Ditch the Sangria and Pop the Cava! Artus Gimenez Wins ESPT/UKIPT Malaga Main Event!
A record-breaking ESPT/UKIPT Malaga €1,100 Main Event has concluded with a home-grown winner at the Gran Madrid Casino Torrequebrada. Artus Gimenez beat a total field of 1,146 to lift the beautiful trophy and pocket a prize of €145,000. He defeated Poland’s Tomasz Wrobel after making two pair with kings and jacks.
Gimenez went into the heads-up battle as a two-to-one chip underdog, but made a deal with Wrobel before their confrontation. Wrobel took home €156,200 for his biggest recorded live cash.
The ESPT/UKIPT Malaga event was a huge success providing players with plenty of activities throughout their stay including football, padel ball, beer pong and karaoke. It proved to be a triumphant return to the Costa Del Sol, as it created the biggest Estrellas Poker Tour field outside of EPT Barcelona.
ESPT/UKIPT Malaga Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Artus Gimenez | Italy | €145,000* |
| 2 | Tomasz Wrobel | Italy | €156,200* |
| 3 | Ricard Gonzalez | Spain | €82,800 |
| 4 | Guido Pieraccini | Spain | €63,680 |
| 5 | Giulio Astarita | Sweden | €48,900 |
| 6 | Raffaele Sorrentino | Spain | €37,600 |
| 7 | Rafael Anera Ruiz | Poland | €28,900 |
| 8 | Giovanni Bellini | Italy | €22,300 |
| 9 | Pia Fransson | Italy | €17,100 |
*denotes heads-up deal
Winners Reaction
The winner spoke to local Spanish media and said “I played my very best poker and ran very well today. I will be playing at EPT Barcelona after winning a Gold Pass and hope to have continued success for the rest of the year.”
Story of the Day
From the 1,146 players who entered, only 15 players made it to the final day, with Italian Guido Pieraccini the overwhelming chip leader.
The first player to depart was Gasper Perasovic from Croatia. He moved all-in with big slick and ran into Ricard Gonzalez’s pocket aces in the second hand of the day.
The next bust out was Pokerstars Spanish commentator Alex Romero after losing a flip to Venelin Pashev.
Toke Mortensen, Laurent Cessy and Pashev all busted in quick succession, before a lull for two hours ahead of the next elimination.
Belgian footballer Jordy Vleugels was knocked out in unfortunate circumstances. After hitting an ace on the flop, he needed to avoid a runner-runner from eventual champion Gimenez. The Spaniard did just that by hitting running fives to defeat Vleugels, who was playing in his first-ever live tournament.
The tournament was then down to nine players and the final table. Unfortunately for Pia Fransson, it was only a fleeting visit. The Swede, who was nursing a small stack for most of the day, got it in with pocket nines but Gimenez spiked a king on the river.
The next two eliminations suffered the same fate when their pocket jacks were cracked by pocket nines. Giovanni Bellini was the first go when Rafaelle Sorrentino hit a set on the river. Rafael Anera Ruiz’s jacks were crushed by Ricard Gonzalez’s flush.
2017 PSC Monte Carlo champion Raffaele Sorrentino was the most experienced competitor in the field, but could not build a stack to compete. The Italian lost a flip to an excitable Gonzalez as his pocket queens got beat by the Spaniard’s ace-king that made two pair.
Giulio Astarita won’t be having Wrobel on his Christmas card list this year. Wrobel won two back-to-back all in confrontations against Astarita, who finished in fifth place.
Pieraccini came into the day with around a fifth of the chips in play, but couldn’t seem to win a hand on the final table. The Italian’s day came to an end after Wrobel turned a double gutshot and rivered a straight.
Gonzalez brought the energy to the final table. Whenever he was all in, he would walk off the feature table and watch the action on the monitor with his rail. He would often be on his knees, with his hands gesticulating all over. The Spaniard got it in with ace-queen, but couldn’t connect on the board and Wrobel’s pocket nines held.
But Gimenez wouldn’t be denied the biggest victory of his career and first six-figure score.
This concludes the exclusive coverage from ESPT/UKIPT Malaga Main Event. Stick with PokerNews for live reports from more upcoming Pokerstars stops, including UKIPT London and EPT Barcelona.