Uruguayan Success In EPT Barcelona Event

The World Series of Poker may have finished, but the events on the European Poker Tour are coming thick and fast at the moment. There was more exciting action at the table this weekend, as the Poker Stars and Barcelona Casino European Poker Tour Barcelona kicked off with a huge Mystery Bounty event worth €114,080.

It was an exciting event, and many number of high quality players were involved in the competition. However, the event came down to two players, with Francisco Benitez finally getting the better of Igor Yaroshevskyy after a short heads up challenge to determine the winner.

Benitez Claims Dominant Success

While the European Poker Tour offers a chance for the players based in Europe to claim big prize purses, this week’s event was headlined by a certain South American. Uruguayan Francisco Benitez managed to hold his nerve throughout the competition, and ensured that a victory was a formality by the time that the heads-up challenge got underway. The heads up challenge was a brief encounter between Benitez and Yaroshevskyy, with the South American managing to come through to take the returns of €114,080.

It was another big victory for the Uruguayan, as he now sits third on the all-time money list for players from the country. In total, he has won over $1.2 million during his career, and this success was among one of the biggest that he has achieved. It was just short of his all-time best, which remains the $116,263 that he won a number of years ago.

Benitez has now won two poker events this year, with his previous success coming on Brazilian soil, as he won the BSOP Main Event in June to pick up returns of $107,754. In the WSOP itself, Benitez cashed out twice, winning $80,000 in the No Limit Hold’em High Roller, and $4,487 in the Super Turbo event in July.

Final Standings

It was a welcome sight to see in the event in Barcelona back on the calendar, as it had been missing from the European Tour for three years. Many players looked to get involved in the action, with 91 players in total involved throughout the event. The field ensured that a prize pool of $882,700 was on offer for the players, with the top ten finishers taking the majority of the purse. Yaroshevskyy finished the event in second, and he picked up €73,610 in prize money for his performance.

Swedish player Anton Suarez finished in third place overall, and won €52,560. Joris Ruijs and Bruno Volkmann rounded off the remaining players in the top five, with the latter of the stars winning €32,340. Arthur Conan for France was sixth, while Yazan Mdanat from Jordan finished in seventh overall. Igor Pihela finished in eighth and picked up €16,560. Meanwhile, the final player to finish on the final table was Gabriel Moura, who won €13,250 in prize money for his effort.