Francisco Benitez Has Secured the 2022 EPT Barcelona Title And Won €341,565!

The Uruguayan poker player Francisco Benitez continued his success in the high roller events by winning the €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em for €341,565 after a heads-up ICM deal. His heads-up opponent was Argentina’s Ramiro Petrone, and the two players agreed to an ICM deal, which awarded Petrone €306,705 for his second-place finish.

Benitez had just recorded a win in the €10,200 Mystery Bounty event, which ended on August 9, and the very next day, he entered the €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em, which ran from August 10-11, and came out as winner of another spadie trophy. This high roller event attracted 50 entries to create a prize pool of €1,200,500 and the top seven players were ITM.

Review of the final table

Nine players returned to the field on the second and final day, but only seven players found themselves in the prize pool. Frenchman Jean-Noel Thorel entered the day as a short stack and was the first casualty as he was eliminated by Benitez.
 
Spanish pro Adrian Mateos wanted to make a good start in Barcelona, ​​but stumbled from KK to AA and was eliminated on the ITM bubble.
 
The seven remaining players were now in the money and the action was heating up.
 
Petrone found a double up with an overpowered kicker to stay in the game, and soon after eliminated Timothy Adams in the seventh by getting a flip.
 
Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel came into the day as the chip leader, but was left short after being on the losing side of Petrone’s double up.
 
He found himself in danger against Petrone with AQ against A3, but a three on the flop ended the legendary player’s run in sixth place.
 
Brazil’s Pedro Garagnani only had a few big blinds on the ITM bubble, but managed to pick up the chips and get into the money.
 
However, his streak ended in fifth place when his AK failed to hit against 99.
 
Artur Martirosian took the lead in a four-handed game, but quickly found himself without a single chip.
 
He lost a big pot with JJ vs KK in the hand that gave Benitez all the momentum, and soon after, Martirosian lost the rest of his chips against the eventual winner and was eliminated in fourth place.

Shortly after three-handed play began, Petrone secured a double up with AQ against Benitez’s AT, leaving Paul Phu as the clear short stack.

Some time later, Phua eventually got his chips in with the best hand against Benitez, but the board ruled that Benitez was the winner, and Phua was eliminated in third place.

After being eliminated in third place, Benitez held more than sixty percent of the chips in play, the players discussed and agreed to the aforementioned ICM deal.

As a result, the two South American players each won their biggest live earnings, according to The Hendon Mob.