Fernando Santa Maria is the new EAPT Champion; Massive Grand Final Details Revealed
After Rozvadov and Milan, Barcelona became the third European city to welcome the relaunched EAPT. The series took place from September 29 through October 8, and during these days, 18 unique EA Poker Tour Championship trophies found their new owners. The top prize was won by Dominican player Fernando Santa Maria, who was the winner of the �560 buy-in Main Event.
Despite the modest buy-in, the guaranteed prize pool for the EAPT Barcelona Main Event was �200,000 plus �20,000 in packages that EAPT added to the prize pool. Some 354 poker players entered during the four starting flights, plus three others who qualified online via the GGPoker network. Those online Day 1 players arrived in Barcelona already in the money and just in time for the start of Day 2.
Each of the four starting flights played down to the money, so there was no formal bubble phase in this tournament. The tournament paid 53 players, with a min-cash weighing in at �850. By the end of the second day's play, the field had been reduced to only two tables, with the top 18 finishers earning a minimum of �1,900.
The tournament ended with a deal between the final four. The players agreed to split the prize pool according to ICM. After a short discussion, they agreed to split as follows:
- Carlos Escudero - �27,400
- Ariel Galactico - �20,880
- Fernando Santa Maria - �20,625
- Jose Rodriguez - �19,275
The deal left �9,795 to play for, with �6,000 reserved for the eventual winner. In addition, each of the final four players received a package to the EAPT Grand Final, which is scheduled to take place in Cyprus from September 5-15, 2024.
Santa Maria led Galactico 9,800,000 to 4,500,000 at the start of heads-up. Santa Maria took down most pots to extend his lead until the final hand when Galactico moved all in for 2,200,000 on the flop with a pair of eights. Santa Maria called with his own pair of eights but a better kicker and dodged a flush draw on the river to win the title.
Santa Maria became the EAPT Main Event champion in Barcelona, winning the first championship title of his career. For an operations engineer, the reward for his efforts was more than substantial, a cool �26,625 plus a trip to the luxurious Merit Royal Diamond for the EAPT Grand Final with an incredible $5,000,000 guarantee.
