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A stunning comeback reaped massive dividends for French pro Sylvain Loosli tonight when he became the EPT12 Barcelona €50k Super High Roller champion - for a hefty €1,224,000 first prize.
When play reached seven-handed (from a record-breaking field of 99 entries), almost nobody would have bet on the Frenchman who - at one point - was down to less than four big blinds. All-in preflop, and just one card away from elimination, he spiked what he needed on the river, made a double through EPT Player of the Year Dzmitry Urbanovich and survived.
It was this same pair who remained in contention for the title after Steve O'Dwyer, Ivan Luca, Michael Egan, JC Alvarado and Christoph Vogelsang all departed one by one. Loosli and Urbanovich were on pretty much equal terms when the heads-up started and a massive 100-strong rail gathered to watch the duel, but the 28-year-old Frenchman never allowed his eight year younger rival to seize the lead.
After the final hand, Loosli not only secured himself a ton of money (taking his live tournament winnings up to $4.8 million) but also jumped up two places in the French all-time money list (from sixth to fourth). The better part of Loosli's earnings before now came two years ago at the World Series of Poker; he made the Main Event November Nine, scooping $2,792,533 for fourth place. Adding another 7-figure payday today is a stylish way to celebrate his first ever live tournament triumph.
Loosli's final opponent deserves almost the same round of applause. Over the last few months, few players have been discussed as much as Dzmitry Urbanovich. His results in Season 11 were breathtaking, but right here in Barcelona, he has proved his ability yet again. Kicking off the new season with a €841,500 cash, well, it's promising. However, despite an outstanding effort tonight, Urbanovich must be just a little disappointed about falling shy of a SHR title yet again - just like at the EPT Grand Final where he lost to Erik Seidel heads-up. But, being only 20-year-old and already an EPT superstar tells a lot about the Polish youngster's potential and the EPT Barcelona Poker Festival is a long way from ending just yet.
EPT12 Barcelona €50k Super High Roller Final Table results: 1st - Sylvain Loosli, France €1,224,000 2nd - Dzmitry Urbanovich, Poland, €841,500 3rd - Christoph Vogelsang, Germany, €551,485 4th - JC Alvarado, Mexico, €446,800 5th - Michael Egan, Australia, €358,900 6th - Ivan Luca, Argentina, €280,500 7th - Steve O'Dwyer, Ireland, €221,000 8th - Paul Newey, UK, €168,700 9th - Byron Kaverman, USA, €123,600
A loaded field of 85 unique players plus 14 re-entries: that's the raw stats for the EPT12 Barcelona €50k Super High Roller. The 99-entry field smashed last season's numbers (77 entries), breaking the record for both unique and total entries. 15 players shared pieces of the €4,753,485 prize pool.
