€25,000 No-Limit Hold'em II
Day 1 Completed
2024 PokerStars EPT Barcelona
€25,000 No-Limit Hold'em II
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
2024 PokerStars EPT Barcelona
Buy-in
€25,000
Prize Pool
€1,440,600
Entries
60
Level
24
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
100,000
Entries
60
Players Left
1
Level 24
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
As the main tournament room became increasingly empty heading into the wee hours of the morning, Ottomar Ladva looked as fresh and sharp as he did when he first entered €25,000 No-Limit Hold'em II. It was readily apparent that Ladva set his sights on winning the final high-roller of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona.
Following a marathon 13-hour day, the focused 27-year-old did just that after besting a 60-entry field and defeating Artsiom Lasouski heads-up to claim his third EPT title. Ladva also claimed the €439,400 first-place prize, which represented the lion's share of the €1,440,600 prize pool.
Ladva solidified his poker prowess by overcoming the expert-laden field, which included the likes of poker crushers such as Patrik Antonius, Nick Petrangelo, Mike Watson, and Sam Greenwood. Before poker, Ladva became a chess grandmaster and earned four Estonian Chess Champion titles — highlighting his proficiency in strategy games.
The victory also boosted Ladva's live-tournament earnings to over €1,000,000, which appears to be only a brief milestone as the young Estonian shows no signs of slowing down.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ottomar Ladva | Estonia | € 439,400 |
| 2 | Artsiom Lasouski | Belarus | € 288,100 |
| 3 | James Collopy | United States | € 208,900 |
| 4 | Mathew Frankland | United Kingdom | € 158,500 |
| 5 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | € 122,500 |
| 6 | Biao Ding | China | € 93,600 |
| 7 | Michel Molenaar | Netherlands | € 72,000 |
| 8 | Stoyan Madanzhiev | Bulgaria | € 57,600 |
Action of the Day
Following a short delay, just five players had taken their seats to start the day in what looked like might be a modest high-roller event. However, the big money players didn't take long to find their way over to the tournament. By the time late registration closed, 60 entrants had joined the fray, surpassing the 46 entrants that the first edition of this tournament attracted just one week ago.
Leonard Maue, who chopped the €50k High Roller Second Chance earlier in the series, hopped out to an early chip lead after doubling up through Jules Dickerson and then catching a big bluff from Jean-Noel Thorel. However, Maue could not hold onto that momentum and busted shy of the money after getting short and calling all in preflop with a suited connector against Greenwood's ace jack and failing to improve.
Several players took advantage of the option to max late-reg at the end of Level 10, including a mix of newcomers such as Ren Lin, Antonius, and Erik Seidel in addition to some reentrants. While most of these players met an early demise, Greenwood managed to build a massive stack in short order — first by doubling up through Derk van Luijk with jacks and then by picking off a massive semi-bluff from Vito Jhonny Recchimurzo Diaz a while later.
The eliminations came at a furious pace, with more than half of the remaining field getting sent out between the time late registration ended and dinner break began. Among those who fell short of the money were Lin, Jesse Lonis, Sean Winter, Brock Wilson, and Jules Dickerson.
Mathew Frankland received a huge boost to his stack after scoring a double knockout on the last hand before dinner break. Vladimir Korzinin shoved blind and Mikael Thuritz also went all in with pocket kings. Frankland called, having both players covered, with ace-queen, and ended up flopping an ace to emerge as one of the chip leaders.
Final Table Action
A final table of nine convened following a few more eliminations, including Petrangelo, who bubbled the final table after shoving preflop with ace-trey and getting called by Ladva with a dominating ace.
The money bubble burst dramatically after Antonius found himself on the wrong end of a brutal cooler. Antonius and James Collopy (who both had big stacks) got into a pre-flop raising war that ended with Antonius all in with pocket kings against Collopy's pocket aces. The Finnish poker legend failed to improve, but remained classy by wishing everyone good luck despite his gut-wrenching elimination.
Stoyan Madanzhiev, Michel Molenaar, and Biao Ding were the short stacks entering the final table and were single-handedly eliminated by Lasouski in eighth, seventh, and sixth place respectively after shoving preflop and ending up second-best.
Greenwood rode his healthy stack well into the final table, but eventually ran out of steam and was forced to surrender the rest of his chips to Frankland after shoving with a dominated ace against Frankland.
With ever-escalating blinds, many hands became largely preflop affairs resulting in shoves. Frankland was no exception and ended up in fourth place after shoving with king-five against Collopy's ace-eight in a blind versus blind confrontation.
Collopy was poised to run away with the chip lead at that point and even had Ladva one card away from elimination. However, Ladva instead managed to double up through Collopy and then take the rest of his chips after coming from behind with six-five suited against Collopy's ace-ten to set up the heads-up play.
Lasouski entered heads-up at a significant chip disadvantage but managed to double up through Ladva to pull nearly even several hands into their heads-up battle. It turned out to be Ladva's day though, as just a few hands after that, Lasouski shoved with pocket fours facing a limp from Ladva, who called with ace-jack. The board ran out with an ace — ending the grueling tournament just as the clock struck 4 a.m.
That concludes PokerNews coverage of this event. Be sure to check out our live-reporting hub for continuing coverage of EPT Barcelona along with other events around the globe.
Level 24
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
In what would be the last hand of the tournament, Ottomar Ladva limped on the button and Artsiom Lasouski shoved from the big blind. Ladva called, having Lasouski covered by less than 100,000, for a final showdown.
Artsiom Lasouski: 4♥4♠
Ottomar Ladva: A♥J♦
It was essentially a coin flip for the victory, and the A♣7♥6♠7♦10♦ runout paired Ladva's ace to eliminate Lasouski in second place and end the tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
6,000,000
3,100,000
|
3,100,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 24
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
Ottomar Ladva limped on the button and Artsiom Lasouski shoved from the big blind. Ladva called and a showdown was held.
Artsiom Lasouski: 10♦7♣
Ottomar Ladva: K♦J♦
Lasouski got up from his seat after seeing the 9♦6♠J♠ flop, but the 8♣ turn improved him to an unbeatable straight.
The 3♠ river made it official and Lasouski doubled up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,100,000
1,200,000
|
1,200,000 |
|
|
2,900,000
-1,200,000
|
-1,200,000 |
Level 24
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
Ottomar Ladva limped on the button and Artsiom Lasouski checked his option in the big blind.
Both players checked on the 3♣2♣J♣ flop and then Lasouski led out for 100,000 on the K♦ turn. Ladva called.
The 9♠ completed the board and Lasouski fired 350,000 into the middle. Ladva tanked a bit, but eventually called and Lasouski tabled 9♥3♦ for two pair.
Ladva sent his hand into the muck and Lasouski collected the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,100,000
-250,000
|
-250,000 |
|
|
1,900,000
250,000
|
250,000 |
Level: 24
Blinds: 50,000/100,000
Ante: 100,000
Level 23
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Ottomar Ladva shoved from the small blind and James Collopy quickly called all in from the big blind for his last 1,200,000.
James Collopy: A♥10♦
Ottomar Ladva: 6♦5♦
The K♦6♠7♦9♣9♦ runout paired Ladva's six to leave him best — eliminating Collopy in third place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,350,000
1,250,000
|
1,250,000 |
|
|
1,650,000
580,000
|
580,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 23
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Ottomar Ladva raised to 230,000 from the small blind and James Collopy shoved from the big blind. Ladva called all in for 1,525,000 total and hands were revealed.
Ottomar Ladva: A♥9♥
James Collopy: 5♦5♥
The 10♣6♣2♠ flop and 3♦ turn kept Collopy ahead with his fives, but the 9♠ river paired Ladva's nine to award him the double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,100,000
1,705,000
|
1,705,000 |
|
|
1,200,000
-1,600,000
|
-1,600,000 |
Level 23
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Mathew Frankland shoved for approximately 1,200,000 from the small blind and James Collopy asked for a count in the big blind before calling to put Frankland at risk.
Mathew Frankland: K♠5♠
James Collopy: A♥8♥
The board ran out J♦10♥6♦7♠3♣ — keeping Collopy ahead with his ace to send Frankland out in fourth place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,800,000
585,000
|
585,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 23
Blinds: 40,000/80,000
Ante: 80,000