August 25 2012, Chad Holloway

The 2012 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event concluded early Sunday morning as Mikalai Pobal topped a field of 1,082 players to capture the “1,007,550 prize.

Prior to this win, Pobal’s only live cash was a 104th-place finish at the EPT Berlin Main Event in April for “7,500, and his best online score on PokerStars, where he plays under the name “leanod,” was a third place finish in the Sunday Million.

Season 9 EPT Barcelona Final Table Results

The day got off to a fairly quick start. On Hand #11, action folded around to Samuel Rodriguez in the small blind and he put in a raise to 180,000 with . John Juanda was in the big blind and thought a long while before moving all-in for 1.665 million with . Rodriguez thought even longer, but eventually made the call.

The flop was safe for Juanda, but the turn gave Rodriguez counterfeit options, meaning a seven on the river would give him eights and sevens with an ace kicker. Much to the shock of the crowd, the spiked to put an end to Juanda’s tournament in eighth place.

A short time later, Anaras Alekberovas opened for 190,000 under the gun and was met with a three-bet to 450,000 by Antonin Duda, the economics student from Jablonec, Czech Republic, who qualified for the tournament via a “22 re-buy event on PokerStars. Alekberovas pushed back with a four-bet to 800,000, Duda moved all-in for 2.56 million, and Alekberovas snap-called.

Showdown
Alekberovas:
Duda:

It was the second time Alekberovas had picked up kings, and while the flop paired Duda’s ace, it also delivered Alekberovas a set. Neither the turn nor river helped Duda, and the Day 3 chip leader was eliminated in seventh place.

In the first hand back from the break, Sinel Anton raised to 205,000 from early position with and was met with a three-bet to 375,000 from Alekberovas, who held in the cutoff. After the button and blinds folded, the short-stacked Anton just called. Not only that, he check-called bets of 100,000 and 205,000 on the flop and turn respectively.

Anton checked for a third time when he paired his queen on the river, and then called off his last million when Alekberovas moved all-in. Anton seemed to think he won the hand as he lingered at the table until someone told him, “You lost.” Anton finally realized the situation and took his leave in sixth place.

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In the very next hand, Joni Jouhkimainen, who began the final table as the short stack, and Rodriguez created a 1.1 million pot preflop and saw a flop of . There was destined to be fireworks as Rodriguez had flopped two pair holding and Jouhkimainen held an up-and-down straight draw with .

Rodriguez’s last 2.32 million ended up in the pot and the players were on their feet, especially when the turn gave Jouhkimainen an added flush draw. Much to the dismay of Rodriguez, and those hoping to see a Spaniard take down an EPT for the first time, the spiked on the river to complete Jouhkimainen’s flush and increase his stack up to 11.1 million; meanwhile, the local player exited the stage in fifth place to a nice round of applause.

It took over three hours for the next elimination to occur, but happened when Jouhkimainen raised to 325,000 from the button and Alekberovas re-raised to 725,000 from the big blind. Jouhkimainen four-bet to 1,175,000, Alekberovas announced an all-in, and Jouhkimainen called. Alekberovas was in for 4,535,000 along with his tournament life.

Showdown
Jouhkimainen:
Alekberovas:

Jouhkimainen’s kings were in good shape against Alekberovas’ nines, which needed some major help from the board. None came on the flop, and the turn was no help. It was down to the river for the Alekberovas, but the useless appeared and he was eliminated in fourth place for “301,750, the biggest tournament prize of his young career.

Things slowed considerably after that, and it took another three hours before the next elimination, which happened to be Jouhkimainen. He had an interesting day as he started on the short stack and ran it up to amass nearly 75 percent of the chips in play; unfortunately for him, he would be whittled back down in three-handed play against Sahamies and Pobal.

In what would be his last hand, Jouhkimainen opened with a raise to 500,000 from the button with only to have Sahamies shove all-in from the big blind holding . Jouhkimainen snap called and the two went for a showdown.

The flop paired Shamies’ ace and put Jouhkimainen on the verge of elimination. The on the river left him with only two outs, but the on the river wasn’t one of them. Jouhkimainen was eliminated from the tournament in third place, while Sahamies entered heads-up play with 12.175 million to Pobal’s 20.2 million. The stacks suggested it might be a long haul to the finish, but nothing could have been further from the truth.

Just a short time into heads-up play, Sahamies raised to 600,000 on the button with . Pobal reraised to 1.6 million from the big blind with and received a massive treat when Sahamies moved all-in for 10.485 million in chips. Pobal snapped and tabled his hand as quickly as possible to show Sahamies the bad news.

The flop only made things worse for Sahamies when the fell. Sahamies was now in need of a runner-runner miracle, but after the landed on the turn, he was officially drawing dead. The river completed the board with the and officially ended the tournament. For his finish, Sahamies earned “629,700 and Mikalai Pobal pocketed “1,007,550 for besting the field.

Video: http://www.pokernews.com/video/ept9-barcelona-main-event-champion-mikalai-pobal-7099.htm

The next stop on the EPT schedule is San Remo, which will take place from Oct. 5-11. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand for that event, so be sure to check out our live reporting section then for even more EPT action.

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August 23 2012, Brett Collson

Legal, real-money online poker is quickly nearing reality in the U.S. How soon will we see the first site launched? We’ll cover that story and more in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Only 24 players survived Day 4 of the 2012 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event. Samuel Rodriguez led the way, but several notables were still in contention.

Was Dan Smith’s fifth win of 2012 enough to take over the lead in the Global Poker Index? Find out in this week’s GPI rankings.

The Main Event and High Rollers aren’t the only tournaments going on in Barcelona. Chad Holloway takes a look at the side events held by the Estrellas Poker Tour and European Poker Tour.

October Niner Gets a Deal

2012 World Series of Poker Main Event finalist Steven Gee has has been signed by PokerAce.com, joining the likes of Joe Hachem, JC Tran and Nam Le on the online poker room’s pro team.

When the Main Event final table resumes in October, Gee will begin play fifth in chips with 16,860,000. The 56-year old will be looking to claim his second WSOP bracelet; in 2010, he won a $1,000 no-limit hold’em event for $472,479.

“I am super excited to join Joe Hachem, JC Tran and Nam Le representing PokerAce and am looking forward to playing more tournaments in Asia over the coming year,” Gee said about his new sponsorship.

Added Hachem, “We would like to welcome Steve to PokerAce and we feel he will fit the team exceptionally well. We also wish him the best of luck in October at the World Series of Poker Main Event final table.”

More on Gee can be found at PokerAce.com.

South Point Eyes Real-Money Poker

South Point Casino is poised to open the first legal real-money poker site in Nevada.

On Thursday, the Nevada Gaming Commission granted the South Point licensure as an operator, manufacturer and service provider of interactive gaming systems in Nevada. South Point says it plans launch the first real-money poker room in Nevada by October after the site’s technology is approved by an independent testing lab and gaming regulators.

While the online gambling license isn’t the first in Nevada, it does give South Point a head start over companies looking to compete in the market. South Point’s poker operation will be run in-house, meaning it won’t have to partner with a third-party operator to provide real-money games. South Point has been running a play money poker site at SouthPointPoker.com since last year, but the real-money site will have new software.

We have more on this huge story at PokerNews.com.

ANZPT Season 5

Season 4 of the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) is still going strong, but the tour has already announced the first two events for the Season 5 schedule.

Shortly after the Season 4 ANZPT Melbourne Grand Final concludes on Sept. 3, Season 5 will kick off in October at Melbourne’s Crown Casino. The stop will be highlighted by a AUD$2,200 Main Event from Oct. 26 through Oct. 29. There will also be plenty of side events for players to enter.

After the Melbourne series wraps up, the tour will travel to New Zealand’s SKYCITY Auckland Casino for the ANZPT Auckland Main Event. The NZ$2,200 buy-in event will run from Nov. 21 through 25.

We expect more events to be added to the schedule in the near future, so check back in to PokerNews.com for the latest updates. For a full look at the Season 4 and Season 5 schedule and results, visit ANZPT.com.

Sexton on Poker’s “Skill” Ruling

On Tuesday, a federal judge in New York ruled that poker did not fall under the Illegal Gambling Business Act because it is a game of skill, not chance. The ruling dismissed a federal case involving a Staten Island man charged with operating an underground poker club.

The ruling was obviously a big win for the poker community, but it has sparked debate about how it will affect the game in the U.S. Will it clear the way for federal online poker in the near future? Or will poker still be regarded as “gambling” in the eyes of Congress?

Poker pro Mike Sexton offered his take on the ruling in his blog on Thursday. Sexton, a poker Hall of Famer and one of the game’s most active ambassadors, believes it will cause a seismic shift in the way poker is viewed across the country:

This ruling is hugely significant in the lives of poker players in the U.S. because most states have similar archaic laws on the books that essentially say it’s illegal to play any games for money with “cards or dice” because they’re games of chance. Poker has now been blessed by a Federal judge and I’m expecting many states to change their archaic laws and agree with Judge Weinstein’s 120 page opinion that poker is a game of skill and not a game of chance.

Sexton’s full blog can be found at PartyPoker.com.

Ziigmund is an OG

Not surprisingly, Illari “Ziigmund” Sahamies is thriving at the European Poker Tour stop in Barcelona. But Kristy Arnett found out that Sahamies has plans to pursue another career.

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