juncker, who took down his one and only event here in Paris as he's due to fly home tomorrow. Quite a profitable trip, allowing him to easily afford the extra weight in his luggage due to a shiny new FPS trophy.

This event may have concluded, but the PokerNews live coverage continues from Paris. Be sure to check out our tournament hub for live action from the EPT Main Event.

• Tags Dann Assouline EPT European Poker Tour Guillermo Gordo Henrik Juncker Michel Leibgorin Omar Del Pino Parker Talbot PokerStars Rony Halimi Sonny Franco Yunsheng Sun
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• Related Players Parker TalbotYunsheng SunSonny FrancoRony HalimiHenrik JunckerMichel Leibgorin