From Hollink to Bendik: A Look at Past Winners of the EPT Grand Final Main Event (2012-2014)
While 2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo?Casino EPT continues to slowly build towards the biggest events on tap, we're still continuing our look at the history of this prestigious event under the EPT Grand Final banner. Two parts are already in the books — check them out here and here — and this will be part three of the series, taking a look at 2012 through 2014.
| Season | Year | Players | Champion | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 2012 | 665 | Mohsin Charania | USA | €1,350,000 |
| 9 | 2013 | 531 | Steve O'Dwyer | Ireland | €1,224,000 |
| 10 | 2014 | 650 | Antonio Buonanno | Italy | €1,240,000 |
2012 - Winner: Mohsin Charania (€1,350,000)
In perhaps the first EPT Grand Final to really feel the effects of Black Friday — taking place shortly afterward, the 2011 event likely had plenty of American qualifiers — an online crusher from the U.S. wound up winning in 2012.
Mohsin "chicagocards1" Charania conquered a field of 665 as he got heads up with Lucille Cailly. The only other recognizable name at the final table was Italian reg Sergio Castelluccio, who got fourth for €400,000.
Cailly and Charania agreed to a deal that saw Charania lock up €1,150,000 and Cailly €100,000 less. They left €200,000 on the table for which to play, and that money was on the line in a hurry as Charania picked up queens and Cailly ace-king for a massive flip. The queens held unimproved and Charania took down the first of what would be a slew of major titles — he's since added two WPTs and a WSOP bracelet. It's still the biggest cash in a career that's spanned nearly $6 million in winnings.
Justin Bonomo, Amit Makhija, Jason Wheeler, Pratyush Buddiga and future WSOP Main Event final tablist Andoni Larrabe were among those who made runs to the final few tables in this one but came up just short.
Here's the PokerNews winner's interview with Charania:
2013 - Winner: Steve O'Dwyer (€1,224,000)
In some ways, 2013 EPT Grand Final was the birth of a superstar as Steve O'Dwyer rose from the ranks of merely great players to become of the players in the absolute top tier as far as live tournament results.
Backing up a bit, the 2013 EPT Grand Final drew a field of 531 and produced a legendary final table, to this day considered one of the best in EPT history. The final six featured Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Lodden, Jake Cody, Noah Schwartz, Andrew Pantling and O'Dwyer, to say nothing of Jason Mercier, Grant Levy and Freddy Deeb, who finished seventh through ninth, respectively.
O'Dwyer had come up grinding the American circuit but really burst onto the scene with a series of cashes in Europe, making two official EPT final tables and finishing seventh in another, including a second-place finish to Benny Spindler at EPT London. O'Dwyer also booked a win in WPT National Vienna and finished runner-up in WPT Venice.
The American transplant to Ireland had the lead going into the final table but had the shortest stack three-handed. However, he won a flip against Lodden and then busted him picking off a bluff shove to get heads up with Pantling. The Brit would get it in good after turning a flush against O'Dwyer's flopped trips, but O'Dwyer hit quads on the river for the first of five seven-figure scores in what's become a legendary tournament career.
2014 - Winner: Antonio Buonanno (€1,240,000)
The 2014 EPT Grand Final is remembered for one thing: one of the most incredibly drawn out final tables in major poker tour history, as a heads-up match between Antonio Buonanno and Jack Salter stretched out across about 10 hours and dragged into breakfast time the next day.
Buonanno made the final table against a group of young online qualifiers, but the 47-year-old Italian found an early double against Salter and made it to heads-up play against the top British pro, who had entered the final day as chip leader.
Discussions of a deal had begun three-handed between Salter, Buonanno and Malte Moennig, but Salter had a strong position with more than half of the chips in play and wouldn't give up any equity. Buonanno again tried to discuss a deal after busting Moennig, but nothing came to fruition.
Going into heads-up play with about 200 big blinds total in play, nobody could have imagined what followed. Salter and Buonanno battled back and forth across nearly 250 hands and about 10 hours. Salter had Buonanno on the brink, all in and at risk, a number of times, including needing to duck a three-outer once. He failed to get the cards to line up, though, and the match took so long the PokerNews reporting team had to wave the white flag and get to their planes, leaving the coverage in the hands of a remote editor watching the stream.
Finally, Buonanno turned the tables on Salter and finished the job, denying his younger foe a signature title in the exhausting match and leaving a pained Salter to wonder how his luck could have run so poorly in the series of all-in pots.