Francisco Benitez Triumphs in EPT Barcelona �10,200 Mystery Bounty (�114,080)
Uruguay's Francisco Benitez has started the 2022 PokerStars and Barcelona?Casino European Poker Tour Barcelona off with a bang by taking down the �10,200 Mystery Bounty for �114,080. Benitez defeated Ukraine's Igor Yaroshevskyy after a brief heads-up battle that left the runner-up taking home �73,610.
One of the first events of EPT Barcelona's return, after a three-year hiatus, the mystery bounty event attracted 91 runners and generated a prize pool of �882,700, with about half of each buy-in going into the bounty pool.
Other players who ran deep in the third event of the Spanish series included Brazil's Gabriel Moura (9th - �13,250) and Bruno "great dant" Volkmann (5th - �32,340). Joris Ruijs (4th - �40,440) and Anton Suarez (3rd - �52,560) also found a five figure payday.
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�10,200 Mystery Bounty Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE (IN EUR) | |
| 1 | Francisco Benitez | Uruguay | �114,080 | |
| 2 | Igor Yaroshevskyy | Ukraine | �73,610 | |
| 3 | Anton Suarez | Sweden | �52,560 | |
| 4 | Joris Ruijs | Netherlands | �40,440 | |
| 5 | Bruno Volkmann | Brazil | �32,340 | |
| 6 | Arthur Conan | France | �25,880 | |
| 7 | Yazan Mdanat | Jordan | �20,700 | |
| 8 | Igor Pihela | Estonia | �16,560 | |
| 9 | Gabriel Moura | Brazil | �13,250 |
A Good Start
In a winner's interview, Benitez told PokerNews he ran "very good" throughout the two-day event and "won a lot of big hands and flips."
��I feel very good," he said. "(It was a) good start and (gives me) more confidence for the rest of the tournaments.��
While the �114,080 first-place prize was a nice cherry on top of Benitez' tournament run, the South American had already locked up a six-figure score by pulling a staggering 13 of 39 bounties, including the second single-biggest bounty of �50,000.
Benitez also pulled 12 bounties worth �5,000 for a total bounty score of �110,000, nearly the same amount as his first-place prize. The elusive �100,000 bounty, meanwhile, went to fourth-place finisher Ruijs.
��It��s good," Benitez laughed about his hot bounty run.
With the victory, Benitez picks up his biggest-ever live cash, squeaking past a $107,754 score he earned in June from a runner-up finish in the Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) Main Event, according to The Hendon Mob.
Benitez won more than seven times that when he finished second in the 2021 WSOP Online $10,000 No Limit Hold'em - Super MILLION$ High Roller. He lost to none other than Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel, who made Day 2 of this week's Mystery Bounty event but was eliminated in the first hand of the day.
EPT HEADS BACK TO LONDON IN OCTOBER 2022
Final Table Action
Moura was first to go at the final table when he was involved in a three-way all-in against Igor Pihela and Ruijs, the latter of whom flopped a set and held against the flush draw of Pihela. Pihela bowed out next when he ran his queen-jack into the kings of Ruijs and couldn't improve as the board ran out.
The �100,000 bounty grabber couldn't continue his run-good forever and fell in fourth place after getting his short stack in with queen-deuce and being out-flopped by the nine-six of Yaroshevskyy.
Sweden's Suarez, meanwhile, finished third when he called off with king-four against the ace-six of Benitez, whose ace-high held up after an inconsequential runout.
Despite Benitez and Yaroshevskyy entering heads-up play nearly even in chips, it only took a few hands for a winner to emerge. In the final hand, the two got to the river on a four-flush paired board and Benitez raised all in with a king-high bluff. Benitez called after confirming he had the ace-high flush that was the end of that.
Benitez told PokerNews he is happy about his hot start to EPT Barcelona and plans on grinding the remaining series.
��I will play everything," he said. "Every high roller, the Main Event; everything.��
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In this Series
- 1 Francisco Benitez Triumphs in EPT Barcelona �10,200 Mystery Bounty (�114,080)
- 2 Win the ULTIMATE Oracle Red Bull Racing Experience at EPT Barcelona
- 3 Francisco Benitez Secures Second 2022 EPT Barcelona Title; Wins �25,000 No Limit Hold'em I (�341,565)
- 4 Addamo & Davies Double Up in First Level of EPT Barcelona �25K Single-Day High Roller I
- 5 Artur Martirosian Takes Down EPT Barcelona �25,000 Single-Day High Roller I (�540,990)
- 6 Fourth-Time's a Charm For Watson in the EPT Barcelona �50,000 High Roller
- 7 Rick van Bruggen Wins Record-Breaking Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event
- 8 WOW! PokerStars EPT Barcelona Smashes Record for Biggest Main Event Field
- 9 Miroslav Alilovic Wins Estrellas Poker Tour High Roller (�512,650)
- 10 Mikita Badziakouski Wins EPT Barcelona �100K Super High Roller for a Second Time
- 11 Another for Michael Addamo; Conquers EPT Barcelona �50K Single Day High Roller II
- 12 Defending EPT Barcelona Champ Simon Brandstrom Taking it "One Hand at a Time" on Hunt for Second Title
- 13 Yamato Nakai Wins $30,000 PSPC Platinum Pass in EPT Barcelona Mystery Bounty
- 14 Leonard Maue Denies Benitez Third Straight Title to Win the �25,000 Single-Day High Roller
- 15 Patrik Jaros Leads Final Six in PokerStars EPT Barcelona �5,300 Main Event
- 16 Mikolaj Zawadzki Wins EPT Barcelona �1,650 Mystery Bounty (�95,418)
- 17 Could YOU Make This Hero Call at an EPT Main Event Final Table?
- 18 Steve O'Dwyer "No Longer Angry" After EPT Barcelona �25,000 High Roller Victory
- 19 Portugal's Rui Ferreira Takes Down �10,300 EPT High Roller for �767,750
- 20 Giuliano Bendinelli Comes Back From One Big Blind to Win the 2022 EPT Barcelona Main Event (�1,491,133)
- 21 Five Key Hands from EPT Barcelona Main Event Heads-Up Battle
