The Winamax Poker Open��s �500 Main Event at Banco Casino in Bratislava is now in the history books. After 48 levels of play, it was Martin Bartos who bested the huge field of 1,577 entrants to take home the trophy, title and �100,000.
Over a total of five starting flights, only 271 players were lucky enough to return to the tournament floor for Day 2. After an additional 18 levels of play, just 13 remained to battle it out on the felt this afternoon. Despite such fierce competition, it was Bartos who took pole position as the dust settled.
Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Bartos | Slovakia | �100,000 |
| 2 | Richard Miklosovic | Slovakia | �64,500 |
| 3 | Victor Fryda | France | �42,000 |
| 4 | Pierre Neuville | Belgium | �28,000 |
| 5 | Victor Hoogstoel | France | �21,000 |
| 6 | Davidi Kitai | Belgium | �16,000 |
| 7 | Leo Margets | Spain | �12,300 |
Winners Interview
Bartos found time after his win to tell us what lifting this trophy meant to him; ��I��m happy, yeah, of course! It��s the happiest tournament moment. If you win sometimes, you��ll know how it feels.��
Having drawn one of the toughest final tables in WPO Main Event History, Bartos was quick to commend some of the seasoned opponents he faced: ��Because the final table, it was definitely tough. Very good players, very good players. I think for a �500 tournament, [there were] very, very good players. In Slovakia, the best �500 Final Table for sure. Too many celebrities! It was perfect��.
��I had, of course, luck. After this, I had a big stack; yeah I was confident there.��
Bartos�� heads-up battle wasn��t a clear-cut path after losing an initial all-in at the start: ��At the beginning, I was at the top, but then it was a little bit falling down. I think my opponent was much nervous, perhaps not as much experience as me. He asked me about a deal, but I rejected it before. I still feel good.��
Bartos is now in the top ten on the Slovakian All-Time money list, although PokerNews was first to inform him of this: ��I really didn't know that, it was close though. Huge money for a �500. It��s wonderful!��
Though Bartos�� plan for the future may include a bit of a poker hiatus, we can confirm he will be here in Banco Casino for a title defense, given the opportunity: ��I think I take a break, I don't need to work too much�� he continued ��Maybe EPT Prague, some tournaments and cash game.�� ��I��m playing here all the time, all the bigger tournaments here. I��m playing all the time if I'm here.��
Day 3 Action
The play moved fast as our first elimination, Roland Pardoux in 13th place, came within the first two minutes of the Day 3 restart, prompting a two-table redraw.
Once the final two tables were settled after their penultimate reshuffle of the day, Thomas Legendre, Alexis Andre, Adrien Guyon and L��o Colin all found their way to the payout desk in a relatively speedy fashion.
Most notably, Guyon came runner-up for �88,000 in this very event in 2022. While he may not have been able to surpass his own personal best in this WPO Main Event, these back-to-back deep runs certainly did not go unnoticed.
With eight players remaining, the finalists were now on the bubble of the final table. With a pay jump of �3,300 and a priceless amount of glory for making the final seven, it was two and a half hours before Maxime Large departed in eighth place.
Final Table Action
This seven-handed feature table was host to a plethora of familiar faces including, Davidi Kitai, Leo Margets and Pierre Neuville. Most notably, the deep run of Kitai and Margets marked the last standing members of Winamax��s Team Pro.
Although, it wasn't to be for Margets as she was the first player to exit to the rail. Margets�� ace-five fell to the jack-ten of Richard Miklosovic, as he rivered a flush to claim her tournament life.
Not long after Kitai made his exit, ending the campaign for a Winamax Team Pro member to take down this year's WPO Main Event in Bratislava. All the money went in on the turn against Victor Fryda; Kitai��s gutshot straight draw failed to materialise by the river and he made his exit.
Margets, on Kitai��s rail, exclaimed, ��We tried!�� as they both left the tournament floor.
Victor Hoogstoel was the next casualty of this final table. Hoogstoel lost the most important coin toss of his tournament journey thus far and was sent packing by the ace-jack of Fryda.
One of the most well-known players on the final table, Pierre Neuville, bowed out in 4th place. Despite coming into the day as the chip leader, Neuville remained short-stacked for a good proportion of the final table. Ultimately, he got his remaining chips in with jack-deuce against the king-seven of Martin Bartos; Neuville was behind and remained that way to the river, ending his deep run.
The first to finish in podium position was Victor Fryda, who departed in third place. Fryda also finished 17th in this very event in 2022 for �5,800; not only did he beat his own personal best by a considerable margin, but also took home �42,000 for his efforts.
The tournament��s heads-up battle resulted in Bartos eliminating fellow Slovakian Richard Miklosovic. Although Miklosovic was the favorite holding queen-jack against the jack-ten of Bartos, it wasn��t to be; a ten on the flop swiftly ended Miklosovic��s incredibly impressive run.
Finally, it was up to Bartos to lift this year's trophy as he heads home �100,000 richer.
That concludes PokerNews�� coverage of the Winamax Poker Open here in Bratislava. Stayed lock in for future coverage of Winamax tournaments and upcoming events.
