Anything but a foregone conclusion. The EPM Mystery Bounty ended with the victory of the Isreaelian Refael Dahan, chip leader on Day1 A, starting from 7th in the count to the final table, with just over 25 Big Blinds at his disposal.
It wasn't so long as Robert Fluereci remained in the race, uncontested ruler of the tournament from the first minute of play to the 5-left phase, the one in which he found elimination at the hands of David Hu.
Due to a series of particularly unlucky crossovers, Fluereci's triumphal march became a penitence. His expression says it all about how hard it was to get up from the table with the trophy still at stake.
On the other hand, the good Refael bided his time and took advantage of Lady Luck's clemency in the best way possible. With eight left, he was briefly at the tail end with 6% of the chips in play, equivalent to less than 20 blinds.
Then a double-up and then the turning point cooler against "King Fish" in the blind war: Q-Q for Refael, A-K for "King Fish" who finds no assistance on the board, and a very important double-up on an even stack (Big Fish will then remain with one and a half blinds, finding elimination in the following hands.
In this chaos, Dutchman David Hu took centre stage by pulling off a comeback à la Jack Straus*, the man who managed to win the WSOP title after being left with only one chip, hence the saying "one chip one chair".
A hoot for the spectators at home, a slightly less coincidental one for his opponents, in particular for Fluereci who came out against him by squeezing all-in with 8-8 on Hu's opening with A-Q and Dahan's flat with A-T (who, however, opted to fold preflop in the face of the Romanian's shove).
It was a crazy comeback, so much so that in the 4-left phase, HU did not find it convenient to make any deals given the advantage he had accumulated. The (private) agreement would then come at the time of the head-to-head against Dahan, who started with a 2-to-1 disadvantage.
After nibbling some ground, Dahan doubled up on HU by finding Double Pair with 9-4o on 9♥️ 3♣️ 4♦️ 5♣️ 2♦️. Hu check-called the flop and check-shoved the turn with 9♣️ 7♣️. The yellow chips,the biggest cut, all end up on Dahan's side, who suddenly finds himself playing with a 3 to 1 advantage over his direct opponent.
The epilogue was close, and Hu put his stack in the middle with A♣️ 4♣️ finding Dahan's call with A♦️ Q♣️: board 3-6-3-5-10 and the trophy in his pocket. In addition to the prize reserved for the runner-up, David Hu will collect the last remaining €6,000 bounty.
The situation at the Final Table
🇷🇴ROBERT GEORGIAN FLUERECI 31.350.000
🇮🇹ROLANDO CAMARDESE 23.975.000ù
🇮🇹BENEDETTO ANDREA SUTERA 22.125.000
🇮🇱MIKAEL PHILIPE HEN HANOUNA 20.550.000
🇳🇱DAVID JING ZHON HU 17.600.000
🇨🇿LADISLAV KELLNER 10.625.000
🇮🇱REFAEL DAHAN 10.275.000
🇩🇪SASA MAKSIC 9.350.000
🇮🇹SALVATORE TERDOSSI 5.475.000
Winner's words
"What does it feel like? It's unbelievable! First of all, I'm exhausted. I was supposed to fly out this morning, but I'm glad I postponed; I'm so happy!
This tournament went well on the Final Day, especially at the final table. I didn't make many mistakes - actually, I don't think I did - and I'm very happy; I think I played very well.
Yes, it was my first time playing live streaming. I thought I would suffer more from the presence of the telecasts, but once the game started, it was as if they no longer existed.
All my friends were watching the streaming, and I received much support from them and my family. They are proud of what I did- the most significant victory.
I've played many lives in the last few years and enjoyed it, but I'm not a professional.
Will I be able to sleep tonight? I don't think so; I'm very excited. I can't wait to hug my family and celebrate with them! Also, I received a ticket for the next WSOPE Main: it will be my first time, and I'm already looking forward to it.
It was funny how, in the end, the chip leader managed to get out before the guy who was left with a blind. I think he wanted to win his bounty at all costs and started pushing a little too hard for my liking when, logically, it would have been much easier: We could have called in 4, and without overdoing it, one of us would probably have eliminated him. As one does in such cases, one 'cleans the table.'
Instead, he insisted and was the one who got out before everyone else: when you want to get more than you deserve, this happens!"
Final results
Refael Dahan Israel € 100.000
David Jing Zhon Hu Netherlands € 59.050
Rolando Camardese Italy € 44.350
Benedetto Andrea Sutera Italy € 35.050
Robert Georgian Fluereci Romania € 30.350
KING FISH Israel € 26.350
Ladislav Kellner Czech Republic € 12.200
Sasa Maksic Germany € 8.600
Salvatore Terdossi Italy € 6.600
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