€50,000 Single-Day High Roller I
Day 1 Completed
2022 PokerStars EPT Barcelona
€50,000 Single-Day High Roller I
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
2022 PokerStars EPT Barcelona
Buy-in
€50,000
Prize Pool
€2,862,090
Entries
59
Level
24
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
100,000
Entries
59
Players Left
1
Level 24
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
Try and try again. Or, if you’re Mike Watson, try four times and you might end up as the €50,000 Single-Day High Roller champion at the PokerStars and Barcelona©Casino European Poker Tour and €872,940 richer.
Watson didn’t get off to a promising start to this tournament. He was eliminated just a few minutes into the day and had to rebuy. Then he was knocked out two more times and forced to head back to the registration cage. He ended up buying in four times for a total of €200,000.
“Just pure stubbornness, I guess, more than anything else,” Watson said following his victory. “It was a good tournament. I took a little break after the third one. I ran a nice run over the dinner break. Got myself ready to go, in a good headspace. Obviously, it paid off in the end. Ran a lot better on the fourth one than the first three.”
Watson’s journey through this tournament began with a first-level knockout and ended with him making a straight flush to beat Kahle Burns heads-up and earn the trophy and top prize. The Canadian veteran pro already had more than $15 million in live winnings, but his year had been defined by close misses. Already in 2022, he’s finished in the top-four of an event six times but had yet to win before today.
“It feels really good to win. I’ve had a lot of close calls this year, but I haven’t had many where I actually closed the deal. So it feels really good to win one,” he said.
€50,000 Single-Day High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Mike Watson | Canada | €872,940 |
| 2 | Kahle Burns | Australia | €572,420 |
| 3 | Arthur Conan | France | €415,000 |
| 4 | David Yan | New Zealand | €314,830 |
| 5 | Pascal Lefrancois | Canada | €243,280 |
| 6 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | €186,040 |
| 7 | Michael Soyza | Malaysia | €143,100 |
| 8 | Michael Addamo | Australia | €114,480 |
Event Recap
The event began with 59 entries, including 39 unique players, generating a total prize pool of €2,862,090. Along the way, the likes of Adrian Mateos, Patrik Antonius, Dan Smith, and David Peters would all fall short of making the final table.
Stephen Chidwick was eliminated on the final table and money bubble when he was forced all in after posting the big blind. Michael Addamo, the Australian poker superstar, was knocked out in eighth place when he got his short stack all in with ace-four but couldn’t outrun the ace-king of David Yan.
Yan also took out Michael Soyza in seventh place, winning a coin flip with pocket fives against ace-ten. Aleksejs Ponakovs, the one-time chip leader of the tournament, was next to fall when he called Burns’ all-in shove for his last 710,000 with pocket tens against ace-queen. An ace on the flop spelled disaster for Ponakovs as he finished in sixth place.
Watson doubled up against Yan with ace-five against king-queen, ending up with a straight on the river, to crack the 1,000,000 chip milestone. Fellow Canadian Pascal Lefrancois fell in fifth place after losing with king-queen versus Burns’ ace-king as Burns began to take control of the final table.
Burns took out Yan with a pair of fours, out flopping Yan’s ace-eight with king-four, and also eliminated Arthur Conan to step up the heads-up match. After losing a big pot to Watson, Conan was forced to call for his last 230,000 with nine-deuce against ace-ten and flopped a nine, but Burns spiked an ace on the turn to bust the Frenchman and take a commanding lead into heads-up with 3,725,000 to Watson’s 2,175,000.
It wouldn’t take long before the two opponents swapped roles. Watson moved all in on the turn for 1,950,000, and Burns called with a pair of jacks, but Watson had two pair eights and sevens to double up and take a big chip lead. The tournament was finally brought to an end after 16 hours when Burns bet 100,000 on a nine-queen-six board with two spades, Watson raised to 300,000, Burns moved all in for 900,000, and Watson called with ten-eight with one spade. Burns had a pair of queens and stayed ahead on the ten of spades turn, but Watson improved to a straight flush on the seven of spades river.
“It’s a fun way to win it, with a straight flush,” Watson said.
Watson won’t have long to rest after his grueling day. He plans on entering the €100,000 High Roller on August 14 and chasing another title.
That concludes PokerNews's coverage of the €50,000 Single-Day High Roller. Stay tuned throughout EPT Barcelona for all the tournament updates from Casino Barcelona.
Level 24
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
Kahle Burns bet 100,000 on a flop of 
before Mike Watson raised to 300,000 in the big blind. Burns responded by moving all in for 900,000 and Watson called.
Kahle Burns: 
Mike Watson: 
Burns was ahead with his pair of queens while Watson was on a straight draw. The 
on the turn didn't change anything, but the 
on the river gave Watson a straight flush and the title.
"That will be a nice one for the photos. When do you ever see that," Burns said as he congratulated Watson.
"Never. You can say I need a straight flush to win," replied Watson.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
5,900,000
1,000,000
|
1,000,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level: 24
Blinds: 50,000/100,000
Ante: 100,000
Level 23
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
It was yet another limped pot that was checked to the turn with the board showing 
. Mike Watson bet 180,000 and Kahle Burns called on the button.
The river came the 
and Watson bet another 480,000. Burns tanked for about a minute before announcing a call as Watson turned over 
for a queen-high flush to take the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,900,000
900,000
|
900,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,000,000
-900,000
|
-900,000 |
Level 23
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
In another limped pot, Kahle Burns bet 80,000 on the flop and Mike Watson called.
Both players checked the turn and Watson also checked the river. This time a bet from Burns of 155,000 was enough to win the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,000,000
-390,000
|
-390,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,900,000
390,000
|
390,000 |
Level: 23
Blinds: 40,000/80,000
Ante: 80,000
Level 22
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
In a limped pot, Kahle Burns bet 155,000 on the 
flop and Mike Watson called.
The turn brought the and Watson checked to Burns, who bet another 600,000. Watson then announced he was all in for 1,950,000 and Burns used two time banks before calling.
Mike Watson:
Kahle Burns: 
Watson was ahead with two pair against Burns' pair of jacks, and the 
on the river was harmless as Watson took the chip lead.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,390,000
2,215,000
|
2,215,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,510,000
-2,215,000
|
-2,215,000 |
Level 22
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Mike Watson and Kahle Burns are back in their seats and heads-up play has started.
Levels will now be 15 minutes long.
Level 22
: Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Arthur Conan raised to 290,000 from the button and Mike Watson called in the small blind.
Both players checked to the river on a board of 
, when Watson bet enough to put Conan all in.
Conan, with 230,000 behind, used all three of his remaining time banks before folding.
The next hand, Conan was in the big blind and called when small blind Kahle Burns put him all in.
Arthur Conan: 
Kahle Burns: 
Conan took the lead on the 
flop with a pair of nines, but the 
on the turn gave Burns back the advantage with a pair of aces. The river came the 
and Conan was eliminated.
Burns and Watson have agreed to take a 10-minute break before the start of heads-up play.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,725,000
225,000
|
225,000 |
|
|
2,175,000
625,000
|
625,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |