The final day of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour has concluded here at Casino Barcelona. Hours after Stephen Song was crowned the newest EPT Main Event champion, the final table of the €10,300 EPT High Roller was still ongoing with some of the best players in the world battling for one of the most prestigious trophies of the festival.
Mike Watson was already having a good series before this tournament, albeit with many close calls and no outright victories. He took sixth place in the €10,200 Pot-Limit Omaha event, third place in a €25,000 High Roller, and second place in the €5,200 8-Game Mix for just over €250,000 across those three scores.
Watson topped those accomplishments with a first-place finish in the €10,000 EPT High Roller, defeating Enrico Camosci heads up to take home €595,000 after an ICM chop while Camosci took the top cash prize of €734,900.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Watson | Canada | €595,000* |
| 2 | Enrico Camosci | Italy | €734,100* |
| 3 | Rodrigo Araujo | Brazil | €365,050 |
| 4 | Jon Kyte | Norway | €280,750 |
| 5 | Markkos Ladev | Estonia | €215,950 |
| 6 | Malcolm Franchi | France | €166,150 |
| 7 | Joshua Hopkins | Canada | €127,800 |
| 8 | Jesse Lonis | United States | €104,800 |
| 9 | Enrico Coppola | Italy | € 80,075 |
*Denotes a heads-up deal
"It feels amazing," Watson commented when asked how it felt to close out the series with a big win after three close calls. "These closing 10k's are kind of like the second chance Main Events for all the EPTs. They have really big fields and prizes. To win in one of those 10ks is something I wanted to get on the resume eventually, and I'm really happy I was able to do it."
"To win in one of those 10k's is something I wanted to get on the resume eventually"
Watson was the second-shortest stack at the beginning of the final table and had a tricky situation to navigate with Camosci and Markkos Ladev holding most of the chips in play while all other players were short-stacked, and he described his approach to navigating the early stages of the final table.
"Certainly, going into the final table with Enrico and Markkos having all the chips, it was a situation where I knew I'd have to play very tight to try and move up the pay jump ladder. The thought was to just hang around, see if I can get to the final three or four players, and then maybe I can pick up some big hands and start to fight back a little bit."
The third and final day began with 28 survivors from the star-studded 431-entrant field, all guaranteed at least €25,510. Some notables to make the final day but fall short of the final table include Calvin Anderson (26th), Erik Seidel (20th) and Boris Angelov (11th).
Despite starting the day with the chip lead, Thomas Eychenne found little momentum from the start of the day and fell in tenth place on the final table bubble after running his pocket kings into Camosci’s pocket aces.
However, Eychenne shared the title of final table bubble with Enrico Coppola, who was eliminated simultaneously at the other table when his ace-king did not hold up against Ladev’s suited queen-four.
Camosci entered the final table with a significant chip lead over the rest of the field, but Ladev wasted no time closing the gap after winning a massive flip to send Jesse Lonis to the rail and score the first final table knockout.
Ladev’s momentum was short-lived as he tangled with chip leader Camosci in a massive pot where Ladev was put to a river decision for his tournament life, with massive ICM implications given the presence of five short stacks at the table. Ladev succumbed to the pressure and folded, giving Camosci a huge lead over the rest of the field, half the total chips in play, with seven players remaining.
A laddering war ensued between the six short stacks, with Camosci able to take advantage of the situation, open-shoving preflop to take down many pots without showdown. Joshua Hopkins and Malcolm Franchi were whittled down until they were forced to make a move and they fell in seventh and sixth places, respectively. Both fell to Camosci, who, at this point, seemed to have victory firmly in his grasp. Ladev was next to bust in fifth against Watson, who had begun to separate himself from the other short-stacks.
Jon Kyte was short-stacked for most of the final table but did an excellent job picking his spots and was able to double up several times to keep himself in contention. His luck finally ran out when his ace-eight was cracked by Watson's ace-seven, after which Kyte bowed out in fourth place. Shortly afterward, Camosci eliminated Rodrigo Araujo in third, much to the disappointment of the Brazilian's enthusiastic rail. Following Araujo's elimination, Camosci entered heads-up play with nearly a 4:1 chip advantage over Watson.
Before the heads-up duel began, the final two players agreed on an ICM deal that would leave €20,000 and the trophy for the eventual winner.
At first, Camosci extended his lead over Watson, but in a dramatic shift Watson doubled through Camosci in back-to-back hands to take the chip lead. Camosci was not going down easily and fought back to the chip lead soon afterward after getting paid off with two pair.
The two players went back and forth over several small pots before Watson finally took a commanding chip lead after a preflop race that saw his king-queen overcome Camosci's ace-jack. That hand left Camosci with just five big blinds and he was unable to recover, losing the final hand against Watson, who took home the trophy and €595,000 while Camosci was denied the trophy but still took the top cash prize of €734,175.
That's a wrap for our 2024 EPT Barcelona coverage, but be sure to stay tuned to PokerNewsfor live updates from major tournaments around the world.
