Alexandru Papazian Wins 2016 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final High Roller (€1,197,000)
The 2016 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final €25,750 High Roller was won by Alexandru Papazian from Romania, and he took home €1.197 million after defeating Alexandros Kolonias heads up.
The third and final day of this event started with 12 hopefuls, including three-time World Poker Tour champion Anthony Zinno, 2015 November Niner Zvi Stern, and top UK pro Max Silver.
The first player to get knocked out was Azerbaijani Ramin Hajiyev, who lost a coin flip with king-queen versus [Removed:2]'s tens. He was followed by Thomas Miller, who busted to Silver.
With 10 players remaining there were seven double ups before Ivan Deyra busted on the final-table bubble. Deyra took home €103,570 for his 10th-place finish after running sixes into Silver's jacks. That allowed Silver to come into the final table with the chip lead, followed by Papazian, Stern and Kolonias.
Stern's fellow countryman Saar Wilf busted in ninth place, as he ran ace-jack into Zinno's ace-queen. Wilf collected €122,250 for his efforts, while Zinno became a real contender after he also busted Imad Derwiche.
Last season, Derwiche finished second in this event to Charlie Carrel, and this year he busted in eighth place for €147,710, with Zinno's ace-queen beating his pair of jacks after connecting with the river to give him a pair of aces.
Although he came into the final table as the chip leader, Silver had an awful day. Since reaching the final nine, Silver didn't win any significant hands before losing a huge flip against Maksoud with tens versus ace-king. Maksoud took the lead, and Silver busted out two hands later to take home €202,050.
Zinno's downfall started shortly after Silver had busted, and he exited in sixth place for €276,750. Zinno lost a big pot with ace-jack versus Rafael Da Silva Moraes' ace-ten before Kolonias finished him off.
Maksoud, who held the lead for some time, busted in fifth for €364,500, after which it was Stern who took fourth. The Israeli player cashed for €460,700, which is his second biggest score behind finishing fifth in the 2015 WSOP Main Event. Stern ran ace-seven into Papazian's queens, and the Romanian player took a massive lead into three-handed play.
Moraes was knocked out next, and he took €568,200 back to Brazil. Moraes flopped top pair, which turned out to be inferior to Papazian's better kicker.
Papazian started the heads-up phase with 10 million of the 11.5 million chips in play, but almost immediately Kolonias doubled up twice in quick succession. After the dinner break, Kolonias doubled up once more, and that evened the match entirely. The heads-up match then went back and forth for hours before Papazian dealt the final blow.
On the final hand, Papazian, who held a big chip lead, found ace-four to call Kolonias' shove. The Greek player held pocket nines, but they were cracked when an ace hit the river.
Final Table Results
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexandru Papazian | Romania | €1,197,000 |
| 2 | Alexandros Kolonias | Greece | €805,900 |
| 3 | Rafael Da Silva Moraes | Brazil | €568,200 |
| 4 | Zvi Stern | Israel | €460,700 |
| 5 | [Removed:2] | Lebanon | €364,500 |
| 6 | Anthony Zinno | USA | €276,750 |
| 7 | Max Silver | UK | €202,050 |
| 8 | Imad Derwiche | France | €147,710 |
That concludes the PokerNews live reporting from the Grand Final at the French Riviera, but make sure to tune back in regularly for the latest news and updates from events all over the world.