History is Repeated: Mikita Badziakouski Wins the EPT Barcelona €100,000 Super High Roller for a Second Time
There is something about Casino Barcelona and the PokerStars and Barcelona©Casino European Poker Tour for Mikita Badziakouski.
In 2018, the Belarus native won the Super High Roller the first time it was a €100,000 buy-in. Four years later, the 30-year-old poker pro did it again.
Badziakouski defeated Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel after a long and grueling heads-up match to add another EPT Barcelona Super High Roller trophy to his impressive resume, as well as the €1,979,220 top prize. Already 10th on the all-time money list, the win will put him right behind Phil Ivey and Jason Koon.
€100,000 Super High Roller Final Table results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | €1,979,220 |
| 2 | Erik Seidel | United States | €1,286,490 |
| 3 | Kevin Paque | Netherlands | €913,730 |
| 4 | Ben Heath | United Kingdom | €702,620 |
| 5 | Timothy Adams | Canada | €540,980 |
| 6 | Teun Mulder | Netherlands | €415,630 |
| 7 | Mike Watson | Canada | €319,970 |
| 8 | Nick Petrangelo | United States | €247,400 |
Final Table Action
Day 3 began with just eight players remaining out of a starting field of 68 entries, including 52 unique entries. Badziakouski came into the final table in seventh chip position with 1,150,000.
Badziakouski couldn't have dreamed of a better start to his final table. On the first hand, he opened with two queens and table short stack Nick Petrangelo shoved for 435,000 with ace-jack. Teun Mulder then went all in with ace-king of clubs and Badziakouski called. He flopped top set, while Mulder picked up the nut flush draw and a Broadway straight draw. The turn and river were safe and Badziakouski doubled up and knocked out Petrangelo in eighth place, all on the same hand.
Shortly thereafter, Badziakouski flopped top pair with king-ten and called a raise on the flop by Mike Watson. Watson, who was just a couple of days removed from winning a €50K High Roller, continued bluffing with eight-high and a straight draw on the turn for 450,000 and moved all in on the ace river. Badziakouski, after using two time bank cards, made the hero call for his last 1,740,000 and doubled up to nearly 6,000,000.
Watson would fall in seventh place when Badziakouski hit an ace on the river to crack his pocket jacks. Mulder finished in sixth when he flopped a set of tens, but Seidel made a flush on the turn.
Badziakouski’s journey to another EPT Barcelona title took a hit when he doubled up Ben Heath after Heath made trip nines on the turn to crack Badziakouski’s flopped pair of jacks. The remaining five players would then play for more than an hour before Badziakouski raised to 200,000 with ace-queen, then called when Timothy Adams shoved for nearly his entire stack with acesix. They got Adams’ last chip in the middle on the flop when Badziakouski paired his queen, sending the Canadian to the rail in fifth for €540,980.
Heath soon joined him after jamming 1,050,000 in the small blind with eight-seven of clubs and running into the pocket queens of Kevin Paque. Badziakouski took the chip lead into three-handed play and knocked out Paque, who began the day as the chip leader, when they both flopped two pair.
Heads-up play began with Badziakouski leading Seidel 10.86 million to 6.14 million. The two would then play for more than three hours as the blinds continued to go up and the stacks continued to get shallower. Seidel doubled early when he flopped a set of sixes and took a 3-1 chip lead before Badziakouski doubled back with ace-eight against king-ten, winning with ace-high.
Seidel would again build up a big advantage before Badziakouski doubled once more, this time with pocket threes against ace-five. The end would finally come on the 123rd hand of the final table, right after the players had just come back from a 30-minute dinner break.
Badziakouski shoved from the button with ace-four and Seidel snap-called for 5,600,000 with two queens. An ace on the flop shot Badziakouski into the lead and he was the EPT Barcelona Super High Roller champion for a second time.
Badziakouski is quickly building a resume as a high roller legend. This is his 17th career title in a high roller and fifth just in the past 12 months. He now has 10 career cashes for more than €1,000,000. He’s proving that in any field, even in one filled with poker’s elite like this one, he’s always one to beat.
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the €100,000 Super High Roller at EPT Barcelona. Stay tuned for more updates throughout the festival live from Casino Barcelona.