British poker legend Barny etched his name in poker history by emerging victorious in the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris €5,300 no-limit hold’em main event. The tournament, with a massive field of 1,747 entries, marked as the sixth-largest EPT field ever, spanned across two starting flights and five more days to crown a champion in Barny Boatman. The 68-year-old British poker pro became the oldest player ever to win the EPT Main Event title, securing a career-best €1,287,800.
This landmark victory surpassed his previous top score of $546,080 earned for winning a $1,500 buy-in event at the 2013 World Series of Poker and took Boatman’s live earnings to a whopping $5,478,616.
“This doesn’t feel real. It’s way the biggest result I’ve had in poker, nothing’s close.I’m just very happy. I’ve been in quite a few finals where I’ve never quite got the job done. All that was needed was for me to run like god, especially three-handed,” Boatman told PokerStars reporters after his main event win.
The huge turnout resulted in $9,038,000 in prize money, with the top 255 finishers each earning a share. Plenty of notables cashed the tournament, including India’s two Indian players, Sahil Chuttani (78th place for €17,250), and Santhosh Suvarna (139th for €13,100), who recently won the €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em VI of the series.
Several big names ran deep in the event, including EPT champion Dimitar Danchev (16th), 2022 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas winner Eliot Hudon (11th), Farid Jattin (10th), and Aussie Millions main event champion Ami Barer (7th), but only six players advanced to the final day.
Germany’s David Kaufmann entered the final day as a chip leader, with 47% of chips in his stack. Boatman was third in chips but he added to his stack early on when he won a hand with pocket kings vs Queen-Eight of Eric Afriat, who walked away with $282,582 for his exit in sixth place.
2023 EPT Paris main event runner-up Peter Jorgne bowed out in fifth place when his A-9 failed to outrun the 8-7 suited of two-time bracelet winner Aleksejs Ponakovs. The Latvian turned an eight-high straight, ending Jorgne’s run in fifth place for $367,308. The next player to fall was the UK’s Owen Dodd whose pocket deuces were unable to outflip the A-10 of Kaufmann. The small pair held until the turn, but an ace on the river ended Dodd’s run in fourth place ($477,522).
Boatman overtook the lead during three-handed action, winning a big pot with a full house and from there he continued to pull away. Ponakovs and Kaufmann eventually got involved in a big preflop clash that saw Ponakov come down to just two big blinds. He managed to win a couple of pots, but was soon at risk again with his Ace-Eight losing against pocket threes of Kauffman on the Q-10-7-5-10 runout. Ponakovs was eliminated in third place ($620,838).
Heads-up play saw Boatman holding more than a 2:1 chip lead over Kaufmann. The heads-up concluded in just two hands. On the final hand, Boatman shoved with Jd 2d on a 9s Jh 6s 5d board and Kaufmann called with Ad 9c for a pair of nines. The Qc landed on the river to lock up the pot and the title for Boatman. Kaufmann was awarded $869,130 as the second-place finisher.
Final Table Payouts (Euro)
- Barny Boatman – $1,390,824
- David Kaufmann – $869,130
- Aleksejs Ponakovs – $620,838
- Owen Dodd – $477,522
- Peter Jorgne – $367,308
- Eric Afriat – $282,582
Keep following PokerproNews for the latest news and results from live poker tournaments across the world!
