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Argentina’s Matias Ruzzi has beaten a staggering 2,560-strong field to take down the €1,100 Estrellas Main Event for €198,550. The event was the largest live freeze-out tournament in PokerStars history with a prize pool of €2,483,200 and 383 players paid.
Ruzzi, 28, has now exactly doubled his lifetime tournament winnings and jumps from ninth to fourth in Argentina’s all-time money list at $USD 526,326. However, a deal made when there were four players in the final means that runner-up Vladislav Donchev from Russia takes home a significantly bigger pay-out of €278,500.
Ruzzi, an LAPT and EPT regular, first started playing poker in 2006 and has already had substantial live cashes including a 16th place finish at last May’s PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final for €55,850. He was also fourth in the FPS High Roller during the same festival for €46,700 and last summer he bubbled the final of a WSOP €1,500 NL side event for $49,420.
He said: “I am very happy. This is the best tournament I've won and it’s even better as PokerStars is saying it's the biggest live freeze-out in its history. This was my first Estrellas Poker Tour event but I'm sure it will not be the last. Today I'm going to celebrate but tomorrow I will be back to play Day 1B of the EPT.”
The biggest name on today’s final table was EPT Berlin runner-up Andrew Chen from Canada, however, he started the day fairly short-stacked and was eliminated in sixth place by Donchev.
EPT regular Bela Toth from Hungary, who won a £1k side event during EPT London, was eighth for €40,849 while PokerStars-sponsored Miroslav Alilovic, a member of the PokerStars.fr TV Stars team, was 21st for €13,161. Others in the money included three-time EPT finalist Andrea Benelli, EPT4 Dublin runner-up Annette Obrestad, Full Tilt Poker Madrid winner Ruben Velasco and a whole bunch of EPT champion: Christophe Benzimra, Roberto Romanello, Pieter de Korver, Robin Ylitalo and Ruben Visser. The only Team PokerStars Pro to cash was Christophe De Meulder who was 117th for €3,551.
1. Matias Ruzzi, Argentina, PokerStars player, €198,550
2. Vladislav Donchev, Russia, PokerStars player, €278,500
3. Nir Levi, Israel, PokerStars qualifier, €188,511
4. Hakim Guitoun, France, €178,550
5. Corinne Baucher, France, €91,580
6. Andrew Chen, Canada, PokerStars player, €73,826
7. Daniel Barriocanal, Spain, PokerStars qualifier, €56,369
8. Bela Toth, Hungary, PokerStars qualifier, €40,849
EPTLive covered the Estrellas final with an “as live” cards-up broadcast on PokerStars.tv.
Estrellas Barcelona is part of the #EPT100 Barcelona Poker Festival and is already proving to be part one of the most spectacular poker tournaments ever held. There are 44 events running August 16-27, 2014 at Casino Barcelona including the €2k Estrellas High Roller which began yesterday with 802 players. The €50,000 EPT Barcelona Super High Roller – which attracted a record 77 entries - finished last night and the €5,300 EPT Main Event started today.
