French poker pro Nicolas Proust outlasted a massive 1,804-entry field to win €110k and the coveted 2015 Battle of Malta trophy on Monday.
The 29 year old was actually one of three players who took home over €100k thanks to a record turnout and a three-way deal that was made at the final table.
Norwegian Henrik Jacobsen was the runner-up finisher for 102k but came painfully close to winning it outright when Proust shoved all-in on the first hand of heads-up with king-jack against Proust’s pocket fours.
Instead Proust won the coin flip and steamrolled heads-up play from that point on.
Interestingly Dutch pro Hendrik Koops was actually the biggest cash winner of the day as he was the chip leader when the deal was made. He’ll take home €125k for his efforts.
Here are the complete final-table payouts for the 2015 Battle of Malta (*reflects three-way deal):
1. Nicolas Proust - €110,000
2. Henrik Jacobsen - €102,000
3. Hendrik Koops - €125,000
4. Uri Gilboa - €54,500
5. Carlo van Ravenswoud - €41,300
6. Anders Gran Kvam - €29,500
7. Paolo Palmieri - €21,800
8. Dimitar Aleksandrov - €17,200
9. Giuseppe Grimaldi - €13,350
10. Anne Meri - €10,450
Ravenswoud Busts Fifth, Meri 10th
Finland’s Anne Meri had the unique distinction of being the first female player to make the final table but she couldn’t escape her short stack and ended up busting first.
She picked up a €10,450 consolation prize for finishing 10th.
Despite the fact the chip stacks were relatively shallow the tournament seriously slowed down when it hit nine-handed and it took over an hour to find our next elimination.
In that time Koop overtook the chip lead from former leader Uri Gilboa.
Finally Giuseppe Grimaldi busted in ninth place and that brought on a rapid-fire series of eliminations that included Dimitar Aleksandrov (8th), Paolo Palmieri (7th) and Anders Gran Kvam (6th).
High-stakes poker pro Carlo van Ravenswoud was undoubtably one of the favorites at the final table but he couldn’t overcome a relatively short stack and ended up busting fifth for €41,300.
Uri Gilboa was one of the most enthusiastic players at the final table and he was happy just to jump a few pay jumps in the latter stages. He was overjoyed to take home €54,500 for finishing fourth.
Deal Reached Three-Handed
As you might expect with over €300,000 on the line the remaining three players decided to make a deal.
In the end they decided on an ICM chip with Koops and leaving €10,000 for first place. That worked out to:
Hendrik Koops: €125k
Henrik Jacobsen: €102k
Nicolas Proust: €100k
Of course Proust ended up taking the extra €10k but that didn’t dethrone former chip leader Hendrik Koops from taking home the biggest sum.
That’s it for the 2015 and PokerListings would like to thank all the players who came out and made it such a success.
See you next year!
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