Soika wins record-breaking high-roller

The European Poker Tour Barcelona €10,300 High Roller attracted a massive 393 entries, smashing all previous records for an EPT high-roller event and the man to benefit most from the huge field was Ihar Soika from Belarus who took the title and €747,200 first-place prize.

With just three tables left on Day 3 and the field – including players such as Juha Helppi, Nicolas Chouity, Stephen Chidwick and Marc-Andre Ladouceur - well into the money, the stage was set for a great day of poker. After beginning fourth in chips out of the final 21 players, Soika emerged victorious after beating Jason Mercier heads-up.

The man from Belarus had a large chip lead when the final table was reached and he only improved from there, at several points having more than 30 percent of the chips in play.

Carlos Chadha finished in eighth, Chidwick busted in seventh, Ladouceur finished sixth, Benjamin Pollak was fifth, and then Ami Barer ended up fourth. Ismail Erkenov, who had battled with Soika many times during the day, eventually left in third to the man who would go on to win, with Soika never looking back after going into heads-up play against Mercier with the chip advantage.

And on the final hand Soika hit an ace on the AC-10H-3D flop holding AS-9D against Mercier's pocket sixes. The board ran out 5D-2D and that was the end of the line for Mercier and the title for Soika.

EPT Barcelona High Roller
1 Ihar Soika €747,200
2 Jason Mercier €473,500
3 Ismail Erkenov €342,400
4 Ami Barer €276,900
5 Benjamin Pollak €219,000
6 Marc-Andre Ladouceur €168,600
7 Stephen Chidwick €125,600
8 Carlos Chadha €90,900