Tuomo Niskanen wins €2,200 EPT National in Barcelona

After Mikita Badziakouski shipped the €100k Super High Roller, it was time to find our next champion at the European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona tournament series. The winner of the €2,200 EPT National High Roller was crowned after just 2 days of play at the Casino Barcelona.

A 1,527-entry strong field registered to the tournament, which whittled down to the final 229 survivors after Day 1. Surprisingly, these survivors were all wiped out by the end of Day 2, with Finland’s Tuomo Niskanen striking a deal in heads-up when he had a smaller chip stack, but eventually being crowned as the champion.

He may have later regretted striking a deal in heads-up, as he took home a prize of €368,925 (~INR 3.02 crore), which was actually less than what the runner-up was awarded. Uruguay’s Brian Kaufman finished second after an initial heads-up lead, but he took away a bigger prize of €432,135.

“I wasn’t even going to play this event, because I was sick all week. A friend told me yesterday that I should play, and I signed up,” said Niskanen after winning the trophy and a career-best live cash, beating his previous best of just around $21k which he won for finishing second in the European Poker Series of SPA earlier this month.

He registered his first live cash in April this year and has already shipped a major international title, getting a good head-start to his live poker career. On the other hand, Kaufman has way more experience in live poker, with this victory taking his winnings past the $1 million mark and taking him to the #2 position on Uruguay’s all-time poker earnings list.

Final table results:

1. Tuomo Niskane – €368,925
2. Brian Kaufman – €432,135
3. Ignacio Barcenas – €205,040
4. Marton Czuczor – €151,880
5. Milad Oghabian – €119,560
6. Oleh Okhotskyi – €90,120
7. Leonardo Patacconi – €65,980
8. Bernardo Dias – €45,100

The top 229 players finished in the money here, with a minimum cash of €3,360, and India’s Mayank Saxena finished 100th in this tournament for a prize of €5,560 (~INR 4.55 lakh), bettering his run in the €1,100 EPT National. Keep reading GutshotMagazine.com for similar updates on the biggest poker tournaments from around the world.

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