For hours on end, Martin Zamani bet, raised and re-raised at every opportunity on Day 4 of the €1,100 Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event at 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona, a strategy that saw the high-stakes American pro winning nearly every pot and establishing a dominant final table chip lead. But it was France's Sylvain Berthelot who ended up winning his first major poker title and €499,224 as Zamani lost momentum to fall in third place.
Berthelot, Zamani and runner-up Santiago Nadal reached an ICM deal after the fourth-place elimination of PokerStars Team Pro Parker Talbot, who continued his career year with his third six-figure score in the last eight months.
Berthelot, an amateur player who had just $7,443 heading into the event, started the day as a short stack but ran it all the way up to a nearly half-million score. He stepped back from poker for several years to focus on family life but got back into the game with the help of some friends.
"I can't believe it," Berthelot told PokerNewsin a winner's interview. "I need my friends to pinch me because it's such a dream. I don't have the words. I'm really happy. It's. It's an unbelievable sentiment. I can't explain my feeling."
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE (IN EURO) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sylvain Berthelot | France | €499,224* |
| 2 | Santiago Nadal | Mexico | €394,526* |
| 3 | Martin Zamani | United States | €463,250* |
| 4 | Parker Talbot | Canada | €227,000 |
| 5 | Jean Benvenga | Switzerland | €173,000 |
| 6 | Francesco Macri | Italy | €136,400 |
| 7 | Stanislovas Vinicenka | Lithuania | €104,500 |
| 8 | Johannes Verhagen | Netherlands | €79,400 |
*Denotes ICM deal
The Estrellas Main Event drew 7,138 entries for a prize pool of €6,852,480. Of the 19 players who returned for Day 4, Berthelot was dead last as he looked to maximize his ten-big-blind stack.
Berthelot, who lives in Lisbon with his wife, said he was "patient' with his short stack and "found some spots to steal the blinds."
"I don't have any, any, magic potion; I guess that this tournament was for me," he said. "Inside my head, I got the feeling I don't know why. This was my tournament. My different my, one time, the big one time."
Talbot, a veteran PokerStars streamer, has been on quite the run this year. It started in February when he finished runner-up in the EPT Paris FPS High Roller for € 334,180. Then, after months of torment by Ben "Spraggy" Spragg for never having won a live tournament, Talbot proved his fellow ambassador wrong in March as he banked his first live win in the Irish Poker Open Luxon Pay €5,000 High Roller for €134,279.
Two months later, Talbot booked his first SCOOP title with a $530 NLHE victory worth $70,128. And just weeks ago, Talbot finished runner-up in the PokerStars Maryland State Poker Championship for $73,719.
Spragg was among those cheering Talbot on as he made yet another deep run, along with Talbot's mom, who engaged in friendly banter with Zamani throughout the final tables.
"You have to invite me to Thanksgiving dinner after this!" Zamani told Mrs. Talbot.
Talbot had a miraculous spin-up that saw him doubling a half-dozen times to ladder up to the final four. Those who weren't so lucky in between that time included Alexandre Reard (12th - €42,130), Ren Lin (10th - €50,590) and Magnus Persson (9th - €61,680).
Talbot then had a final all-in confrontation with Zamani, who flopped trips to leave Talbot drawing practically dead as he fell in fourth. Talbot's exit set up a three-handed ICM discussion that found the players reaching a deal and agreeing to play for a remaining €45,100 after Zamani squeaked out a few extra thousand with some guidance from Calvin Anderson.
Zamani went out soon after when his ace-four was pipped by Berthelot's ace-queen, perhaps karma for his aggressive haggling with the Frenchman.
Heads-up play didn't last long, thanks to a cooler that saw Berthelot turning the nut flush against the turned Broadway of Nadal.
That wraps up PokerNews'coverage of the Estrellas Main Event, but be sure to check out the live updates for other events here at EPT Barcelona.
