Short Stack to Champion at EPT Barcelona! Sylvain Berthelot Wins Estrellas Main Event

French player Sylvain Berthelot has won his first-ever maiden Main Event title at the PokerStars 2024 EPT Barcelona’s €1,100 buy-in ($1,181) NLH Estrellas Main Event for a six-figure sum of €499,224 ($558,828), and the beautiful EPT trophy. 

In the three-handed battle, Berthelot, Santiago Nadal, and Martin Zamani reached an ICM deal. This wasn’t a surprise as both Berthelot and Nadal would secure a career-best score, while Zamani would score another six-figure after a year. Players confirmed a certain payout on the base of Chip stacks with €45,100 remaining for the eventual winner in the heads-up. 

The 2024 Estrellas Main Event drew a field of 7,138, creating a massive prize pool of €6,852,480 ($7,670,629). The top 1,066 finishers got a piece from the prize pool, with the top 7 cashing six figures. Here is the 2024 ESPT Main Event final table recap and standings.

The 2024 ESPT Main Event Final Table Recap and Players Standings 

The staggering 7k field was narrowed down to 19 by the end of Day 3. The Final Day 4 began with Santiago Nadal holding most of the chip stack, while Sylvain Berthelot was nowhere to be found among the top 10 in Chip count. 

Fresh off from his runner-up finish in the €10,200 Mystery Bounty Event, Ren Lin exited on the final table bubble, banking €50,590 for his 10th place finish. The final table was formed with players from 9 different countries, all aiming to finish in 1st place. 

Santiago Nadal entered the final table as the chip leader, followed by Martin Zamani in second place and Sylvain Berthelot in fourth place. Sweden’s Magnus Persson was the first to exit the final table in 9th place for €61,680. 

Table short Johannes Verhagen busted out in 8th place, as he shoved the last of his stack in the middle with A-4, only to get called by Jean Benvenga holding K-Q. Benvenga flopped two pairs, eliminating Johannes Verhgaen for €79,400.

Stanislovas Vinicenka was in the danger zone with just 10 BBs. He shoved all in with A-3 and Martin Zamani from the cutoff called the all-in with 6-3. The board ran out 4-3-K-7-5, and Zamani won the hand with a straight. Vinicenka collected €104,500 for his 7th-place finish. On the next hand, Zamani sent Francesco Macri to the rail in 6th place for €136,400. 

One hour later, Martin Zamani moved all in with 4-2 from the small blind and table short Jean Benvenga snap-called with A-3. The board came out K-4-3-5-4, giving Zamani trip fours. Jean Benvenga received €137,000 for his 5th place final table finish.

The four-handed play lasted over 2 hours until PokerStars Ambassador Parker Talbot was eliminated in 4th place. During the four-handed play, Sylvain Berthelot doubled up through Parker Talbot, leaving him short for the tournament. 

Talbot then soon moved all in with A-10, and Zamani called it with 9-7. The flop came out 9-4-9, giving Zamani trip nines. The turn card was revealed to be 10, straightening the board. Unfortunately, the river card was Q, ending the deep run of Talbot in 4th place for €227,000. 

After a quick break, the remaining 3 players agreed to an ICM deal, which fixed an amount for the top 3. But they still battle for the extra €45,100. Although Zamani held the chip lead, the role was reversed as Berthelot took the chip lead. 

Zamani went all-in with A-4, and Berthelot called the all-in with A-Q. Zamani’s luck ran out. He couldn’t hit a flop on the board, which ended his dominating run in 3rd place for €463,250.

Both Berthelot and Nadal nearly hold the same chip stack with a not-so-big lead. But just 10 minutes into the heads-up, Berthelot eliminated the Mexican player Santiago Nadal in 2nd place for €394,526.

On the final hand, Nadal opened with K♣︎J♣︎ against Berthelot’s K♦4♦. The flop came out A♦Q♥︎6♦, and Berthelot check-called Nadal’s bet. The turn 10 gave Nadal a Broadway straight hand, but his opponent already made a nut flush. River card K changed nothing, but Berthelot went all in. 

Nadal thought for some seconds but ultimately called it, only to see Berthelot’s nut flush. Nadal received €394,526 for his runner-up finish. With this victory, Nadal exceeded the $2 million mark in career earnings.

Sylvain Berthelot, who has nearly $10k in live earnings, now added €499,224 to his live earnings.

Three Indian Score Cash Finishes 

Several Indians competed in this event, with three of them scoring cash finishes on Day 2. Raviteja Obili had the deepest run of the trio, finishing 286th for €5,180, while two-time POY India winner Ankit Ahuja (750th for €2,230) and Krishna Madhariwar (1,061st for €1,800) also cashed, adding to India’s strong showing at the series

Keep following PokerProNews for the latest updates and results from the EPT Barcelona.

Images & Hands Courtesy: PokerStars/EPT/PokerNews