A thrilling end to the busiest PokerStars live event of all time saw Lucien ‘Ratman’ Cohen cement his place in poker history, winning the top prize of €676,230. The Frenchman, who owns a pest control business, cleaned up in Barcelona, winning the equivalent of $733,800 as he won the second-biggest prize of his poker career to date, only behind his EPT Deauville Main Event victory 12 years ago.

A Spillage, A Lucky Shirt and Record Numbers

While the eventual narrative was shaped by Cohen’s closing out of victory, the Estrellas Main Event’s biggest achievement was in attracting so many players to the felt. The €1,100-entry event saw 7,398 entries, the record field on the Estrellas Tour and the largest live tournament field in PokerStars history. Considering just how much history that number overtakes, that’s some achievement.

Cohen’s conquering of the event came after he proclaimed a fellow player spilling coffee on him as a lucky omen. Some poker players will cling to any superstitious calamity and turn it to their advantage but in this case, Cohen’s was fairly literal. Changing into a brilliant white top, he wore the same top all the way to victory, eventually beating Belgian player Ferdinando D’Alessio to the title heads-up.

When the final table began, there were eight players still in seats. The first to leave one was Israeli player Igor Kaufman, who lost with to Danilo Velasevic’s . That won Kaufman €81,230, but he missed out on the final day as only six would make it there. That promised land also eluded Parker Talbot, who lost in seventh place for €105,590 as the PokerStars Team Pro busted with .

D’Alessio called with and Cohen did the same with . The board of was checked down by both players as D’Alessio won the pot and Talbot, known as ‘Tonkaaa’ slipped out of contention with the first six-figure score.

Cohen Takes Control

The final six posed for pictures as Cohen led the field with a chip stack of 65.5 million. The Frenchman was some way clear of Petros Karadimos in second place on 42.2 million chips, with the eventual runner-up Alessio some way back in fifth place on 30.1 million chips. Israel’s Avihai Smadga was the short stack on 11,000,000 chips, which equated to just 13 big blinds when play began.

It took just three hands for Smadga to bust, his starting and ending his final hand behind D’Alessio’s . A queen on the flop meant it was a fairly painless exit, with no false hope on offer across the board as Smadga walked away with a score of €136,850 and a big hug from his fellow players.

The game was being played for millions of euros, but in a great spirit. Cohen continued to make chips, and in one entertaining hand, took out Indian player Ankit Ahuja. The latter was all-in with , with the majority of his chips going into the middle before a flop of fell. Cohen held and after both men put their remaining chips in the middle post-flop, the turn and rive saw Cohen chip up further, at the expense of the eliminated Ahuja, who cashed for €177,810 in fifth.

D’Alessio Can’t Catch the Rat

As Cohen continued to pile up chips at his opponents’ expense, the others were getting shorter and shorter. Danilo Velasevic was knocked out for €232,090 in fourth place when his couldn’t hit an ace against Cohen’s and the field was trimmed to just two players when Greek player Petros Karadimos crashed out in third for €294,620.

Karadimos was short with when he moved in on a board of , but Cohen held , ‘Texas Dolly’, for an impossible to spot straight.

Heads-up, Cohen held a massive 4:1 chip lead with 180,900,000 chips to D’Alessio’s 41,000,000. The Belgian quickly doubled up after hitting second pair and fading clubs for Cohen’s flush draw. Cohen still held an important lead, however, his stack being able to resist one big hit, and he pressed home his advantage. The final hand saw D’Alessio’s committed on the flop, called by Cohen’s . An turn and river confirmed Cohen’s impressive victory. After his win, the 59-year-old recreational player had crawled past $2.5 million in live winnings… not bad for a man who still considers poker his side hustle.

Image courtesy of Danny Maxwell/PokerStars