Julien Sitbon Wins 2022 Master Classics of Poker Main Event; High Roller Delight for Ten Haven

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Nov 28, 2022 4 min read

The Master Classics of Poker (MCOP) celebrated its 30th edition over the last week at Holland Casino in Amsterdam. The MCOP is the second-longest-running poker series in Europe and the latest offering consisted of 11 separate events, which were headlined by the MCOP €3,000 NLH Main Event and MCOP €6,000 NLH 8-Max High Roller.

France's Julien Sitbon shined in the Main Event and pocketed the €237,808 first-place prize after denying reigning WPTDeepStacks Amsterdam Main Event champion Santo Bakker in heads-up play. Duco ten Haven also picked up the largest cash of his career after taking down the High Roller event for €111,509.

Sitbon Wins Record-Breaking MCOP Main Event (€237,808)

There was a record-breaking turnout for the MCOP Main Event, which saw an all-time high of 498 entries. Those players generated the €1,355,805 prize pool and duked it out over several days to capture the title, €237,808 first-place prize as well as Pearl Edition Rolex.

On the last day of action, six players returned to the final table having locked up at least €50,707 in winnings. David Boyaciyan was the first elimination of the day after his ace-ten was unable to leapfrog Sitbon's ace-queen. Boyaciyan won the event in 2011 and was the runner-up in 2014. His third MCOP Main Event final table appearance tied the record held by Jussi Nevannlina.

Sitbon's surge to victory continued after he ousted Matias Arosuo. Sitbon's pocket jacks remained best against Arosuo's ace-jack. Gilles Simon soon suffered the same fate as Arosuo. Sitbon collected another final table scalp after his pocket queens held against Simon's pocket fours.

David Hu, who finished as the runner-up in the aforementioned WPTDeepStacks Amsterdam Main Event in March, was the next player to be downed by Sitbon. Hu moved all in with pocket nines but Sitbon again woke up with a pair of queens and held out to bring the tournament to heads-up play.

Sitbon then sealed the tournament with his fifth final-table elimination. Bakkar's ace-four could not improve against the Frenchman's pocket threes and had to settle for second place and the €158,494 set aside for the runner-up.

When the dust settled, Sitbon was the last player standing and secured the lion's share of the prize pool and additional goodies. The €237,808 payout was the largest of his career and took his live tournament earnings to $2,413,856.

2022 MCOP €3,000 Main Event Final Table Results

Ten Haven Picks Up Biggest Payday in High Roller (€111,509)

Emulating Sitbon, Duco ten Haven also bagged his best tournament cash at the 2022 MCOP. Ten Haven reigned supreme in the 8-Max High Roller event, which featured notable names such as Tom Vogelsang and Jorryt van Hoof. Vogelsang and Van Hoof narrowly missed out on making the money after finishing in tenth and ninth place respectively.

Mehdi Chaoui was the unfortunate bubble boy after being sent to the wrong side of the rail by Henok Tekle Mariam.

The seven remaining players guaranteed themselves a prize of €13,681 and Roope Tarmi was the player who claimed the min-cash. Tarmi suffered a cooler after his set was defeated by Ten Haven's straight. The eventual winner then made quick work of Ioannis Konstas, Aliaksei Boika and David Vinayagamoorthy to set up three-handed play.

The ever-colorful Kyriakos Papadopoulos earned a podium finish and took home €53,087 after ending up in third place. Mariam saw off the Greek poker player but still entered heads-up play as the underdog as Ten Haven had a two-to-one chip lead.

Ten Haven speedily wrapped up the High Roller title after picking up pocket aces. Mariam committed his stack with a pair of fives but could not overcome Ten Haven's premium holding.

All in all, the most expensive event of the MCOP saw 58 entries and created a prize pool of €327,294. Ten Haven received €111,509 for the win while Mariam was awarded with €74,328.

2022 MCOP €6,000 High Roller Results

2022 MCOP Winners List

Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum has written for various poker outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

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