The 2016 European Poker Tour Barcelona €5,300 no-limit hold’em main event drew a record turnout of 1,785 entries to construct a €8,657,250 prize pool. Attracting the biggest main event field in EPT history seemed a fitting method to celebrate the general Barcelona stop of the tour, so one can be undergo rebranding in 2017.

Polish online qualifier Sebastian Malec emerged victorious within the end, capturing his first EPT title and the €1,122,800 ($1,258,210 USD) first-place prize. He won his way into this event starting with a €27 satellite.

The 21-year-old former competitive chess player is among the youngest EPT champions ever and only the third player from his home country to win a major event at the tour behind 2014 EPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure champion Dominik Panka and this year’s EPT Dublin winner Dmitry Urbanovic.

In addition to the championship trophy and the money Malec was also awarded 2,160 Card Player Player of the Year points. That is his first POY-qualified score of the year, however it alone is sufficient to catapult him into 51st place within the overall standings.

Malec came into the general day of this event in third chip position with seven players remaining. The chip leader heading into the overall table was German resident Uri Reichenstein. Malec eliminated the United Kingdom’s Adam Owen in third place (€646,250) to establish a heads-up showdown with the 28-year-old Reichenstein, who began with roughly a 3-to-2 chip advantage.

The two played for over five hours before the general hand arose. With blinds of 300,000 – 600,000 with an ante of 100,000 Malec limped with the A3 and Reichenstein checked his option with the 109. The flop brought the QJ6 to present both players draws. Reichenstein bet 800,000 and Malec raised to three million. Reichenstein called and the turn brought the 8, giving Reichenstein the straight but Malex the ace-high flush. Malec bet 5 million and Reichenstein called. The 8 at the river prompted Malec to transport all-in and after a variety of thought Reichenstein made the decision. His hand was second best and he was eliminated in second place, earning €807,100 ($904,436 USD)for his deep run.

Here is a glance on the payouts and POY points awarded to the overall table:

Place	Player	Earnings (USD)	POY Points
1	Sebastian Malec	$1,258,210	2160
2	Uri Reichenstein	$904,436	1800
3	Adam Owen	$724,188	1440
4	Thomas De Rooij	$599,633	1080
5	Zorlu Er	$483,595	900
6	Andreas Chalkiadakis	$370,123	720
7	Harcharan Dogra Dogra	$258,803	540
8	Pavel Plesuv	$185,964	360

Winner photo courtesy of PokerStars / Neil Stoddart.

Read More... [Source: CardPlayer Poker News]