This year has been a great one so far for Simon Brandstorm — after finishing second in a No-Limit Hold’em event at the WPT Barcelona in March, the Swedish poker pro just captured the biggest payout of his career after winning the 2019 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event.
Bransdstorm maneuvered his way through a massive field of 1,988 entries and defeated Marton Czuczor heads-up to lift the EPT Main Event trophy, plus a first-place prize of €1,290,166. Czuczor, who came close to taking home Hungary’s first-ever EPT title, finished runner-up and walked away with €1,253,234, following a heads-up deal.
Final Table Results
Out of the final nine players at the final table, with the first casualties being UK’s Kully Sidhu in 9^th place for €121,760, Italy’s Pasquale Braco finished in 8^th place for €159,580 and in 7^th place was Swedish player Johan Storakers who took home €226,490.
The six remaining players returned on the final day to compete for the lion’s share of the huge €9,641,800 in total prize pool. Czuczor went on a knockout streak during the initial stages of play, sending China’s Yunye Lu in 6^th place for €295,520) and then Portuguese pro Giovani Torre in 5^th place for €364,660, He would also go on to take down Brazil’s Diego Falcone who went out in 4^th place for €436,760. All three players were eliminated within a span of just 30 minutes.
The three remaining players negotiated for a deal but couldn’t reach an agreement and decided to proceed with the action. Brandstorm took the chip lead after counterfeiting Rui Sousa’s pocket pair with ace-ten. A little while later, the chips went in on an eight-high flop and Brandstorm was able to defeat Sousa’s ten-eight with jacks. Sousa finished third and took home €607,400.
Both Brandstorm and Czuczor this time decided to chop up the money as they were both guaranteed to win over €1.2 million each regardless of the outcome. The deal saw the two players battle it out for the EPT Main Event trophy plus €77,460 in additional cash.
The quest for the title took three hours of exciting action, with both players hitting a full house during a key hand. When everything was said and done, it was Brandstorm who was crowned the champion. His total live earnings have now climbed to $2,255,594, and he now occupies the 12^th spot on Sweden’s All Time Money List.
Czuczor Tops’s Hungry’s All Time Money List
Brandstorm admitted his journey to the title was not an easy one as he had to be down several times on Day 1 before pulling off a comeback. During his heads-up battle against Czuczor, Brandstorm also encountered some bumps along the way, with the Hungarian clearly dominating the play, pulling into a 3-1 lead in the early stages of the match.
Brandstorm found a tough opponent in Czuczor, who he said was a really good player. The Swedish player admitted that he may have not played his A-Game, but the cards went in his favor. Not a bad day for Czuczor though, as he was able to win his biggest cash to date. Czuczor’s latest victory has placed him at the top of Hungary’s all-time money list.
Sweden’s Pride
Brandstorm’s victory marks Sweden’s 11^th EPT Main Event trophy. The last EPT Main Event title was brought home by Robin Ylitalo at EPT10 London almost six years ago. The inaugural EPT Barcelona Main Event was also taken down by fellow Swede Alexander Stevic back in September 2004.
Record Numbers at EPT Barcelona
This 2019 edition of the EPT Festival at Casino Barcelona created new records, with the Main Event being the biggest to date. A number of events had huge turnouts — the €1,100 EPT National attracted a huge field of 4,682 entries, while the €2,200 EPT National High Roller also drew 1,491 players and was ultimately won by Brandstorm’s friend Alexander Ivarsson. The €100,000 EPT Super High Roller recorded 64 entries, while the single-day high roller events drew decent numbers as well.
The 2019 EPT Barcelona tournament also received a lot of coverage as PokerStars decided to announce the return of the PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) in August 2020 and confirmed that it will take place in Barcelona, Spain.