John Juanda snags first EPT Title and $1.16mm at Barcelona Main Event

John Juanda has won the 2015 EPT Barcelona Main Event for €1,022,593 (USD $1,164,034). An American poker pro and 5x WSOP bracelet winner, including his esteemed 2008 WSOP Championship, Juanda hadn’t harvested a single cash this year until snagging the first EPT Title of his long and fruitful poker career.

John Juanda, 2015 EPT Barcelona Main Event – photo courtesy PokerStarsAt 44 years of age, Juanda is one of the most successful poker pros of our time. Yesterday’s win brought his total career winnings to a massive $17,250,667, putting him in 10^th place on the All Time Money List; ranked #1 among Indonesian-born players.

Prior to his EPT title win, the last time the 2008 WSOP Champ cashed in any live poker tournament was—ironically enough—the 2014 WSOP Main Event. John went deep into the world’s most prestigious competition, accepting a 293^rd place elimination worth $33,734. He also scored a 15^th place finish in that year’s $10k PLO event for $25,327.

Hosted by PokerStars, the 2015 EPT Barcelona Main Event featured a buy-in of € 5,000 + € 300, attracting a sizeable field of 1,694 entrants, building the overall prize pool to €8,215,500. The field was nearly 12% larger than last season’s rendition, which drew 1,496 players and was eventually won by German poker pro Andre Lettau.

As the final day of the Main Event got underway, Juanda sat in a comfortable position with the 5^th highest chip stack. The day’s leader, Denys Shafikov, started as the day’s leader, but hand after hand, the Ukrainian fell further behind until he was finally sent to rails in 4^th place for €405,100 (USD $461,132).

That left Juanda facing off against 2012 EPT Madrid Champion Frederik Jensen and British poker pro Steve Warburton. Before action resumed, the three agreed on a deal to split the majority of the prize pool.

Based on current chip counts, Warburton would receive €941,613, Juanda €922,593 and Frederik Jensen €810,294. The eventual winner would claim the EPT title and the additional €100k.

Not long after, John took responsibility for the 3^rd place ousting of Jensen, giving the 5x WSOP bracelet winner a near 4-to-1 lead in the counts going into heads-up play. The EPT Barcelona Main Event lasted just 21 more hands before Juanda claimed the last of Warburton’s chips as well.

On the final hand of play, short stacked and under pressure, the 28 year old Brit shipped his stack on a pocket pair of 8s 8h. John wasted no time in calling the raise, tabling Qs Qd. With no help from the board, that’s exactly how the hand ended, delivering the 5^th runner-up finish of Warburton’s 8 year pro poker career, and bringing his total live tournament earnings to $1.58 million.

John Juanda scooped the 1^st place prize of €1,022,593, along with his first EPT title.

2015 EPT Barcelona Main Event Final Table Results

 

1	John Juanda	$1,186,208
2	Steve Warburton	$1,092,271
3	Frederik Jensen	$939,941
4	Denys Shafikov	$469,916
5	Rainer Kempe	$371,664
6	Andreas Samuelsson	$294,524
7	Amir Touma	$225,156
8	Mario Sanchez	$159,013