It’s a great week for Portugal as they make their primary mark in the world of poker. The championship title for the EPT Vilamoura, the first ever EPT event held in Portugal, was just claimed by Antonio Matias, along with the grand prize of €404,893. He also won a seat on the EPT Grand Final that is to be held in Monte Carlo this coming April.
The Older Generation Rules this One
With the growing trend of poker tournaments being won by the younger members of the poker world, it was truly a wonder when it was Antonio Matias, age 54, who won the EPT Vilamoura, besting a field that contained some of the best poker players in the world. Following him closely as the runner up was Pierre Neuville, a 67-year old retired businessman from belgium who has just earned the record of being the oldest finalist in the entire EPT history.
But it was not only the wise old businessmen who ruled this tournament, as Jeff Sarwer, chess expert, made it safely into the third spot. This is his second deep run in the EPT, as he just came back from a 10th place finish in the EPT Warsaw held last month.
The three of them were able to best a field of 322 players, all of whom paid a nifty €5,300 to enter the main event – except, of course, for the 69 who were lucky enough to win their seats online. All in all, the prize pool was a very impressive €4,561,700 — €404,893 of which was shifted onto the new title holder, Antonio Matias.
This One’s for Portugal
When asked about his victory, Matias answered that he likes to think of himself as a “citizen of the world” but that it was very satisfying for him to win an EPT in his home country. Indeed, the whole of Portugal is cheering him on for his spectacular win – a win made even more spectacular by the fact that it was a star-studded field that he was able to beat. Even more impressive, though, was the fact that Antonio was not at all intimidated by the competition. He says that he plays with a lot of very good players in the cash games and that he merely decided to play the way he usually played. It was when he got the chip lead that he really set his mind on the title and on the grand prize.
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