Barny Boatman Wins the 2024 EPT Paris Main Event!
The EPT Paris 2024 is officially over, and you better believe it was a blockbuster! This was the biggest European Poker Tour event ever to be held outside of Barcelona, making it the 6th biggest in total. The longer the tournament went on, the more crazy things started to happen, and when all was said and done, a true poker legend could be crowned crowned the champion.
Let’s see how the action unfolded in EPT Paris 2024!
Boatman or GOAT-Man?
An insane 1,747 entries were made in the €5 300 EPT Paris 2024 Main Event, which created a total prize pool of €8 385 600. PokerListings previously caught you up on the action from Les Palais des Congrès during the first days of the tournament; however, Day 5 was when the Main Event really got exciting. The pay-jumps at this stage were bigger and ICM became a lot more important. A total of 18 players returned on Day 5, and there were some really big names still in the mix.
Entering the second to last day of the tournament as chipleader was British poker legend Barny Boatman. Being an original member of the Hendon Mob, Boatman has been a big name in poker for decades, scoring impressive live poker tournament cashes ever since 1998. He acquired most of these chips after an incredible hero call against Eric Afriat during Day 4.
Day 5 started off crazy from the get-go. From the cutoff, Franceso Delfoco showed for roughly 20 big blinds in the dark with 7 3 . Unfortunately for him, Sweden’s Hans Erlandsson woke up with A A in the big blind and the runout was smooth for Erlandsson.
Play continued and eventually, Farid Jattin was eliminated in 10th place meaning it was time for a re-draw for the final table. Presumably, all players were happy to see Jattin bust; the Colombian was perhaps the most dangerous players left in the field at this time, and if he would have increased his stack, he’d be a very hard opponent to beat.
The Final Six
Fast forward to Day 6. Players had a good night’s sleep before the final six players returned to fight it out for the trophy. Two names in the mix stood out a little extra: the aforementioned Boatman, but also Peter Jörgne. The Swede finished runner up in EPT Paris 2023 and such, he had accomplished an extraordinary back-to-back final tables feat.
Coming into Day 6 as overwhelming chip leader was Germany’s David Kaufmann, who’s no stranger to poker. He won the WCOOP Main Event back in 2013 and was a force to be reckon with during the final table. The dealer shuffled the cards and it was time to start play for the day!
Afriat was the first player to bust out in 6th place, which saw Boatman increasing his stack further. Not too long after that, Aleksejs Ponakovs eliminated Jörgne. Even though Jörgne didn’t reach further than last year, the Swede can look back at a very good week in the French capital.
Boatman’s compatriot Owen Dodd was the next player to bust. Dodd came into Day 6 with 15 big blinds; presumably he was satisfied that he managed to get a few more pay-jumps, cashing €422,150 for his 4th place finish.
Three players now remained: Boatman, Ponakovs and Kaufmann, three very competent players. Ponakovs put his skills on display and starting winning pots left and right and suddenly, he and Kaufmann were tied whilst Boatman was trailing behind. It was at this point things started to go Boatman’s way. He made some great calls, he hit big hands and suddenly, he now held the chip lead.
Eventually Ponakovs busted in 3rd place. He had been short for quite some time but managed to double up time after time, before Kaufmann eventually eliminated him. When heads up-play began, Boatman held a 2-to-1 chip lead. Heads up wouldn’t last more than two hands though; on a 9 J 6 5 board, Boatman pushed Kaufmann all in. Kaufmann made the call after some consideration and showed A 9 . Unfortunately for him, Boatman turned over J 2 for top pair. The Q on the river didn’t help Kaufmann and Boatman had done it; he had won the EPT Paris 2024 Main Event!
EPT Paris 2024 Main Event – Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1. |  Barny Boatman | €1 287 800 |
| 2. |  David Kaufmann | €804 750 |
| 3. |  Aleksejs Ponakovs | €574 850 |
| 4. | Owen Dodd | €442 150 |
| 5. |  Peter Jörgne | €340 100 |
| 6. |  Eric Afriat | €261 650 |
| 7. | Ami Barer | €201 250 |
| 8. |  Lorenzo Arduini | €154 800 |
| 9. |  Sindre Hansen | €119 100 |
EPT Paris 2024 was a thrill to follow, and we can’t wait for the EPT to return to Monte Carlo, April 24th-May 4th!
