Finnish superstar Patrik Antonius has been crowned the €100,000 Super High Roller champion here at the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo, taking home €1,967,440 and the prestigious title after defeating Christoph Vogelsang heads up.
Antonius' victory adds to his already stellar poker resume, and cements his status as one of the true legends of the game, sending his career earnings over $20,000,000. This victory represents Antonius' second major EPT title, adding to his 2005 Baden Main Event win.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrik Antonius | Finland | €1,967,440 |
| 2 | Christoph Vogelsang | Germany | €1,269,300 |
| 3 | Juan Pardo | Spain | €906,700 |
| 4 | Byron Kaverman | United States | €697,500 |
| 5 | Ben Heath | United Kingdon | €536,500 |
| 6 | Jean-Noel Thorel | France | €426,500 |
| 7 | David Yan | New Zealand | €341,200 |
| 8 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdon | €272,800 |
| 9 | Alex Kulev | Bulgaria | €218,300 |
Final Day Recap
Nine players returned to the final table, which was stacked full of some of the world's best players, with Antonius coming in as the chip leader, closely followed by Juan Pardo and Ben Heath.
Defending champion Alex Kulev came into the day as the short-stack with seven big blinds. He was the first to depart in ninth place as he lost a flip against Pardo, who turned a higher pair.
British legend Stephen Chidwick then exited in eighth place in a brutal three-way all-in hand. He ran pocket eights into the queens of Pardo and the ace-king of Byron Kaverman, who scooped a huge pot with top two pair.
Antonius then eliminated David Yan in seventh place. Yan shoved his remaining 15 big blinds from the button with ace-nine but found he was dominated by Antonius’ ace-queen suited in the big blind.
Jean-Noel Thorel found himself short-stacked at various points during the final table, but managed to negotiate his way to sixth place. He was ultimately eliminated when he called off with king-queen suited in the big blind versus a jam from Pardo in the small blind with ace-ten.
The key hand of the tournament came when the big stacks of Antonius and Heath collided, leading to the exit of Heath in fifth place after he called off versus a four-bet jam from Antonius. His pocket tens were run down by Antonius' king-jack suited, giving Antonius a commanding chip lead.
Kaverman’s run at the title came to an end in fourth place when he three-bet Antonius’ under-the-gun open with ace-eight and called off for the rest, only to find his ace was dominated.
Three-handed play comprised Antonius, Pardo and Vogelsang, a heavyweight trio if ever there was one, with Antonius having almost double the stack of his closest challenger. Shortly in, Pardo picked up pocket queens but Vogelsang flopped trip sixes after defending his big blind with queen-six, and all the money went in on the river after Vogelsang check-jammed, for Pardo to exit in third place.
Antonius came into heads-up play with the chip lead, playing 65 big blinds to Vogelsang’s 47, but Vogelsang took it over in the first hand when his second pair was good versus Antonius' third pair. However, Antonius got a full double up with a set of queens on an ace-high board, with Vogelsang holding the ace, to give Antonius a commanding lead.
Although Vogelsang briefly threatened to fight back, the heads-up battle was over shortly. He called off versus Antonius' all in with a dominated ace.
Winner’s Reaction
PokerNews managed to grab a quick word with the champion after the trophy ceremony, asking him if his progress to the title felt as comfortable as it looked and how it felt to win an EPT Super High Roller against such a stacked field.
"Well, it felt good. It was not so comfortable, and, you always have to win some crucial hands but, yeah, it's nice to win a tournament. What can I say? And, happy with the way I played."
"Yeah, it always feels good to win a tournament in general, but especially to win a Super High Roller here in Monaco, also my home turf. So this feels good. Extra, extra special."
PokerNews then asked the champion how important it was to him, as one of the legends of the game, to be able to continue to mix it with the young guns and prove himself to still be a formidable opponent and someone to be feared at the felt.
"Yeah, I mean, that's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to keep my game as high level as possible. Always evolving with the game. I really enjoy playing against the toughest competition and all kind of big games, whether cash games or tournaments. And the goal is really to keep playing and, I would like to be here giving interviews in the next ten, 20 years or so. So let's see if I can keep up with all the boys."
PokerNews sought Antonius' thoughts as to the key hands and he confirmed "Yeah, I mean, the king-Jack suited against Ben Heath. That was obviously the key, if I lose that, it's going to hurt me a lot. To win a tournament you have to win some flips. That was the only one. But it was very, very meaningful. It went my way this time, and then at least I took advantage with the chips."
That concludes PokerNews coverage of this event, but be sure to stay with us for all the rest of your coverage of 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo here at Sporting Monte-Carlo.
