Ram Faravash Claims 21 Knockouts on Way to Victory in €3,000 Mystery Bounty
Ram Faravash's victory in the €3,000 Mystery Bounty highlights exactly what these type of events are all about. Not only did Faravash take first place and the trophy, but he did so while claiming 21 bounty tokens along the way.
The event, running at Le Palais des Congrès as part of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris, attracted 997 entries from 708 players. The prize pool reached €1,682,936, as well as €977,000 up for grabs in bounties.
Ram Faravash took the lion's share of both the payouts and the bounties. He came into Day 3 second in chips, behind only [Removed:451]. The pair held onto their lead throughout the day and were the two players left at the end to battle it out heads-up.
The stacks were even at first before Al-Sayegh took the lead. Faravash pulled ahead when he won a huge flip to double up. And after a little back and forth, the tournament was soon over. Faravash earned his place as the outright winner. It was simply his day.
€3,000 Mystery Bounty Final Table Payouts
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize | Bounties | Total Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ram Faravash | Australia | €298,796 | € 106,500 | € 405,296 |
| 2 | [Removed:451] | Belgium | €186,720 | € 8,000 | € 194,720 |
| 3 | Salomon Azria | France | €133,370 | € 18,000 | € 141,370 |
| 4 | Pierre May | Germany | €102,590 | € 4,000 | € 106,590 |
| 5 | Tsugunari Toma | Japan | €78,910 | € 5,000 | € 83,910 |
| 6 | Fabrice Bigot | France | €60,690 | € 15,000 | € 75,690 |
| 7 | Fehim Hajdari | Denmark | €46,680 | € 7,000 | € 53,680 |
| 8 | Gediminas Uselis | Lithuania | €35,910 | € 32,000 | € 67,910 |
| 9 | Arvin Vahdat | Iran | €27,620 | € 3,000 | € 30,620 |
Bounties Stack Up for Faravash (and Others)
As mentioned, Faravash claimed 21 bounty tokens, meaning he eliminated 20 players on his path to success, as well as cashing his own token after finishing in first place.
He traded in his tokens throughout the event, pulling one of the four €50,000 top bounty prizes, as well as one of the six second-highest prizes of €25,000. All in all, Faravash made €106,500 in bounties, an incredible boost to his €298,796 first place prize money.
Seonguk Huh, who finished the tournament in eleventh place, also pulled a €50,000 envelope, as did Henok Tekle Mariam and Kartik Ved.
Aside from Faravash, Klemens Roiter, Michel Dattani, Tiago Aguiar Ramos, and Luis Dono all traded in one of their tokens for a €25,000 prize.
Gediminas Uselis was another player who did well for himself. He finished eighth for €35,910 and also picked up €32,000 in bounties, including one of the €25,000 prizes.
Final Day Action
There were 14 players who returned to the felt for Day 3 of the €3,000 Mystery Bounty. All of the top bounties had already been pulled on the previous day and so the tournament was set to play out like a freezeout.
Early on, something of a stalemate occured at the tables, no player willing to bust. After almost an hour, Stephane Gabarre was first to fall when he busted to Al-Sayegh. Next to go was Birger Larsen, followed by Louis Linard, then Huh.
Hossein Ensan, one of the most recognizable faces to make it to the last stages of the event, busted on the final table bubble. Ensan won the 2015 EPT Prague Main Event and then took down the 2019 WSOP Main Event for $10,000,000. In this event, he found himself short stacked and then all in from the blind.
The final table had barely formed before Arvin Vahdat hit the rail in ninth place. It was then close to an hour before Gediminas Uselis lost a flip to Faravash to bust in eighth.
Faravash then claimed another knockout when Fehim Hajdari was forced to shove short. By this point, Faravash was cleaning up and next up he took out Fehim Hajdari in seventh followed by Fabrice Bigot in sixth place. Tsugunari Toma came into Day 3 third in chips and gained momentum on the run up to the final table, but he ended up losing several all-ins against shorter stacked players and eventually found himself pot committed in the big blind with a weak hand. Toma finished in fifth place for €78,910.
Next to go was Pierre May, whose three-bet shove was called by Faravash - Faravash found his pair and May was eliminated in fourth place for €102,590.
Salomon Azria had by this point laddered up nicely, but his short stack couldn't carry him any further. He was pot committed in the big blind and knocked out by - guess who - Faravash.
With that, the action went heads-up with fairly even stacks between Faravash and Al-Sayegh.
Al-Sayegh took the lead momentarily, that was until Faravash won a huge flip to double his stack. After winnning a few more small pots and pulling further ahead, a coin flip settled it. Al-Sayegh got his king nine in against Faravash's pocket threes. Faravash flopped a set and held against Al-Sayegh's turned flush draw to win the pot.
Faravash is the €3,000 Mystery Bounty champion, earning himself €298,796 in prizes and €106,500 in bounties for a total of €405,296.
That concludes the PokerNews coverage of the event. Stay tuned for the rest of the EPT Paris, including the conclusion of the Main Event.