Mohsin Charania Wins European Poker Tour Grand Final Main Event

In recent times the final tables of the EPT main events have run into the early hours of the morning but this one was completely done and dusted well before the witching hour. This was down to the fact the average sized stack at the start of the day was less than 30 big blinds following a five-hour final table bubble o the previous day.

Despite the relatively short stacks it still took over an hour before a player was eliminated, the man to pick up the wooden spoon; although one worth €130,000, being Daniel Gomez. With blinds at 50,000/100,000/10,000 Sergio Castelluccio opened to 200,000 from early position and Gomez three-bet all-in from the hijack seat. Rodrigo Caprioli decided to call in the small blind and Castelluccio called too even though doing so left him with just 360,000 chips behind. The rest of these chips went in on a Qd-4s-4c flop and Caprioli called. Castelluccio showed KcKd, Gomez AsQh and Caprioli JcJd. The turn and river were the 10d and Kh respectively and the final table lost Gomez.

Thirty minutes later and the table lost Clayton Mozdzen in seventh place. Castelluccio once again opened the betting with a min-raise, this one to 240,000 and Mozdzen shoved for 730,000 in total. The last woman in the tournament, Lucille Cailly looked like she was going to raise but she ultimately just called and the original raiser made the call too. Cailly then bet into the dry side-pot on a flop reading Jc-7s-6d, forcing Castelluccio out of the hand and leading to the players revealing their hands. Mozdzen had three-bet shoved with Ah10d and was trailing the 9h9d of his female opponent. The 3d and 5c completed the community cards and play was now six-handed.

Quick Fire Action

Mozdzen's bust out triggered a flurry of activity, possibly because of the short-handed nature of the table, that saw Michael Dietrich and Caprioli sent to the rail within mere minutes of each other. Ten minutes after Mozdzen's demise Charania opened in early position then quickly called when Dietrich moved all-in for 1,500,000 chips with what turned out to be Ac9c. Charania flipped over a dominating AdKd and although neither player made a pair Charania's king-kicker came into play and Dietrich was gone.

Almost immediately afterwards Caprioli open-shoved 1,350,000 with QcQh and after much deliberation Castelluccio decided his Ad8c was worth a call. His decision seemed like the wrong one at the time and looked even worse by the turn as the board read 10c-10h-2h-6d but the river was the Ah and Caprioli became the fifth place finisher.

Four became three when Castelluccio's luck finally ran out. He opened to 320,000 with blinds of 80,000/160,000/20,000 only to see Charania three-bet from the button. Cailly then woke up in the blinds with AsQd and she made the call. Castelluccio then moved all-in, Charania quickly folded but Cailly made the call. She found she was in a coinflip against a pair of red jacks and she won the flip because by the river the board read 10c-9d-3d-Qh-3h and play was now three-handed.

The last remaining trio battled it out for well in excess of two hours, three if you include the breaks, until the 64-year old Bernard Guigon was eliminated. As one would expect from a player of his age Guigon made some rather unorthodox plays but they were plays that ultimately netted him €545,000. He finally made his move by three-betting all-in with Ac4h when Charania had opened with KhQh. The Qc-Qs-9d flop left Guigon drawing extremely thinly and when the turn was the 2d it was all over.

As soon as Guigon had been eliminated Charania and Cailly struck a deal that so the prize money split €1,150,000 to €1,050,000 in Charania's favour with the eventual winner walking away with an additional €200,000 and a Shamballa bracelet worth in excess of €25,000. That winner was decided just five hands later in poker's most typical race situation. Cailly looked down at AdKc and opened the betting to 400,000 and must have been delighted when she saw Charania three-bet to 860,000. She then four-bet to 2,055,000 and instantly called when he sole opponent moved all-in. Her delighted was soon replaced with anxiety as she was shown QhQs and would need to make at least a pair to prevent Charania from winning the tournament. The 9c-3h-2c flop missed her completely, as did the 7s turn and when the river was the 2c she was eliminated and Charania had become the EPT Grand Final champion.

EPT Grand Final Main Event Final Table Payouts

1st: Mohsin Charania - €1,350,000
2nd: Lucille Cailly - €1,050,000
3rd: Bernard Guigon - €545,000
4th: Sergio Castelluccio - €400,000
5th: Rodrigo Caprioli - €315,000
6th: Michael Dietrich - €245,000
7th: Clayton Mozdzen - €185,000
8th: Daniel Gomez - €130,000

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