Carter Phillips wins EPT Barcelona
Thursday, 10 September 2009
There were high hopes for a British win heading into the final table at EPT Barcelona yesterday, with both Marc Goodwin and Asa Smith handily placed to make a run at the title. In the end, the two Englishman came up just short, finishing behind inspired American Carter Phillips.
Smith bowed out in 5th place after his A3 ran into Phillips’s A5. A five on the flop gave the American the lead and with no help on the turn or river the young Englishman was forced to settle for €200,000.
Goodwin hit a runner runner flush to eliminate Romanian Mihai Manole and then top pair to knock out home favourite Santiago Terrazas, to set up a heads up encounter with chip leader Phillips. The American ground his way into the lead before sealing the win after almost 3 hours of heads up play.
The final hand saw Phillips raise from the button and Goodwin call. Goodwin checked the Kd5c4h board, Phillips raised 310,000 and the Englishman called. The turn brought the Qs and Goodwin, the former European Player of the Year pushed all in. After what seemed like an eternity (but in reality was about 10 minutes) Phillips called, flipping over KcJs. Goodwin showed A-10 and needed help. A five on the river provided no assistance leaving a tearful American to celebrate the win and an €850,000 payout. Goodwin had to settle for €530,000 for his second place finish.
An emotional Phillips was gracious in victory “Marc Goodwin is a great player and I felt he was my only threat after Matt busted out. I thought it would get down to the two of us and it was a tough heads-up battle,” adding, “It's a dream come true. Amazing feeling. Speechless. I've wanted this for so long”.
The EPT caravan now heads to England for EPT London from 2nd to 7th October. Qualifiers are currently running on PokerStars.com.
1 - Carter Phillips, USA, €850,000
2 - Marc Goodwin, UK, €530,000
3 - Santiago Terrazas, Spain, €300,000
4 - Mihai Manole, Romania, €250,000
5 - Asa Smith, UK, €200,000
6 - Toni Ojala, Finland, €160,000
7 - Matt Lapossie, Canada, €120,000
8 - Georgios Kapalas, Greece, €80,000
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