Josip Simunic Wins 2015 PokerStars.fr EPT Deauville High Roller (€309,170)
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Josip Simunic is the winner of the PokerStars.fr European Poker Tour Deauville €10,300 High Roller beating Jean-Noel Thorel heads up to top a record-breaking field in this event.
Simunic began the day with just over three big blinds, but 10 hours later he found himself atop the final day's 12 remaining players to be crowned 2015 champion and walk away with the trophy, €309,170, and a luxury SLYDE watch.
There was high drama right from the start of the day, as several players were short stacked out of the 12 returning , not least of which was Tobias Peters who returned with just 5,000. The first order of business was the draw for the button, which Peters took great interest in, but he was out of luck as he was in the small blind for the first hand, while Garret Gruener would be under the gun and could wait to see what transpired on the other table.
As it happened, it would be Davidi Kitai who would crash out on the first hand of the day, which took over eight minutes to play out. Robin Ylitalo opened and Kitai moved all in with his short stack. Eric Sfez made the call in the big blind and Ylitalo put in the required extra chips to call as well. A bet from Sfez on the river got Ylitalo to fold, and on a final board of 
the cards were turned over. Sfez had the 
to beat the 
of Kitai to bust him, and Peters asked incredulously, "I just have to hit to win?" Peters finally looked at his cards and 
was indeed the winner.
With Kitai out, Peters and Gruener made the pay jump. Gruener would also survive when he was dealt the 
when he was all in on his second hand in the big blind. Peters was out in 11th for €25,190 soon after. He shoved the 
and was called by Fady Kamar holding the 
, who went on to make the nut flush. Gruener couldn’t hold on much longer and got the same €25,190 payday for his 10th place finish.
Nikolay Komcharokov entered the day as chip leader having won a live satellite to get his ticket, but he was to fall in ninth for €30,720, which represents his biggest payday ever. Thomas Butzhammer had doubled through Komcharokov a few hands earlier and he then four-bet shoved the 
into the 
of Butzhammer to exit short of the official final table of eight.
Butzhammer fell victim to the 
of Simunic in the next level when he shoved with the 
. His eighth-place finish was good for €41,160.
There were similar stack sizes at this stage and a fair bit of three-bet shoving before Ylitalo scored a double knock out holding the 
. He called the all-in shoves of Joao Ribeiro, who had the , and Eric Sfez, who had the 
. The cards ran out 
to reduce the field to five.
The chip lead swapped several times over the next few levels with Thorel holding it for some time, but no one was able to draw clear of the pack and it was anyone's tournament to win. Something had to give, though, and it was Argentinian sensation Ivan Luca who was next out when he shoved with the 
and Simunic called with the . The cards ran out 
to send Luca out in fifth for €90,690.
Four-handed play went on for a bit as the stacks evened out to around 20 big blinds, and it became a technical game of stack sizes and shoving ranges, with flops few and far between. That was how the action went as Ylitalo moved all in with the and Simunic called with the . It was a board of changing fortunes as the cards ran out 
. Ylitao was eliminated in fourth for €112,440, and three-handed play commenced.
Simunic was then chip leader and began to steadily apply the pressure on his shorter-stacked opponents, with Thorel and Kamar unable to fight back to his series of shoves. He would not be involved in the next elimination, though, as a rare flop broke out between Kamar and Thorel.
Thorel opened and Kamar called from the big blind. Kamar then check-raised all in on a flop of 
. Thorel called with the , and it was looking good for the of Kamar. But after the 
hit the turn, the river gave Thorel two pair. Kamar was the third-place finisher, taking home €135,780.
Thorel would attempt to apply maximum pressure to Simunic in the heads-up battle, but in the end that was his undoing. He called a shove on the turn holding bottom pair against the pocket aces of Simunic, and it was all over soon after.
Simiunic called a bet from Thorel on the flop of 
, and then all the chips went in the middle when the 
hit the turn. Simunic had made two pair with the , and Thorel had the 
. The 
completed the board, and Simunic was the new EPT Deauville High Roller champion. Thorel had to console himself with €208,900 for second place.