The PokerStars Championship Barcelona has become the successor of the highly popular Barcelona stop of the European Poker Tour. The sun-kissed Spanish city had annually played host to the festival since the EPT brand was created in the 2000s.
The inaugural edition of the PokerStars Championship Barcelona was marred by revolting terror attacks that left many dead and injured. However, the pervasive power of lawlessness and the unmotivated acts against humanity once again did not provide their desired effect – to break the spirit of those affected, to destroy faith in humanity and in life beyond terror.
The PokerStars Championship Barcelona took place at Casino Barcelona from August 15-27. Its schedule included 51 events with different buy-ins, those going all the way up to €50,000. The festival attracted poker professionals and enthusiasts from all around the world who were keen to try their luck and skills against each and other and potentially win a tournament or at least a bigger share of attractive prize pools. And here are some of the biggest winners at this year’s edition of the festival.
Igor Kurganov
It can be said that the Russian poker pro has had a good summer so far. The player won his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet during the 48th annual edition of the WSOP. And what is more, he captured the precious piece of WSOP jewelery together with his partner in life – UK player Liv Boeree. The two poker pros topped the field of the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Tag Team Championship.
As for Kurganov’s performance during the PokerStars Championship Barcelona, the player cashed in a single event over the course of the major festival. However, that event was the €50,000 Super High Roller, or the highest buy-in tournament on the schedule. The Russian collected €1,084,100 for his terrific performance.
Kurganov emerged the victor from a field of 86 entries to collect the lion’s share of the €4,129,290 prize pool.
Sebastian Sorensson
A live tournament poker newbie winning a large-scale event is not a frequent occurrence on the felt, but it is also not something unseen. The winner of the inaugural PokerStars Championship Barcelona €5,300 Main Event was exactly a newbie to the world of live poker. However, he performed beautifully and although he faced much more experienced live players over the course of the tournament and particularly at its final table, he managed to eventually scoop the title.
Sorensson was supposed to win more than €1.4 million for his first-place finish in the Main Event. However, the player struck a three-way deal with Bulgaria’s Lachezar Petkov and Italy’s Raffaele Sorrentino at the beginning of three-handed play and was eventually paid the amount of €987,043, which was not a bad payout for a rookie.
The first-ever PokerStars Championship Barcelona €5,300 Main Event attracted 1,682 entries, who generated a prize pool of €8,157,700 to beat the guaranteed €7-million prize pool.
Stephen Chidwick
The English poker pro made two in-the-money finishes during the PokerStars Championship Barcelona, locking two six-figure payouts. The player first topped the field of the €25,500 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed for a first-place prize of €690,400. Chidwick remained the last man standing from a field of 112 entries. The player collected the largest payout from a prize pool of €2,744,000.
Several days later, the player had the very chance to win another €25,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournament. However, that one was not meant for him to win. He took third place instead for a total of €220,700. Thus, Chidwick completed the inaugural Barcelona championship with a total of €911,100 in his poker bankroll.
Ronny Kaiser
The Swiss player was the winner of the €10,300 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller. He had to overcome competition from 557 tournament entries before capturing the title and the first-place prize of €735,000. His payout was determined through a three-way deal with Austria’s Markus Dürnegger and France’s Benjamin Pollak. The other two players collected €729,299 and €688,701, respectively.
As mentioned above, the tournament saw 557 entries who created a prize pool of €5,402,900.
Pedro Cairat
Argentina’s Pedro Cairat was another relative tournament poker newbie who won big from the first edition of the PokerStars Championship Barcelona. The player won the €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em for €432,178. He, too, agreed to a three-way deal with his last two remaining opponents – Romania’s Marius-Alexandru Gicovanu and Belgium’s Bart Lybaert. The other two players received €372,349 and €368,473, respectively.
Here it is also important to note that Cairat emerged as the champion from a field of 4,557 entries. The great interest in the tournament eventually generated a prize pool of €4,420,290 to beat the originally announced prize pool of €4 million.
