Byron Kaverman Continues EPT Barcelona Dream Start by Winning the €25,000 No-Limit Hold'em for €381,060
The first €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona once again drew many familiar faces of the high-roller poker scene to Casino Barcelona to battle for a trophy. When all was said and done, it was Byron Kaverman who hoisted said trophy and was awarded the sum of €381,060 for their efforts.
Kaverman finished second in the €12,300 Cuatro Knockout just two days ago for €119,400, but this time he came out ahead as the winner in the heads up, defeating Markkos Ladev, who took home €248,500, his largest-ever live score. Meanwhile, the rest of the €1,104,460 prize pool which the 46 entries had generated was divided by Mike Watson, Enrico Camosci, Niklas Astedt, and Sam Grafton, who padded their bankrolls with at least €77,300 for making it in the money.
€25,000 No-Limit Hold'em Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Byron Kaverman | United States | €381,060 |
| 2 | Markkos Ladev | Estonia | €248,500 |
| 3 | Mike Watson | Canada | €171,200 |
| 4 | Enrico Camosci | Italy | €127,000 |
| 5 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | €99,400 |
| 6 | Sam Grafton | United Kingdom | €77,300 |
Early Action
The day started with plenty of action, with players such as Teun Mulder and Sven Andersson firing multiple unsuccessful bullets before the late registration had closed. Once it had, Hall of Famers Erik Seidel and Patrik Antonius were quickly eliminated, as was the winner of the €20,000 No-Limit Hold’em event Kayhan Mokri.
Prominent players from across the ocean were in abundance in the field, with seven of the 29 unique players hailing from the United States. However, Seth Davies, Sean Winter, and David Coleman all failed to make the dinner break. Once the players had eaten, Nacho Barbero was the first player to go, while Jamil Wakil was the final player to depart before the final two tables.
Sam Greenwood would not make his third final table of this EPT, and he was soon joined at the rail by the likes of Santhosh Suvarna and Jesse Lonis. Steve O’Dwyer did not pick up his second trophy of the series as he fell in 11th, shortly being followed by French all-time money leader Jean-Noel Thorel, who became the final table bubble in tenth.
Final Table
Soccer legend Gerard Pique had been going strong for the majority of the day but was the first elimination of the final table when he lost a flip to Triple Crown winner Watson. Next to go was the ever-jovial Ren Lin who had been nursing a short stack for some time before finally falling against Watson as well. Watson would continue his dominance at that point by knocking out Nick Petrangelo in seventh, with the latter becoming the official bubble boy as he was the last to depart without a return on his investment.
The tournament had known a decent pace throughout the day, but once the bubble had burst, it took two hours for the next elimination. Many players doubled up in their at-risk all-ins until Pokerstars Ambassador Grafton eventually lost his final six blinds, also against Watson. Online legend Astedt lost his ten remaining big blinds in a blind-on-blind encounter against Camosci shortly thereafter, during which the latter grabbed the chip lead.
Camosci’s lead was short-lived, however, as just one hand later he doubled up Kaverman in a flip, and but one orbit later he ran his two pair in the straight of Watson in a monster pot. Three-handed, the tournament looked all but done as Watson held a significant chip lead over the other two players. Kaverman, though, had other plans as he took over the lead for the first time after winning a flip against Watson.
Ladev also climbed back, mostly through preflop aggression, and suddenly Watson found himself to be the shortest of the three. Eventually, he got his final 12 or so blinds in with king-nine against Ladev’s ace-five, with the latter making a flush to lock up the pot and a small chip lead at the start of the heads up.
However, Kaverman drew first blood during the heads up and secured a two-to-one lead, of which he never let go. Eventually, Ladev put in more than half his remaining stack on the river before folding to a shove from Kaverman. His final few blinds then went in with nine-deuce against the ace-nine of Kaverman, and he failed to improve to seal his fate as the runner-up.
Kaverman was crowned the champion around 3:15 a.m. local time and swiftly headed to his accommodation with his fourth PokerStars trophy in hand as there will be much more poker in store for him at EPT Barcelona.
Thus concludes the PokerNews coverage of the first €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament of EPT Barcelona. Be sure to check back tomorrow, August 30, as the €30,000 Super High Roller Warmup gets underway, as well as Day 2 of the massive €1,100 ESPT Main Event and Day 1 of the low-stakes €550 Estrellas Cup.