Twenty years ago, the European Poker Tour was launched by PokerStars and headed to Casino Barcelona for the very first time. Sweden’s Alexander Stevic became the inaugural winner and many of poker’s biggest notables have since etched their names into the history books of the highly regarded live poker tour.
The latest poker pro to join the champion’s club is none other than Stephen Song, one of the rising stars of the international poker scene. Only 29 years of age at the time of writing, Song has been mainly grinding the mid-stakes circuit and boosted his total earnings according to The Hendon Mob database to nearly $8 million.
It comes as no surprise that the latest victory brought with it the largest score on the live poker score for the American after he cut a heads-up deal with Andrew Hulme. Song emerged as the champion in a short-lived encounter thereafter and earned the top prize of € 1,290,386 while runner-up Hulme also walked away with his first seven-figure worth € 1,165,614. One year ago, the Brit finished in 18th place in the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas for $ 345,000, a score he obliterated in Barcelona.
For Song, it was likewise the first seven-figure prize in a live poker event and the second high-profile victory in as many years. In December 2022, he came out on top of a gargantuan 5,430-entry strong field in the WPT Prime Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas for a top prize of $ 712,650. Out of a batch of many up and coming international poker pros, Song is widely considered as one of the best at navigating large fields and he has proven that once more.
As far as the tournament is concerned, the 2024 WPT Barcelona €5,300 Main Event was the fourth-largest in the history of the tour, all of which have taken place in the Catalan city. A total of 1,975 entries generated a prize pool of €9,578,750 and the top 287 finishers earned at least €8,700 for their efforts.
Heading into the six-handed final day, another big storyline was the performance of Rania Nasreddine, who ultimately bowed out in fourth place for €518,600. She was only the ninth player in EPT history to reach back-to-back final tables after finishing in third place in the 2024 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo Main Event for €442,900.
Super High Roller contestant David Coleman was another big name to run deep and fell in fifth place for €398,950, while PokerStars online qualifier Marius-Catalin Pertea from Romanian finished in third place for €674,150.
While Barcelona may be far away from Asia, it is a popular international destination for many poker pros and amateurs from the region as it can be combined with a sightseeing trip. The best-placed Asian in the field was Sydney-based Jianwei Lin from China, who made it all the way to 8th place for €181,600. Lin was one of the most jovial characters on the live stream tables and left the stage with a smile despite suffering a bad beat against Nasreddine.
Indian poker pro Sriharsha Doddapaneni also reached the penultimate tournament day and earned €89,550 for finishing in 12th place. Timothy Chung from Hong Kong and Kyosuke Nagami of Japan made it to the final five tables and both earned €26,900 for their efforts, with defending champion and new PokerStars ambassador Simon Wiciak sandwiched in between.
The Chinese players Yuan Li (44th place for €23,350), Haoran Cai (54th place for €23,350) and Bo Jin (61st place for €20,300) all reached the top 100 spots.
Further Asians to make the money were Yasuaki Toda (106th place for €15,350), popular vlogger Masato Yokosawa (120th for €13,300), Daehyung Lee (122nd for €13,300), and WSOP bracelet winner Weiran “Kevin” Pu (167th place for €11,600). The Chinese trio of Xiaohu Liu, Jian Liu and Xiaohui Tan cashed for €10,050 whereas Paawan Bansal and Hon Cheong “Ivan” Lee min-cashed for €8,700.
The next EPT stop is only one month away with EPT Cyprus taking place from October 9 to 24, 2024 at the Merit Royal Hotel & Casino in Kyrenia, North Cyprus. It seems unlikely that as many Asian players will travel there in pursuit of glory, as the live poker circuit in South East Asia will be very busy in the next few months.
*Article written by Christian Zetsche
