EPT Barcelona 2018: Jean-René Fontaine Wins €1,100 National; 3 Indian Players Cash Out

Currently taking place in the beautiful city of Barcelona, the European Poker Tour (EPT) features some exciting tournaments lined up between 21 August and 2 September. One famous tournament on the schedule was the EPT National, which saw an impressive participation with a field of 4,348 entries. Coming out on top of this massive field was French poker player, Jean-René Fontaine, who took home a career-best prize of €547,000 (~$635,872) along with a $30,000 PSPC Platinum Pass.

He beat top poker pros from across the world to notch up the victory. In heads-up, he faced the World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner – Julien Martini, who battled it hard but could not go all the way. The last hand of the tournament saw the eventual winner – Fontaine holding Ad 3d and Martini 6d 7d. The board ran out Ac Qd 7h Jd 2c giving Fontaine the pot to claim coveted title.

“It is pretty, it is too beautiful, I am very happy. There is nothing more beautiful! This victory will not change my life, it’s beautiful but it will not make me turn my head,” Fontaine said after winning the tournament, where 650 players shared the prize pool with a min – cash prize of €1,650.

Team India

It was a good tournament for Team India as  three of our Indians managed to cash out. Mayank Saxena became the first to bust after reaching the ITM stage. He hit the rail in 545th place for €1,650 (~INR 1.34 Lac), while Abhinav Iyer finished 506th for €1,810 (~INR 1.47 Lac). The other Indian who cashed out in the EPT National was Abhisek Panda, finishing 99th for €4,570 (INR 3.71 Lac).

Final Table Results:

  1. Jean-René Fontaine – €547,000
  2. Julien Martini – €323,000
  3. Alberto Ah-Dine – €242,000
  4. Claudio Di Giacomo – €197,000
  5. Jerome L’Hostis – €155,000
  6. Jan Teunis – €123,000