Martin Schleich Wins EPT Barcelona

Martin Schleich defeated Dragan Kostic in heads up play to become the latest winner on the European Poker Tour. Schleich outlasted a field of 811 players to win EPT Barcelona, and take him a first place prize of €850,000.

The tournament field was the largest in the history of Spanish poker, breaking records set by previous EPT events in the country. The final table lived up to such a large event, lasting 14 hours as the final few players endured a grueling final session.

Going into the final table, most of the attention was focused on American pro Eugene Katchalov. Eventually, Katchalov would fall in 3rd place, winning €315,000.

That left Schleich and Kostic to battle for the top prize. Kostic, who hails from Spain, was looking to not only become the first ever Spanish champion in the history of the EPT, but was aiming to do so on his own home turf. While that was ultimately not to be, Kostic still set a new mark for the most money won by a Spanish player in an EPT tournament. By taking second place, he won €532,000.

EPT Barcelona was the second stop in Season 8 for the European Poker Tour, which is sponsored by PokerStars. Future stops this season will include London, Prague, and Deauville, among others.

The final table winnings were as follows courtesy of CardPlayer Europe:

1. Martin Schleich — €850,000
2. Dragan Kostic — €532,
3. Eugene Katchalov — €315,000
4. Raul Mestre — €244,000
5. Tomeu Gomila — €185,000
6. Saar Wilf — €145,000
7. Juan Manuel Perez — €105,000
8. Isabel Baltazar — €73,000