Parker "Tonkaaaa" Talbot Breaks Down His Biggest Career Win on Youtube
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PokerStars released a video on Wednesday which gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at Parker "Tonkaaaa" Talbot's biggest career cash.
The video covers his run in the EPT Paris �2,200 FPS High Roller, where he fired two bullets before eventually making it to second place and taking home a check for �334,180 ($363,700).
To watch the full breakdown and hear Talbot's account of the event in detail, check out the full video below.
Bubble Action
The event kicked off on February 18, 2024. The first-day action was frustrating for Talbot, who busted his first bullet and then spent the day "nit-ing it in with dust."
Then on the bubble, things turned around for the first time. Talbot picked up pocket sevens in the small blind. Both he and the button called a raise from under the gun to 17,000.
The board came down Q?7?6?, giving Talbot a set ("an absolute f**king dream" in Talbot's words). UTG bet 22,000 the dealer called and Talbot raised to 52,000, UTG jammed over the top, and the button folded. After Talbot called, the UTG player flipped over 7?6? for two pair. The turn and river changed nothing and Talbot was sitting pretty with the bubble still unbroken.
The very next hand, the same player tangled with Talbot again. This time, Talbot pulled off a well-timed bluff to add another big pot to his stack. These two hands set Talbot up to bag a "very juicy stack around 500-600k."
Roller Coaster Ride To The Top
Day 2 was not straightforward.
"We had an unbelievably f**king eventful day today," Talbot explained during the 10,000/15,000 blind level. "Started the day with 594k instantly down to to 200k, back up to 550k, back down to 350k. At around 270k right now [...] so if I don't double up quickly here in the next six minutes. I'm gonna have like 12 to 15 big blinds after the break."
Things got a lot worse before they got better, but things turned around when Talbot picked up J?7? with just 165,000 in his stack. He had already chucked in 25,000 as the big blind and called a raise to 75,000 from the hijack.
With just 90,000 left, he jammed the flop of Q?6?3? and got a call from the hijack with A?Q?. The dealer was on Talbot's side, rolling over the 8? on the turn and the 10? on the river to give Talbot a flush.
After that, Talbot went on a tear. "I went from 165k to like 900k at big blind 25k and 30k," he said. "It was just really, really smooth."
This Is Not An Exit
The last act of the video tracks the final stages of the tournament as Talbot closes in first on the final table, then on the top spot. Along the way he pulls off clever bluffs and lucky drawouts. Due to Paris's strict gambling ordinances play was eventually stopped and an unscheduled Day 3 was arranged for the final four players.
Talbot started the day in third place with 10.1 million in chips and a plan to "ladder up twice, and then just run it up heads up."
The first part of the plan worked out fine. However, heads up play was another matter. After a back and forth with Henrik Juncker, Talbot picked up A?3? with 15.6 million in his stack.
He called his button for 400,000 and Juncker raised him to 3,500,000 with 34.5 million behind. Talbot moved all in and Juncker called with the A?J?. The board was quiet, missing both players until the river paired Juncker's jack, locking in a win for the Dane and sending Talbot to the rail.
Although the money undoubtedly relieves the pain a bit, Talbot's frustration with second place was evident. Despite being one of the most recognizable online tournament players in the world, at the time of the EPT Paris, he had never won a live event.
However, there is a happy postscript to the story. The deep run in Paris gave may have given Talbot some momentum as just over a month later, he won his first live event at the 2024 Irish Open for �134,279 ($145,590).
EPT Paris �2,200 FPS High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henrik Juncker | Denmark | �544,790 |
| 2 | Parker Talbot | Canada | �334,180 |
| 3 | Guillermo Gordo | Spain | �238,700 |
| 4 | Omar Del Pino | Spain | �183,590 |
| 5 | Michel Leibgorin | France | �141,220 |
| 6 | Rony Halimi | France | �108,670 |
| 7 | Yunsheng Sun | China | �83,600 |
| 8 | Dann Assouline | France | �64,310 |
| 9 | Sonny Franco | France | �49,460 |
