Mustapha Kanit Wins EPT Dublin €25,000 High Roller
In the nine years since the European Poker Tour was last in Dublin, Ireland the Tour has changed quite a bit. One of the biggest changes is the addition of High Roller events to the stop in each EPT city.
Sunday night in Dublin, Mustapha Kanit put on a show for the ages in winning the €25K High Roller for €501,640 ($563,172 US). Kanit, who is Italy’s all-time leading money earner, now has over $6 million US in lifetime earnings.
The €25,000 buy-in event, which attracted 70 entries, was the biggest buy-in event in the history of Irish poker.
Kanit came to the final table with the chip lead and while he did briefly relinquish that lead to Chance Kornuth in heads-up play, the Italian poker pro basically went wire-to-wire for the win.
Kornuth picked up the first elimination on just the second hand of play Sunday. From UTG Kornuth moved all in for 1,290,000 and a shortstacked Ivan Luca called from the button. Kornuth showed 
while Luca had 
. The 
run out didn’t help Luca and he was out in eighth.
On the very next hand Nick Petrangelo found himself on the way out of the tournament. Action folded to Petrangelo in the small blind and he moved all in for 480,000. Jeff Rossiter called from the big blind and tabled 
, behind Petrangelo’s 
. The 
flop gave Rossiter second pair but left Petrangelo drawing to a bigger pair or broadway. the 
turn and 
river were bricks though and Petrangelo was out in seventh.
While the first two eliminations took no time at all, it was 90 minutes of play before another player left the final table. Again it was a blind-vs-blind confrontation that lead to the bustout. Anton Bertilsson moved all in from the small blind and Keith Johnson called from the big. Bertilsson turned over 
and Johnson, who was short when the hand began, needed help with 
. The board ran out 
leaving Bertilsson in front and sending Johnson out in sixth place.
An hour later Kanit picked up his first elimination of the day. Kanit raised to 215,000 and Rossiter moved all in behind him. Kanit called and found himself in a dominating position with to the 
of Rossiter. The 
flop kept Kanit in the lead but the 
gave Rossiter back door flush outs. The river however was the and Rossiter was eliminated in fifth.
Kanit held 54% of the chips in play with just four players remaining and pushed that advantage to as high as 70%. It took another blind-vs-blind confrontation to get down to three players. Kornuth shoved from the small blind and Bertilsson called off the rest of his stack from the big blind. Kornuth tabled and Bertilsson showed 
. Bertilsson found no traction on the 
board and was out in fourth.
A three-way all in so no player bust out and left Kanit in the lead. Just a few minutes later Charlie Carrel found himself on the way out and Kanit was set for a heads-up battle with Kornuth. Again, it was blind-vs-blind. Kanit limped from the small blind, Carrel move all in from the big and Kanit quickly called. Carrel showed 
while Kanit was ahead with 
. The board ran out 
to eliminate Carrel.
Heads-up play last a little over two hours with Kornuth taking the lead for a little less than 20 minutes of play. Once Kanit had it back, he didn’t relinquish it. On the final hand of the night Kornuth opened to 500,000 and Kanit responded by moving all in. Kornuth took some time but eventually called with 
. Kanit was ahead with 
. The board ran out 
giving Kanit his first win of 2016.
Final Table Payouts
- Mustapha Kanit – €501,640
- Chance Kornuth – €360,150
- Charlie Carrel – €234,100
- Anton Bertilsson – €176,640
- Jeff Rossiter – €137,200
- Keith Johnson – €106,330
- Nick Petrangelo – €84,040
- Ivan Luca – €65,170
