So many players entered the Estrellas Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event that an extra day had to be added, which meant Lucien Cohen had to wait an extra 24 hours before he won the PokerStars trophy and €676,230 ($735,568).
It’s the Frenchman’s second largest score, behind the $1,197,719 he won at the 5,300 EPT Deauville Main Event in 2011.
The €1,100 EPTB Main Event brought in 7,398 entries (4,107 rebuys), which made the field the largest for a live PokerStars event, beating last year’s ESPT Barcelona Main Event by more than 1,000 entries.
The numbers and the largest prize pool of more than $7.7 million were accomplished through eight starting flights and online satellites.
The EPTB is PokerStars’ series that focus on distinct regions like Brazil, France, UK and Ireland, Spain and counties in Asia. Estrellas, for the singularly linguistic like myself, means “stars” in Spanish.
Ratman to the finish
Cohen, who calls himself the “Rat Man” because he runs an extermination business, pushes his lifetime winnings up and over the $2.5 million mark with the win in Spain. An amateur that has been on the tournament circuit for two decades, he’s ranked 29th in all-time cashes for France.
A bit outlandish, and surely eccentric, he often goads his opponents into action by dancing, singing silly songs, and playing the role of a gnat — always buzzing, buzzing. No matter, he clearly enjoys himself whenever the cameras are aimed his direction.
Cohen was the most accomplished player of the final eight and he won it wearing a shirt with a brown stain on it. A player spilled coffee on him days earlier in the tournament, Cohen took it as a sign of good luck, and wore the same shirt from the start to the finish.
Runner-up Ferdinando D’Alessio bagged his largest live cash by nearly 10 times.
The same goes for Petros Karadimos. This is his fourth cash in a live tournament, according to the Hendon Mob. Welcome to the game, buddy!
Danilo Velasevic put himself a whisker away from the $1 million lifetime tournament cash mark with his fourth-place finish here.
Ankit Ahuja has been cashing tournaments since 2011. This is his second-largest tournament score since winning a $1,100 DeepStack Championship Poker Series event in 2019 for $330,000.
Avihai Smadga didn’t have a five-figure cash before finishing sixth here. He was the runner-up in a $440 World Poker Tour event in Amsterdam in 2018.
Parker Talbot has cashed in EPT events since 2011 and has some success — $1.2 million worth — but never won a title.
And this was Igor Kaufman’s only cash, according to the Hendon Mob. I’d put a link up, but there’s nothing there except a single listing.
Final table of ESPT Barcelona Main Event
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lucien Cohen | France | €676,230 ($735k) |
| 2 | Ferdinando D’Alessio | Belgium | €415,320 ($451k) |
| 3 | Petros Karadimos | Greece | €294,620 ($320k) |
| 4 | Danilo Velasevic | Serbia | €232,090 ($252k) |
| 5 | Ankit Ahuja | India | €177,810 ($193k) |
| 6 | Avihai Smadga | Israel | €136,850 ($148k) |
| 7 | Parker Talbot | Canada | €105,590 ($114k) |
| 8 | Igor Kaufman | Israel | €81,230 ($88k) |
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