Olivier Busquet has won the 2014 European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Super High Roller event, beating out his own protégé, Daniel Colman, for a €896,434 ($1.18 million USD) first-place payout.
The win breaks a dubious streak for the popular Busquet, who has won more than $4.5 million in live tournament earnings, but had never won a major tournament outside of the United States.
Now, Busquet can claim victory over one of the more impressive fields of the year for a seven-figure payday.
The Final Table
The three-day EPT11 Barcelona Super High Roller event had a buy-in of €50,000 ($66,340 USD) with 58 players entering, with 19 of them eventually purchasing a re-entry.
This specific run by Busquet, where he went from being a 99-1 underdog at the flop, to winning that hand and then knocking out two competitors holding aces, was seen as many as the primary reason Busquet was able to take down the event.
The final table saw Morten Klein from Norway lead the way with 3.74 million in chips, with Russian Vladimir Troyanovskiy in a close second with 3.37 million.
Sven Reichardt was in third place with 3.225 million, followed by eventual winner Busquet with a little more than 2 million at the table.
Also finding themselves at the final table included this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) Big One for One Drop winner Daniel Colman, plus Sam Trickett, who finished in second place at the Big One’s inaugural event.
Poker notables Scott Seiver and Dan Shak were also at the table, along with Mustapha Kanit.
Reichardt was the first to eliminate a competitor, as his call of Kanit’s pre-flop shove was a mistake as his A-8 was dominated against A-Q. However, an 8 flopped and Kanit could not improve to be eliminated in 9th place.
A monumental hand would take place a little later on Hand 36, when Reichardt raised pre-flop and Busquet came over the top with just A-2 suited. Reichardt insta-called with pocket cowboys and was thrilled to see a flop of 8-8-K for a flopped boat. The only way Busquet could win the hand, and save his life in the tournament, was to get runner-runner Aces, and that’s exactly what happened to the shock of all those in attendance.
Dan Shak fell in 8th place when his A-8 could not beat Busquet’s pocket aces just six hands later. Shortly thereafter, Busquet would eliminate another with the same hand, this time sending Morten Klein to the rail.
This specific run by Busquet, where he went from being a 99-1 underdog at the flop, to winning that hand and then knocking out two competitors holding aces, was seen as many as the primary reason Busquet was able to take down the event.
Reichardt moved all-in with pocket tens on the 64th hand of final table play, but Colman had him beat with kings, which held up to eliminate Reichardt in 6th place. On the very next hand, Colman eliminated Scott Seiver and took the chip lead.
On the hand after that, Busquet dispatched Troyanovskiy in third place.
Heads-Up Between Mentor and Protégé
The wild sequence of events at the final table, with Busquet running so good and three eliminations coming on three consecutive hands, created a tremendous buzz around the heads-up match. Busquet, a popular pro who had never won a major tournament outside his native United States, had a 10.48 million to 8.77 million chip lead over his protégé Dan Colman.
During the break, the two friends made a deal that saw Busquet receive €866,434 ($1.18 million USD) and Colman €843,066 ($1.11 million USD), with €30,000 ($39,804 USD) left on the table to play for, along with the title of champion and accompanying trophy.
The heads-up match took almost as many hands as it did to get heads-up at the final table. Colman was able to take the lead early, but Busquet recovered and won many small pots to extend a noticeable lead. Eventually, Colman three-bet pre-flop with big slick, which was called by Busquet’s Q-J. The flop saw the fateful queen drop and Colman’s hand was never able to improve, giving Busquet the win.
After the tournament was completed, Busquet told the official PokerStars blog, “Honestly, it just feels so good. I have had a bunch of second places on the EPT so to win one feels amazing. Dan is probably the best heads-up player in the world but obviously anything could happen.”
Final Table Results
- Olivier Busquet , €896,434 ($1.18 million USD)
- Daniel Colman, €843,066 ($1.11 million USD)
- Vladimir Troyanovskiy, €473,200 ($627,848 USD)
- Scott Seiver, €364,200 ($483,226 USD)
- Sam Trickett, €288,400 ($382,653 USD)
- Sven Reichardt, €225,500 ($299,196 USD)
- Morten Klein, €177,500 ($235,509 USD)
- Dan Shak, €138,600 ($183,896 USD)
