A big grin from Negriin
Mysterious poker player takes the EPT by storm and over the process 15 months final tables High Rollers and Super High Rollers for fun before bagging first major European title early in 2016. No we aren't talking about Dzmitry Urbanovich, but Ivan Luca.
Tonight in Rozvadov he added a Eureka title to the WSOP bracelet he won in 2015 and took his live tournament earnings for 2016 to nearly $1,000,000.
The Argentinian entered the general table as chip leader and it was always going to take something, or someone, special to prevent him. By the point heads-up play began it was only his special someone who could deny him the title as he faced off against his girlfriend Maria Lampropoulos. She will not be as experienced as Luca in big buy-in tournaments but she will be able to play, she will be able to play rather well as evidenced by her runner-up finish in a WPT National event in Brussels on the end of February.
So whoever loses has to do the bathing up for a month right?
When heads-up play began Luca had the chip lead but soon lost it. Then he made a straight to her top pair, top kicker to take a large lead. When Lampropoulos made a straight of her own it will prove to be her downfall as Luca had rivered a flush. He shoved, she called and after 90 minutes of from side to side it was all over.
Fancy meeting you here
It's impossible to move any longer at this point without mentioning the part David Urban played on this final table. When three-handed play began at 4:20pm CET he had the chip lead. He didn't lose that lead until 8:15pm and rarely put a foot wrong despite being up against the 2 Argentinian's. Forty minutes later he was out in third place for €54,800 and wondering what may need been.
It wasn't the money he was funking over though. "I ACTUALLY desired to play Luca heads-up to play against a very top opponent," he told us. With an attitude like that we suspect we'll see more of Urban within the future.
On another day Urban might have won
The blow-by-blow account
There were eight players left when play got under way today and that is how they lined up.
| Seat | Name | Country | Status | Chips |
| 1 | Mick Heder | Denmark | 1,370,000 | |
| 2 | David Urban | Slovakia | 2,005,000 | |
| 3 | Hannes Speiser | Austria | PokerStars player | 445,000 |
| 4 | Stoyan Stefanov | Bulgaria | 1,505,000 | |
| 5 | Maria Lampropoulos | Argentina | 2,455,000 | |
| 6 | Ivan Luca | Argentina | 5,355,000 | |
| 7 | Peter Siemund | Germany | 2,845,000 | |
| 8 | Robert Kokoska | Czech Republic | 895,000 |
The elite eight
Despite a few short-stacks I DON'T BELIEVE anyone can have predicted the whirlwind begin to proceedings as four players were eliminated within the opening QUARTER-HOUR. Hannes Speiser busted at the first actual hand when he shoved K♥Q♠ into Luca's A♣J♦.
Speiser - bust at the first hand
Ace-jack didn't determine so well for Robert Kokoska as he bumped into the pocket kings of Lampropoulos, to complete seventh. A COUPLE OF MINUTES later Mick Heder picked the inaccurate time to shove for 20 big blinds with K♥J♥ as Luca awoke with aces. When Stoyan Stefanov lost a race with pocket fives to the A♠K♣ of Urban we wondered if we'd be done in record time.
Seventh place for Kokoska...
...Heder followed soon after in sixth...
...and then Stoyan, all in QUARTER-HOUR!
In those opening 15 minutes Peter Siemund had earned €29,000 without playing a hand but his run would lead to fourth place when he got very unlucky in a hand against Urban. The German flopped top pair and concrete - who'd three-bet out of position pre-flop - continued his aggression post-flop by setting Siemund all-in at the turn with just ace high and a gutshot straight draw. Siemund had seven outs to dodge then but an ace at the river sent him out in fourth.
Siemund busted in a sick hand
So that left us with just three. For the majority of three-handed play Urban was up to the mark. He had over 50% of the chips in play for enormous swathes of the four and a half hours it took to move from three to 2. Play slowed dramatically at this point with just one all-in and get in touch with - which resulted in a chop - before Urban's exit in third. He can also be happy with his performance today and impressed everybody, not just within the way he played but in how he handled being up against Luca and Lampropoulos when play was three handed.
Urban - a trendy competitor
So that left us with the rare heads-up of boyfriend vs girlfriend and so they struck a chip-chop deal before play started, leaving €5,000 and household bragging rights at the line. It took 90 minutes of play but eventually Luca's experience deep in big tournaments told and he prevailed to win an important title and add to his glowing reputation. As for Lampropoulos, she's having a breakout year of her own and has recorded her highest ever cash for the second one time in a fortnight.Eureka6 Rozvadov Main EventDates: March 4-8, 2016Buy in: €1,100Players: 682Prize pool: €661,540
| 1 | Ivan Luca | Argentina | € 124,890 | € 106,186.00 | |
| 2 | Mraia Lampropoulos | Argentina | € 76,700 | € 95,404.00 | |
| 3 | David Urban | Slovakia | € 54,800 | ||
| 4 | Peter Siemund | Germany | € 41,500 | ||
| 5 | Stoyan Stefanov | Bulgaria | € 33,100 | ||
| 6 | Mick Heder | Denmark | € 25,340 | ||
| 7 | Robert Kokoska | Czech Republic | € 18,330 | ||
| 8 | Hannes Speiser | Austria | PokerStars player | € 12,500 |
Click for full payouts
All photos are copyright of Tomas Stacha
Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Eureka Poker Tour]
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