EPT San Remo - Live Updates

Englishman Rupert Elder held off a late charge by Xuan Liu to win EPT San Remo and €930,000.

Xuan Liu very nearly became the second consecutive woman to win EPT San Remo but finally crashed out in third place.

The final table began at a slow pace with over two hours needed to eliminate Roberto Spada in eighth and then Costantino Russo in seventh.

From there action picked up as Massimiliano Manigrasso (sixth) and Francesco de Vivo (fifth) were eliminated in quick succession.

As of yet, no Italian has ever won the only EPT event staged in the country.

The real game started when the final table became four-handed. Rupert Elder, Max Heinzelmann, Xuan Liu and Team PokerStars Pro Max Lykov all brought their A-games and the competition was fierce. 

Finally Liu landed the knockout blow against Lykov when she happened to flop a set of tens against his pocket kings.

At that point Liu took over the chip but then had her own share of bad luck when her A-J was beaten by Heinzelmann’s A-7.

Liu’s elimination led to an epic heads-up competition between Elder and Heinzelmann. For half an hour they traded the lead back and forth before Elder was finally able to win the most pivotal hand of the tournament.

Elder flopped bottom set but Heinzelmann flopped the nut straight. All the money went into the middle on the turn and Heinzelmann was one card away from the EPT San Remo title.

Instead Elder spiked a full house to win the hand and several hands later he busted Heinzelmann from the event with A-5 vs. Q-5. Elder outlasted a field of 987 players to take down the San Remo title.

On the bright side Heinzelmann did earn €600,000 for his efforts in Italy.

Here’s a look at the complete final table payouts:

1. Rupert Elder – €930,000
2. Max Heinzelmann – €600,000
3. Xuan Liu – €360,000
4. Max Lykov – €290,000
5. Francesco de Vivo – €220,000
6. Massimiliano Manigrasso – €170,000
7. Costantino Russo – €125,000
8. Roberto Spada – €81,950