Felipe Ketzer was on his way to win a second €25,000 tournament of this 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) at Casino Barcelona. It’s been a close call, as he finished third (€126,500). On his way, he found David Yan who claimed the victory in the €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em II.
Yan beat a field of 34 players and, thanks to his first place, won a top prize of €260,899* out of a total prize pool of €816,340, after a deal was made heads-up with Pablo Brito (€204,441*). The Brazilian player fought until the end to try to take the trophy, but he couldn’t close the gap to win.
Earlier on during the final table, Hyun Kim (4th, €93,900), Jean-Noel Thorel (5th, €73,500), and Biao Ding (6th, €57,100) also reached one of the six places in the money.
$25,000 No-Limit Hold'em II Final Results
| RANK | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Yan | New Zealand | €260,899 |
| 2 | Pablo Brito | Brazil | €204,441 |
| 3 | Felipe Ketzer | Brazil | €126,500 |
| 4 | Hyun Kim | South Korea | €93,900 |
| 5 | Jean-Noel Thorel | France | €73,500 |
| 6 | Biao Ding | China | €57,100 |
"I just feel grateful and fortunate I was so lucky to run good in the right situations", recognized Yan a few minutes after his victory. "I won the all-ins that I needed to. It was fun."
Even though he "played a little bit later", he said he had "a smooth run pretty quickly". "I won some hands from the beginning, but at one point, I lost a pretty big pot, actually to Pablo, when there were two tables left", he added. "Then I just ran good, so it’s mostly because of luck."
Now that he has the trophy, maybe he’ll try to take another EPT event, a third one, as he already won a €25,000 tournament during EPT Malta 2016. "I’m not too sure yet", he answered. "I’ll definitely play the Main Event. But tomorrow I’ll think about it and see. I want to play a bit and try to enjoy the city."
The Highlights
The €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em II started a little bit late, waiting for players to buy in. And it was only after the dinner break and the first 10 levels that the tournament reached its peak with 18 players seated on three tables out of 34 entrants. But the number of remaining players quickly decreased after the eliminations of Hassan Nashar, Nacho Barbero, Steve O'Dwyer, and Thomas Eychenne. Kayhan Mokri was the next player on the list. He finished in 10th place and left the nine remaining players for the final table.
With only five blinds at the beginning of the final table, Sergio Agüero (9th) was quickly eliminated by Yan. He was followed by Ren Lin (8th), who couldn’t win the flip he needed to survive against Ketzer.
Following Lin’s elimination, there were seven players left for six places in the money. And for the second time in three days, it was Timothy Adams who became the bubble-boy of the €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em event. He ran into the trips of Hyun Kim, who took the chiplead at this point.
But Yan doubled through him, came back, and was the first player with over one million chips after he eliminated Biao Ding (6th, €57,100). Moments later, Jean-Noel Thorel also went to the cashier to claim his fifth-place prize of €73,500.
Kim (4th, €93,900) was the next victim of the final table, as he couldn’t find any ace against Yan’s sevens to stay in the tournament. The board didn’t help Ketzer either, and he finished third for €126,500.
During heads-up play, Yan had almost four times Pablo Brito’s stack. They agreed on a deal but kept fighting for the trophy. "I don’t have one", said Brito. Unfortunately for him, the last duel was quick. He ended the tournament in second place (€204,441*) and let Yan claim the victory for €260,899*.
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