A Grand Finale: Gavin Griffin Wins in Monte Carlo

By Owen Laukkanen Apr 2, 2007 | 2 years ago

Gavin Griffin and the spoils of war, EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo

The biggest poker tournament ever played anywhere but the United States of America has come to an end, but the winner of the European Poker Tour's Grand Final for Season 3 is American Gavin Griffin. Griffin defeated Canadian Marc Karam in an epic and well-fought heads-up match to take down the €1,825,010 first prize.

Following the victory, EPT officials organized an impromptu press conference with Griffin and Karam and a number of inept journalists who clogged the field with inane questions. What follows are the least egregious of the lot.

Gavin, you've just beaten a field of 706 players in the biggest tournament in EPT history, for €1.8 million. Can you put this win in perspective?

It's actually kind of a similar situation to when I won my bracelet in 2004. It was my first time in Vegas; it was a really tough field and a good tournament. This is the same thing: my first time in Europe, incredibly tough field and a great structured tournament. It was a great final table both times. It's awesome.

Gavin Griffin, EPT3 Monte Carlo Grand Final - Day 5

How can you top it?

I don't know. (Laughs.) Keep winning, I guess.

You played this tournament with your hair dyed pink and it's apparently for a worthwhile cause. Can you talk about that?

Yes. Kristin [Gavin's girlfriend] and I are going to be doing the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, and it's a 39 mile walk over two days; you walk 26 miles the first day and 13 miles the second and it's a fundraiser to fight Breast Cancer. The reason I'm doing it and the reason Kristin is doing it is when she was 21 she had breast cancer, and she's a survivor, so we kind of thought that it would be great to give something back and help out future women and men with breast cancer.

You've said you were ill throughout this tournament, and it was a long heads-up match. How did you deal with that and maintain your concentration?

Greg Raymer eyes Gavin Griffin's stack at the final table, EPT3 Monte Carlo Grand Final - Day 5

I didn't feel really great, but - and Kristin can tell you this - when I'm playing, if I'm in the middle of a session, I don't really notice if I'm hungry or if I'm tired or sick or whatever. That doesn't really enter my mind. I've got a lot of focus on what's going on in the game or the tournament; I just block out all other factors besides what's going on at the table - or tables, if I'm playing online. So being sick really didn't factor in at all.

Can you walk us through the thoughts you had during the final hand?

I got fifteen outs twice - maybe. (Laughs.) Marc was playing really well, playing the small pots. It was going well for me, except for some reason I kept deciding he was bluffing in spots where he couldn't be bluffing and paying off big river bets when I shouldn't, so in the last hand, he had been re-raising me a lot from the big blind and I decided to put the extra $275,000 in there with the K-5, and see what happened.

It was a great flop for me, especially if he has something like he has - I didn't expect him to have 7-4 - I expected him to have maybe two eights, or two sevens, something like that.

Especially the way I play, I could have 5-6 there or A-5, and so -

At this point, Gavin is interrupted by a suit who decides to introduce Marc Karam and ask his opinion on the hand.

Marc Karam, EPT3 Monte Carlo Grand Final - Day 5

Marc: Well, I'd been re-raising Gavin a lot out of the big blind, so he knew I could have any two cards in the deck. So when the flop came 2-3-4 he probably didn't give me a piece of that. So I bet $500,000, and then he made it $2 million, and I thought if he had an overpair he would have just flat-called the half-million; he wouldn't have raised.

So when he made it $2 million, I thought he probably had a five, or maybe he was on a bluff, so I decided to move all-in, thinking maybe if he's got sixes or sevens he's got to fold for another two or three million. I haven't shoved all-in the whole day, period, so I figured he'd have to give me a big hand.

But I mean, if he thinks his king is good, he's got eleven outs, and he'd already committed himself with the two million. So yeah, it was a good call; he has to call.

Gavin Griffin and Marc Karam are heads-up, EPT3 Monte Carlo Grand Final - Day 5

Gavin: Yeah, I mean, I wasn't really happy about it; I didn't think I had the best hand, but I made it $2 million to pretty much commit myself, when he bet the $500,000. When I bet the $2 million it looked like he had about two and a half or three million left, so I can't really fold for $2.6 million, even if I only have the ace or the six; there's six million in the pot, and I've got two cards left to come.

I was just hoping he didn't have ace-king or ace-four where he blocked one of my outs. I felt like he could have moved in with ace-deuce or ace-three or ace-four, so, I was glad he didn't have one of those hands.

What was going through your minds during the final moments as the turn and river cards were being revealed on the final hand?

Marc: Well, obviously I was delighted to see the turn, because it meant I was a pretty big favorite going into the river. When the money went in on the flop it was pretty close to even.

But I'd been getting killed in a lot of coin flips, so I was thinking, let me win one time. I saw the three and I thought, "Okay I'm safe, now give me a nine or a ten," but he peeled off a king.

Gavin: This is going to sound terrible, but I didn't really feel anything. I guess what I was thinking was, "The money's in, and I'm either going to hit it or I'm not," and, "If I don't win this hand, I'm going to have to play pretty hard with the short-stack."

What do you intend to do with the money?

John Duthie presents Gavin Griffin with a massive vase to commemorate his win at the EPT Grand Final.

Gavin: Who knows? I guess … pay taxes. (Laughs.) It's not like I'm thinking I'm going to do something with the money. It's just nice to have, and it's plenty of money.

Marc: Well, I don't really need the money, so I'm probably going to invest it and take the interest, I guess. I was doing pretty well before that, but I've always wanted a Lamborghini, so maybe I'll buy one of those.

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It has to be said that the EPT Grand Final was one of the better events PokerListings.com has covered in our long and storied tournament reporting history, and most of the players seemed to reach a similar consensus. Despite the huge field, the relaxed blind structures gave players plenty of room to maneuver, and as much as possible the tournament became an exercise in actual poker skill, rather than a luckfest.

The resulting final table and classic heads-up battle made this event a thrilling conclusion to the EPT's wildly successful third season, and though our first few forays into Europe haven't been as successful as Gavin Griffin's, you can be sure we can't wait to return to the far side of the pond for more great poker action in Season 4.