The PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo, just as its predecessor the EPT Grand Final, features a plethora of exciting tournaments and the €10,300 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max is a bright example to this statement. The tournament was played on May 1-2, attracting both Pot-Limit Omaha experts and recreational players.
Imad Derwiche, a player who calls himself a non-professional, despite a hefty bankroll of over $1.6 million, bested the event’s field to win a PokerStars spade-like trophy and €174,600 in prize money.
The French player scooped the title after tough three-handed play against poker pros Sampo Ryynanen and Sylvain Loosli. Derwiche himself called the three-way confrontation a battle between two professionals and a fish, with him being the fish.
The tournament’s champion told PokerStars staff moments after his victory that he has only been playing for fun. According to Derwiche, a non-professional beating so many tough competitors meant that everybody can win in poker, which was good for the game.
Ryynanen and Loosli were not the only obstacles on Derwiche’s road to victory. The player actually emerged the victor over a field of 59 other entries, including prominent poker names like Anthony Zinno, who busted before the bubble.
The tournament generated a prize pool of €582,000, which was split to the eight finalists, min-cash totaling €23,300. Canada’s Mike Watson was the player to collect the first payout. Dominykas Karmazinas finished 7th, good for €29,700. Konstantinos Bouloutsos, Minh Phuc Nguyen, and Ami Barer took 6th, 5th, and 4th places for €37,200, €47,700, and €61,700, respectively. Sylvain Loosli and Sampo Ryynanen, Derwiche’s final opponents, finished 3rd and 2nd, taking home €81,500 and €126,300 for their efforts.
Derwiche may be playing poker only occasionally but he is certainly no stranger to big poker events. In fact, he has taken part in several tournaments on the schedule of previous EPT Grand Final festivals and has made it to the money on a number of occasions.
In 2015, the player finished runner-up to Charlie Carrel in the EPT Season 11 Grand Final €25,500 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller for €750,000, his career’s largest cash. A year later, he took 8th place in the €25,750 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller for another six-figure payout of €147,710. Overall, the player has cashed in 32 tournaments so far, winning $1,614,972 in those.
The first-ever PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo continues today with several events to be played at the tables of Monte-Carlo Casino, the €5,300 Main Event being among those. The tournament’s original field of 727 entries has been reduced to just 45 players who are set to return today. Michael Kolkowicz is leading the hopefuls into Day 4 with 1,445,000 in chips. Notables like Davidi Kitai, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, and Dan Smith are still in contention, among other poker pros and professionals from all around Europe and the rest of the world.
