Stephen Song Crowned EPT Barcelona Main Event Champion; Nasreddine Finishes 4th

In September 2004, it was Sweden’s Alexander Stevic who etched his name in poker history by winning the first-ever champion of the EPT Main Event for €80,000. Over 20 years later, it is now the USA’s Stephen Song taking down the Poker Stars EPT Barcelona €5,300 EPT Main Event and becoming the second American player to win the Main Event title in Barcelona in EPT history. The first American to win this prestigious title was Carter Phillips, who emerged as the champion of 2009 EPT Barcelona Main Event to win €850,000 after outlasting Marc Goodwin in heads-up.

2024 European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event Recap

Following two starting flights and six more days of action, the 2024 EPT Barcelona Main Event drew in an impressive 1975 entries, generating a massive €9,578,750 and making it the fourth largest main event in EPT history. In the end, Stephen Song  emerged as the champion and took home a life-changing €1,290,386, following a heads-up deal with the UK’s Andrew Hulme who banked €1,165,614.

While this was Song’s first title of the year, he was already an accomplished pro with a WSOP bracelet, a WPT Prime Championship, and an EPT side event victory to his name. He was even named the GPI Player of the Year in 2022 but this win happens to be the most notable achievement of his career, marking his career-best score and taking his live tournament earnings to a whopping $7,967,683.

The top 287  players were paid out in this event with a min-cash worth €8,700. The money bubble burst on Day 3, leaving the remaining 287 players in the money. Plenty of big names cashed including Poker Hall of Famer, Erik Seidel (252nd for €8700), Sweden’s online crusher, Niklas Astedt (234th for €8700), and PokerStars’ ambassador Parker Talbot (187th for €10,050), former EPT Main Event champ Simon Wiciak who fell in 36th for €26,900. He was followed by Hong Kong’s Timothy Chung (34th for €26,900) and WSOP bracelet winner Jack Sinclair (26th for €36,000).

Sriharsha Doddapaneni’s Dream Run Ends in 12th for a Career-Best €89,550

By day 6, only 16 players remained. Each of them was guaranteed at least €62,150, but they all were eyeing the massive top prize. The day wasn’t to be for Dutch duo Metaal and Moene as they became the first eliminations of the day, falling in 16th and 15th places for €62,150 and €74,600, respectively.

Indian poker sensation Sriharsha Doddapaneni who started the day with a middling stack was looking to make history by becoming the first champion of the event but he lost a significant chunk of his chips early against chip leader Rania Nasreddine. He fought back but then ran his king-jack into Stephen Song`s ace-king, which ended his dream run in 12th place, good for a career-best €89,550 (INR 83.56 Lakhs).

The final table was reached after Harry Lodge exited in 10th place (€107,450) after his ace-jack lost to king-jack of David Coleman in a brutal runout. Rania Nasreddine scored the first two final table eliminations by first taking out Fabiano Kovalski and then busting China’s Jianwei Lin.

The final six returned on Sunday (September 8) to battle it out for one of the coveted titles and the top prize. It was Nasreddine who scored the first elimination by busting Kuzmanovic in sixth place (€306,900). Kuzmanovic ran his king-jack into the ace-king of Nasreddine and did not find any help from the board. There were three Americans on the final table and David Coleman became the first elimination of the three after he ran his jack-nine into pocket queens of Andrew Hulme.

The second American to fall was none other than Nasreddine, the only lady on the final table.  This was her back-to-back EPT Main Event final table, following his third place finish in EPT Monte Carlo Main Event this year.

Nasreddine Makes Back-To-Back Final Table, Finishing 4th for A Career-Best €518,600

 Nasreddine was looking to surpass her third-place finish for €442,900) in the Monte Carlo EPT Main Event, but fell in 4th place. She did not have a good start to the final table as she ran into aces on the first hand of Day 7. However, she  rivered full house shortly after that, and further solidified her position at the final table after busting Boris Kuzmanovic with Big Slick.

She lost her majority of chips during level 36 against Marius-Catalin Pertea who shoved with nine-eight and Nasreddine called with a dominating ace-king. She was ahead till the turn but the brutal river 9c saved Pertea, leaving Nasreddine on fumes. She could not recover and her dream of becoming the fourth female EPT Main Event champion ended in fourth place for a career-best score of  €518,600. In her final hand, her ace-three lost in a three-way pot against Andrew Hulme and Stephen Song.

Romania’s Marius-Catalin Pertea had sattied his way via a $55 buy-in qualifier and turned his $55 buy-in into €674,150. He eventually open-jammed with pocket fives and was called by Andrew Hulme with ace-six. A six on the river ended his EPT Barcelona Main Event run in third place.

The heads-up saw Song and Hulme clashing for the title. The duo quickly struck a deal. Song held a sligh lead and secured €1,233,586, while Hulme pocketed €1,165,614. With both players claiming their payouts, they battled it out for the title, the trophy, and an additional €56,800. Following a back-and-forth battle, it all ended when Song open-jammed with Ac 7h and Hulme called with 8d 8h.  The board ran out 5d 3d 6c 4s 9d, giving Song a straight to win the coveted main event title.

2024 EPT Barcelona Main Event Final Table Payouts (EURO)

A Look Back at European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event Winners

The first-ever PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) in Barcelona took place in 2004 and featured only 5 events. The first edition crowned Alexander Stevic as its main event champion. From its humble beginnings to today’s extensive schedule, the tour has come a long way. Here is a quick look at the main event winners so far.

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Images & Hands Credit: PokerStars/PokerNews