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History rewritten, the legendary Barny Boatman becomes the oldest EPT champion of all time!
Perhaps no player who has ever appeared at an EPT Main Event final table has had a rail like British matador Barny Boatman. The long-time poker stalwart and one of the founders of the HendonMob database was one of the crowd's favourites during the fourth day of play, and spectators from all over the world were wishing the 68-year-old a lifetime of success.
We saw it happen during the 5-hour final table, as Barny managed to take down his last five opponents to secure the win of a lifetime and a long-awaited EPT triumph.
Final Day
The final table unfolded as expected from the start, with all three shorts - Eric Afriat (€261,650), Peter Jorgne (€340,100) and Owen Dodd (€442,150) - taking their turn at the cash. The spectacular climax of the event thus pitted chipleader David Kaufmann, Latvian pro Aleksejs Ponakovs and legendary veteran Barny Boatman against each other in a battle for the €1,287,800 prize.
In the last three hands, Boatman had already seized the momentum in his own hands, not giving his opponents the slightest chance and gradually making both of them short. But a couple of double-ups only delayed the fate of Alexey Ponakovs, who was escorted out of the game in third place by Germany's Kaufmann. A classic flip with a pair against the combination After a blank board, Kaufmann held the pair and Ponakovs had to settle for a reward of €574,850.
Although the players went into the final heads-up with 70bb and 33bb stacks, the man-to-man confrontation lasted only two hands. Everything was decided on the turn , where Boatman sent all-in to the 9.7m pot, which Kaufmann, with an 11m stack, decided to call with a . Boatman turned over the hand in the showdown , which meant that only 5 cards were played in the German's favour. Rivera wasn't one of them, but it was definitely decided.
Tournament runner-up David Kaufmann will not be going home empty-handed for this great achievement, as a cheque for €804,750 was waiting for him at the cashier's desk. But all the honour and glory today rightfully belongs to Barny Boatman, who at the age of 68 became the oldest EPT champion in history, for which he is rightfully entitled to the title, the trophy and the €1,287,800 prize.
"I've won quite a few tournaments in my career, but none as big as this one. I'm very happy and I don't want to stop playing, on the contrary - I want to keep proving to everyone that this success was no accident." With two bracelets and a fresh EPT title to his name, Barny is now one WPT title short of the proverbial Triple Crown. "Obviously, getting the Triple Crown would be great, who in the leek wouldn't want that? We'll see what happens, but I'd love to go and play the World Championship this year, which I've never played before."
First EPT title for Suvarna
Indian millionaire, entrepreneur and casino owner Santhosh Suvarna, has only been a part of the poker world for less than two years, but in that time he has managed to do a lot. He already has fifteen 6-figure cashes to his live tournament account, to which he added his first EPT title on the last day of the festival. He grabbed that in the €25k High Roller, which saw him take home €348,860 as the winner out of 43 entries.
| # | NAME | COUNTRY | PRIZE |
| 1. | Santosh Suvarna | IND | 348,860€ |
| 2. | Samuel Ju | GER | 227,600€ |
| 3. | Jamil Wakil | CAN | 156,800€ |
| 4. | Chris Brewer | USA | 116,300€ |
| 5. | Viacheslav Buldygin | RUS | 91,000€ |
| 6. | Sam Greenwood | CAN | 70,800€ |
Mike Watson is back
Canadian pro Mike Watson certainly needs no introduction in light of the EPT brand. Watson made history as only the third two-time EPT champion (Vicky Coren, Mikalai Pobal), and after last year's triumph in Monte Carlo, he managed to make his presence felt in Paris. In the €2,100 6-max turbo event, he was undefeated among 260 entries and took home the trophy and €102,000.
| # | NAME | COUNTRY | PRIZE |
| 1. | Mike Watson | CAN | 102,000€ |
| 2. | Gerard Rubiralta | SPA | 63,800€ |
| 3. | Umberto Ruggeri | ITA | 45,600€ |
| 4. | Frederik Thiemer | GER | 35,100€ |
| 5. | Joonhee Yea | KOR | 27,000€ |
| 6. | Justin Steinbrenner | GER | 20,800€ |
| 7. | Julien Sitbon | FRA | 17,100€ |
| 8. | Conor Beresford | UK | 14,300€ |
Source - PSlive, PokerNews, Flickr/PSlive, YouTube