After what seemed like a month of France ruling the poker world, it finally seemed like France was going to be in the rearview mirror when the World Series of Poker Europe ended and most of the poker world moved on to San Remo, Italy. However, one of the French poker players that followed the poker tournament trail to Italy decided that France needed some more exposure, as Ludovic Lacay took down the EPT San Remo Main Event.
Lacay now has close to nearly $3 million in tournament winnings, even though this was Lacay’s first major tournament victory. With his first-place winnings Lacay moved up France’s all-time money-list, landing in the #6 spot, and passing such names as Arnaud Mattern, Anthony Lellouche, and Bruno Fittousi.
Lacay and Jason Lavallee played a back-and-forth heads-up match for the title with both players holding the chip-lead at certain points. Lavallee was nearly eliminated when he found himself all-in with A2 against the AT of Lacay, but a fortuitous deuce on the flop gave Lavallee a much needed double-up to continue the match. The final hand was another anxious moment for both players as Lacay’s top pair was all-in on the flop against the open-ended straight-flush draw of Lavallee. Lacay faded the combo-draw on the Turn and River, and captured the EPT San Remo Main Event title for Season IX.
Here is a look at the final table payouts from the EPT San Remo Main Event:
1. Ludovic Lacay – €744,910
2. Jason Lavallee – €538,089
3. Artem Litvinov – €283,000
4. Angelo Recchia – €225,000
5. Jason Tompkins – €171,000
6. Micah Raskin – €132,000
7. Adrian Piasecki – €96,000
8. Ismael Bojang – €65,450
EPT San Remo €10k High-Roller
The €10k High-Roller tournament at the EPT San Remo saw a stacked final table of seven players competing for the €280k first-place prize-money, and in the end it was a regular on the EPT tournament scene Benny Spindler who would add the EPT San Remo High-Roller title to his Hendon Mob database. Spindler was one of two German poker pros at the final table along with Phillip Gruissem, and the Germans were joined by the likes of Keven Stammen and Joe Cheong.
After a deal was cut between Stammen and Spindler, Spindler went on to dominated the heads-up battle, ending the match when Stammen had the unfortunate luck of moving in with Pocket 7’s and seeing Spindler snap-call and flip pocket Aces. Here is a look at the final table payouts from the €10k High-Roller event:
1. Benny Spindler — €253,000
2. Keven Stammen — €200,000
3. Joel Nordkvist — €98,500
4. Joseph Cheong — €74,100
5. Kent Roed — €57,600
6. Philipp Gruissem — €41,200
7. Igor Kurganov — €32,900
8. Igor Yaroshevskyy — €24,700
This is Spindler’s second EPT High-Roller victory (Spindler won the 2011 EPT London High-Roller tournament), to go along with his EPT Tallinn victory in 2011.
