€5,300 EPT Main Event
Day 7 Completed
2023 PokerStars EPT Barcelona
€5,300 EPT Main Event
Day: 7
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 7
2023 PokerStars EPT Barcelona
Buy-in
€5,300
Prize Pool
€10,282,000
Entries
2,120
Level
35
Blinds
200,000 / 400,000
Ante
400,000
Players Left
1
Level 35
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
France's Simon Wiciak ended up as the chip leader each of the last three days of the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event and had no plans of giving up those chips. He wound up with every chip in play after defeating Jo?o Sydenstricker heads-up to win the event for €1,134,375.
Wiciak, who is primarily an online grinder but recently switched his focus to live tournaments, bested the field of 2,120 runners for the golden trophy, his first major live poker title, and the career-best seven-figure score.
"I didn't want to play the second bullet, because it's my second bullet in this Main Event," Wiciak told PokerNews in a winner's interview. "But some of my stakers pushed me to do it again...so I did it again, and obviously, it was good event. I'm going to start playing more and more, live of course."
The Frenchman struck a three-handed deal with Sydenstricker and Britain's Carl Shaw that flattened the payouts, then the trio played on for the trophy and an additional €108,975 in prize money.
Also at the final table in the second-largest EPT Main Event (which came up short of surpassing last year's record-breaking field of 2,294 runners) were Canada's Santiago Plante (4th - €511,300), Argenina's Ezequiel Waigel (6th - €302,500) and Brazil's Andre Akkari, a veteran PokerStars Team Pro who put on a short-stack clinic before bowing out in fifth place for €393,300.
2023 EPT Barcelona Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (in Euros) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simon Wiciak | France | €1,134,375* |
| 2 | Jo?o Sydenstricker | Brazil | €1,048,550* |
| 3 | Carl Shaw | United Kingdom | €901,070* |
| 4 | Santiago Plante | Canada | €511,300 |
| 5 | Andre Akkari | Brazil | €393,300 |
| 6 | Ezequiel Waigel | Argentina | €302,500 |
| 7 | Curtis Knight | Canada | €232,700 |
| 8 | Robin Ylitalo | Sweden | €179,000 |
*Denotes three-handed deal
"I Was Ready"
Anything less than a victory for Wiciak would have been unfitting in the EPT Barcelona Main Event. The 30-year-old ended Day 5 with the chip lead over his 15 remaining opponents and maintained the lead the next day as the field dwindled to six with the eliminations of the likes of Van Marcus and 2013 EPT London Champion Robin Ylitalo.
Wiciak kept the chip lead for most of Day 7 but gave it up during four-handed and three-handed play as Shaw and Sydenstricker pulled ahead.
"At three-handed, we were like even," said Wiciak. "So it was not that easy. And for me, it was a lot of money, that's why we actually took the deal. If it had been a lower pay jump, maybe I would have refused [in order] to play my edge. But with this amount of money, I didn't refuse it."
Once the deal had been made, Wiciak returned his focus to taking home the trophy despite starting to lose some pots when they got three-handed.
"You know that's it's not going to be easy, but I was ready," he said.
With two Brazilians at the final table for the second year in a row, it was a raucous few hours in the main tournament room at Casino Barcelona. Thankfully for Wiciak, he had a deep rail of French supporters to cheer him on as he played with millions on the line.
"Some of my friends were in the club last night, eight hours driving, they just [left] the club, took some stuff with them, and drove eight hours to come here," Wiciak said. "So, obviously, I'm really, really happy with all of this. And on top of that, I got to [have] a call with my dad, and I heard him crying for the first time. So it was amazing."
Day 7 Action
As play got underway on Day 7, it wasn't long before a player was at risk. Waigel three-bet jammed his short stack with ace-seven, only to find himself dominated by the Big Slick of Sydenstricker, and was eliminated amid a choir of Brazilian cheers after failing to get help from the board.
Fan favorite Akkari, who entered the final two days of play as the short stack, finally hit the rail when he got it in with a flopped flush draw and couldn't improve, to be chopped up by Shaw and his fellow Brazilian.
Plante was the next player at risk as he found his suited queen-ten dominated by the ace-queen of Wiciak before a rivered flush kept him alive. Plante's luck changed for the worse when he later found himself all in with pocket queens to dominate the queen-nine of Shaw, who flopped an open-ended straight draw before binking it on the turn to drain the life out of Plante.
Shortly after the three remaining players reached a deal, Shaw found his king-queen dominated by Wiciak's ace-queen to go out in third place and give the Frenchman a formidable chip lead over Sydenstricker.
After a brief heads-up battle, Sydenstricker and Wiciak found themselves in a memorable final hand that began with an open from Sydenstricker with queen-ten offsuit and a three-bet from Wiciak with six-five of clubs. Wiciak continued on the nine-five-deuce rainbow flop as Sydenstricker floated and then took the betting lead on the four of spades turn. With just queen-high, Sydenstricker moved all in when the nine of hearts river paired the board and Wiciak went into the tank before making a big call with just a pair of fives to win the tournament.
"The [bet] sizing [on the turn] was really small," said Wiciak. "He went like less than one-third of the pot. Pretty [big] sizing tell for me...I think every time seeing his hand, basically he bet big when he has it and he bet small when he does not, if I had to simplify it. So he bet really small on the turn."
"The last information he gave for me is he didn't put his hood on. I played with him for the last few days, he always put his hoodie on, he's really relaxed when he had trips against queens. He was stuck, didn't move a bit, so everything put together made me make this call."
That wraps up the PokerNews live reporting team's coverage of the EPT Barcelona Main Event here on the Mediterranean Coast. Be sure to check out the EPT Barcelona live reporting hub for coverage of other events.
Level 35
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Jo?o Sydenstricker raised to 1,100,000 on the button and Simon Wiciak used a time bank before three-betting to 4,000,000. Sydenstricker called as the flop came 9?5?2?.
Wiciak continued for 3,000,000 and Sydenstricker called. The turn came the 4? and Wiciak slowed down and checked.
Sydenstricker then bet 3,500,000 and Wiciak called to the 9? river, checking over to Sydenstricker again. Sydenstricker counted out his remaining stack before moving all in for 19,375,000.
Wiciak ripped off his sunglasses and stood up from his seat as he asked for a count. He had Sydenstricker covered by just 3,000,000 and used a time bank as he sat back down in his chair. Another 30 seconds elapsed as Wiciak burned through another time bank.
He eventually called and Sydenstricker showed Q?10? for a bluff. Wiciak slammed down 6?5? for two pair, nines and fives, and ran over to his rail to celebrate.
Sydenstricker was forced to walk over into the consoling arms of his passionate supporters as he finished as the runner-up, while Wiciak took home the EPT trophy and €1,134,375 top prize.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
63,575,000
30,075,000
|
30,075,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 35
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Joao Sydenstricker once again raised his button, this time making it 1,000,000 with 4?3?. Simon Wiciak called in the big blind with Q?9?.
The flop came Q?7?2? and Sydenstricker bet 600,000. Wiciak called with his pair of queens and both players checked the J? turn.
Wiciak led out for 3,000,000 on the 8? river and Sydenstricker surrendered the pot, and the chip lead, to Wiciak.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
33,500,000
2,200,000
|
2,200,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
30,075,000
-2,205,000
|
-2,205,000 |
Level 35
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Joao Sydenstricker opened to 1,200,000 with K?10? and Simon Wiciak defended 4?3?.
The Q?8?2? flop improved neither player and Wiciak checked over to Sydenstricker, who continued for 700,000. Wiciak then put in a raise to 4,000,000 with four-high and Sydenstricker folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
32,280,000
-3,900,000
|
-3,900,000 |
|
|
31,300,000
3,900,000
|
3,900,000 |
|
|
||
Level 35
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Simon Wiciak limped in with 7?2? and Jo?o Sydenstricker checked back 10?5?.
The 6?2?5? flop gave Sydenstricker a pair of fives and Wiciak a pair of deuces and a flush draw. Wiciak bet 400,000 and Sydenstricker called.
Sydenstricker then led out for 400,000 on the 3? turn before Wiciak raised to 2,000,000 with his turned flush. Sydenstricker quickly gave up his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
36,180,000
-800,000
|
-800,000 |
|
|
27,400,000
800,000
|
800,000 |
|
|
||
Level 35
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Simon Wiciak raised to 800,000 with 10?6? and Jo?o Sydenstricker came along in the big blind holding A?5?.
Sydenstricker hit top pair on the 4?A?9? flop and check-called a bet of 900,000 from Wiciak. The turn came the 8? and Wiciak bet another 2,700,000.
Sydenstricker again called to the 9? river and checked. Wiciak tapped the felt and surrendered the pot as Sydenstricker took the pot and the chip lead early in their heads-up battle.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
36,980,000
5,680,000
|
5,680,000 |
|
|
26,600,000
-5,600,000
|
-5,600,000 |
|
|
||
Level 35
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Jo?o Sydenstricker raised to 1,000,000 on the button with 9?8? and Simon Wiciak defended A?3?.
The flop came A?J?K? and Sydenstricker continued for 700,000. Wiciak called with top pair to the 8? turn and checked over to Sydenstricker again.
The Brazilian then fired out another 4,000,000 and Wiciak stuck around and called. The river came the 10? and Sydenstricker kept betting, this time sliding in 6,000,000.
Wiciak quickly surrendered and Sydenstricker picked up his cards and showed them to his rail before slamming them face up on the table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
32,200,000
-6,100,000
|
-6,100,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
31,300,000
6,025,000
|
6,025,000 |
Level 35
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Carl Shaw raised to 800,000 on the button before Simon Wiciak three-bet to 3,200,000 in the small blind. Shaw then shoved all in for 13,075,000 and Wiciak snap-called.
Carl Shaw: K?Q?
Simon Wiciak: A?Q?
Jo?o Sydenstricker folded a king in the big blind, so Shaw was looking for one of only two remaining in the deck to stay alive. He found one on the K?9?6? flop and suddenly became a big favorite to earn a massive double up.
The J? turn gave Wiciak a straight draw heading to the river, which came the A? as Wiciak spiked top pair to send Shaw to the rail in third place and set up a heads-up match with Sydenstricker.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
38,300,000
14,270,000
|
14,270,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
25,275,000
-1,005,000
|
-1,005,000 |
|
Busted | |
Level 35
: Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Simon Wiciak raised to 800,000 on the button with Q?J? before Jo?o Sydenstricker looked down at Q?Q? in the small blind and three-bet to 3,875,000. Wiciak quickly folded.
A few hands later, Wiciak limped in with 10?4? and Sydenstricker picked up Q?Q? again, this time raising to 1,600,000. Wiciak got away once again.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
26,280,000
555,000
|
555,000 |
|
|
24,030,000
455,000
|
455,000 |
|
|
||