Goran Mandić Flips It Blind for a Win in Estrellas High Roller

It was another high-attendance poker tournament at 2023 EPT Barcelona, this time around with 2,214 participants across two Day 1 flights in €2,200 Estrellas High Roller. Massive turnout resulted in a prize pool of €4,250,880.

In the end, Croatian Goran Mandić was the luckiest one to win the trophy, as the final trio made an ICM deal and decided to flip it blind for the golden spade, while the biggest prize went to Antoine Labat.

When Day 2 concluded, there were only ten contenders in the fray. The spotlight was on the online poker crusher Conor “1_conor_b_1” Beresford, who was leading with a chip count of 16,075,000 and followed by a second-place finish at the €10,200 Mystery Bounty, pocketing €100,000. Following closely was Labat, harboring 11,075,000 in chips.

Online legend 1_conor_b_1 chip leading the Estreallas High Roller.

As the final Day 3 began, the ten remaining were split across two tables. But before the final table could be set, Raffaele Castro experienced heartbreak, finishing on the FT bubble in 10th place.

Edilson Marques was the first to exit the final table after a classic all-in with KQs, but Thomas Saminadin’s A-high held. Bart Lybaert’s attempt from the cutoff with J9 was thwarted by Candido Cappiello’s AJs, which meant an eighth-place finish for Lybaert. However, Cappiello’s triumph was short-lived, as he was the next one to wrap up the tournament in 7^th place.

The dominoes kept falling, and another case of dominance resulted in Rodrigo Noceda’s bust out in the sixth. Antoine Labat started to take over the final table at this point, including dispatching the former chip leader Beresford to fifth place.
Thomas Saminadin was the last to get knocked out in typical fashion after he called an all-in from Mandić. K-high didn’t hold against QJ with Q on the flop, and Saminadin waved goodbye in fourth place.

The remaining players in Labat (33,700,000 chips), Mandić (18,500,000), and Yunsheng Sun (14,200,000) struck an ICM deal, which left the biggest payout of €500,000 to the Frenchman, while Mandić and Sun pocketed €418,980 and €385,240, respectively.

As said, the trio decided to flip it for the trophy and a win, and Croatian was the official winner of the €2,200 Estrellas High Roller.

2023 EPT Barcelona €2,200 Estrellas High Roller Final Table Results

Images courtesy of PokerStars