Sebastian Malec played a PokerStars qualifier for €27 and parlayed that into €1.1 million. The 21-year old amateur from Poland survived a field of 1,785 players to win the EPT13 Bracelona Main Event. Malec, a self-professed EPT fanboy, shipped €1,122,800 for first place when he defeated Germany's Uri Reichenstein heads-up for the win. British pro Adam Owen finished in third place. Malec was so moved by the victory, he burst into tears. Meanwhile, in the last event of the Barcelona series, Connor Drinan won the €10K High Rollers event and took home a score worth nearly €850K.
All it takes is a dollar a dream. Okay, how about €27 and a dream to win an EPT event for over €1 million? Sebastian Malec was only nine-years old back in Poland when the European Poker Tour kicked off its first season back in 2004. Over the last dozen years, Malec took a shining to the game of poker became an avid watcher of the EPT. How big? He's a self-proclaimed EPT fanboy and loved it so much he couldn't wait to take a crack at playing in one of the events. He bought into a €27 qualifier on PokerStars and parlayed that into a seat into the €5,300 buy-in EPT13 Barcelona Main Event. Once Malec got to the Main Event, he didn't just flame out on the first or second day like the majority of the field. Malec embarked on a deep run and secured himself a min-cash. But his wild ride wasn't over yet. Just when you thought the sharks would swallow the rookie whole, he kept his run going and he found himself at the final table. You'd think he'd totally run out of gas, or lose his mud under the bright lights of the final table? Nope. Malec went all the way to the promised land on his first shot. From online qualifier to EPT champion. Yeah, it only takes €27 a dream!
Seven different countries were represented among the final seven players at the EPT13 Barcelona Main Event. When the dust settled, Poland emerged the victorious country and one of its youngest and biggest poker fans won €1,122,800 and the first stop on the EPT13 in Barcelona. British pro and mixed game specialist Adam Owen had some of the most experience among the other final table players, and despite the fact he didn't have the big stack, he was still one of the favorite to win. Alas, Owen lost a big hand that ended up costing him a shot at the title. Owen, who was in a tough spot with K-Q against K-K. He lost most of his stack after making a bad read in a monsterpotten against Uri Reichenstein. Owen busted in third place for a €646K score.
Heads-up got down to Uri Reichenstein (Germany) vs. Sebastian Malec (Poland). During their fight to the death, it seemed like neither player could knock out the other. They came close...multiple times…but neither could finish off the job. Then it happened… the decisive hand in which Malec turned a heart flush and Reichenstein turned a straight. All the money went all-in on the river. While Reichenstein was in the tank, Malec engaged in some unusual behavior that made for great TV, but flirted the line of poor etiquette. At one point, Malec stood up and quoted Scotty Ngyuen's infamous line:"You call now and it's all over baby!" Malec also stood up from the table, walked away and took a selfie with someone on the rail. When he sauntered back to the table, Reichenstein called...and it reall was all over. Malec's flush prevailed and the young superfan and online qualifier from Poland shipped €1,122,800. He was brought to tears once the reality of the situation sunk in. Read the full report over at PokerStars Blog.
EPT13 Barcelona Main Event
Buy-in: €5,300
Entrants: 1,785
Prize Pool: €8,657,250
Final Table Results:
1. Sebastian Malec (Poland) €1,122,800
2. Uri Reichenstein (Germany) €807,100
3. Adam Owen (UK) €646,250
4. Thomas De Rooij (Netherlands) €535,100
5. Zorlu Er (Turkey) €431,550
6. Andreas Chalkiadakis(Greece) €330,290
7. Harcharan Dogra Dogra (Spain) €230,950
Over in the €10K High Roller event, three tables of players returned to fight it out for the last HR event on the docket in Barcelona. Connor Drinan faded a field of 591 high rollers to win €849,200. After an hour of heads-up play, he picked off Mihails Morozovs to win. Drinan's final table also included Kyle Keranen, Ari Engel, Joe Cheong, Pat Leonard, Oleksii Khoroshenin, and Pascal Hartmann. Anthony Zinno, David Kitai, and Damian Salas went deep but just missed the final table. Read the final table recap over at PokerStars Blog.