PokerPages.com Poker News - PokerStars EPT Barcelona Open

It took four days, but a final table was formed at the EPT Barcelona Open. A record-breaking field of 619 players had created a prize pool of nearly €5 million, with €1.36 million going to the winner. The final eight players arrived at the Casino Barcelona Sunday afternoon with dollar signs in the eyes, some of them even had history on their mind. In the end, it was one of PokerStars own that was hoisting the first-place prize and giant winner's check.

Here's how the players stacked up heading into the final table:

Martin Nielsen -- 1.22 million
Sebastian Ruthenberg -- 1.2 million
Samuel Chartier -- 879,000
Dren Ukella -- 734,000
Fintan Gavin -- 701,000
David Kitai -- 600,000
Jason Mercier -- 526,000
David Mazzia -- 359,000

A few interesting stories were looking to take shape in the tourney's last day. American Jason Mercier held onto a short stack, but he also held onto hopes of making history. The Season IV San Remo winner had found himself at another EPT final table, his second in the last three tries. No player has captured two EPT titles. The kid from Florida was looking to be the first.

Mercier would have a tough row to hoe, though. Ahead of him in the chip counts were seven other players, including 2008 WSOP bracelet winners David Kitai and Sebastian Ruthenberg. Everyone was chasing Martin Nielsen, the Danish banker turned chip leader at Barcelona.

Play started out slow at the final table, as hours would pass before the first player hit the rail. If I told you it was Martin Nielsen, would you believe me? Well, Nielsen was the first the go, and may have nightmares about 10-10 because of it. First, Neilsen saw his tens cracked by the sixes of Mercier, allowing the American to double through. Mercier would put Nielsen out of his misery after he called the Dane's all in with the aforementioned tens. Nielsen only held a weak ace. After the board brought zero help, Nielsen was the first elimination of the day. He would not have to wait long for company.

The former chip leader would soon be joined on the rail by Samuel Chartier, a Canadian and coincidentally, the roommate of Mercier. Chartier's K-10 would come up short for the rest of his chips, earning him a 7th-place finish. Not sure if Chartier was his ride, but Mercier would follow his roomie to the rail. Mercier's historical run was riding on the strength of his pocket sevens. They were strong, but not strong enough. He ran into the queens of Fintan Gavin, forcing the former champ to settle for 6th-place and €227,000.

Daniele Mazzia of Italy managed to put on an amazing exhibition on grinding. Mazzia turned a couple big blinds into an average stack. After Mazzia dropped Dren Ukella of Germany in 5th, worth €292,000, he would find himself in four-handed play with the two recent WSOP winners, Kitai and Ruthenberg, and Gavin, the qualifier from Ireland.




	Barceloan Champ Sebastian Ruthenberg (pic from Polish Open)

Mazzia had quickly become the crowd favorite, but had perhaps gone as far as his heroic run could take him. He used that momentum to climb up one more spot, before falling in 4th. Mazzia would pick up pocket nines and run them into the pocket tens of Kitai, leaving him again with just a few chips. He would then shove with a couple of rags, only to run into the rivered straight of Ruthenberg to end his tournament.

While there was a shot of a couple bracelet winners going heads-up for the title, it wasn't meant to be. This would simply be the 'Sebastian Ruthenberg Show'. First he would double through Gavin, then he would call a reraise holding 7-5 on a 8-8-7-3-2 board to take down a nearly 2 million chip pot, good enough for the chip lead. Ruthenberg would then pick up pocket fours, potentially racing with both opponents, who each looked down at A-Q. Only Kitai would come along, and only Kitai would go broke after the fours held.

The elimination of Kitai meant Ruthenberg would take a 5-1 chip lead into heads-up play. He would use it well, calling the all in with K-9 in hand three. The would hold off the raggy 7-4 of Gavin. While Gavin would of course find a pair on the flop, his opponent would pair a king on the turn. After the river bricked, Ruthenberg had done it. Sebastian Ruthenberg, the PokerStars sponsored player, 2008 bracelet winner and former PokerStars "Shooting Star" boss, can now add EPT champ to his resume.

Here are the final table results:

1 - Sebastian Ruthenberg -- PokerStars player -- Germany -- €1,361,000 (~$1.92 million USD)
2 - Fintan Gavin -- PokerStars qualifier -- Ireland -- €792,000
3 - Davidi Kitai -- Belgium -- €455,000
4 -- Daniele Mazzia -- Italy -- €351,000
5 -- Dren Ukella -- PokerStars qualifier -- Germany -- €292,000
6 -- Jason Mercier -- PokerStars player -- United States -- €227,000
7 -- Samuel Chartier -- PokerStars qualifier -- Canada -- €178,000
8 -- Martin Nielsen -- Denmark -- €119,000

Click here to read more EPT summary coverage.

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