Spanish Poker Festival: India`s Mahaveer Solanki Wins Main Event; Volodymyr Kernytskyi Ships 2nd High Roller

The Spanish Poker Festival (SPF) 2017 Winter Edition hosted at the King’s Casino, Rozvadov has come to a close. The second edition of SPF, attracted a total of 3,034 players crushing the guaranteed prize pool of €200,000 comfortably by generating a kitty of €375,000.

The €300 SPF Main Event €100,000 GTD attracted a whopping 582 entries (including re-entries) across four starting flights. The Indian contingent had been actively participating in the series and Mahaveer Solanki (cover image) who acquired the chip lead on Day 1A, shipped the Main Event collecting €27,552 (₹19.61 Lakhs). Mahaveer defeated Tezer Cetindag in the heads-up match while fellow Indian player Pranjal Batra finished third in the event for €12,831 (₹9.12 Lakhs).

Ukrainian Volodymyr Kernytskyi emerged victorious in the 2nd High Roller of the Spanish Poker Festival defeating Germany`s Johannes Wassmuth. Kernytskyi took home €9,771 (₹6.95 Lakhs) for his first place finish.

€300 SPF Main Event

The Main Event had four starting flights with Day 1A registering 122 entries and although the entry count dropped on Day 1B with a modest 64 entries, the participation picked up considerably on Day 1C (136 entries) and Day 1D (222 entries).

A total of 190 players made it to the final day of the competition, which added another 38 players, as the late registration period was open till the second level. 63 places got paid with the min cash being €246 and €27,552 reserved for the eventual champion.

The late surge of registrations on the final day raised expectations of a slow paced event however the pace of eliminations ensured that the money bubble was reached in no time.

Down to the last two tables, Tezer Cetindag held the chip lead and thereon the elimination spree slowed down. The tournament gradually lost players who had been protagonists for the rest of the day, like Martin Kabrhel at 15th place and Ivan Thomas at 12th place.

With the elimination of the Spanish player Miguel Guerrero we got to the final table, which comprised of four players from the Spanish contingent.

A fairly quiet final table was expected, with the average stack being over 30 big blinds. It started with a dazzle and within just 20 minutes the final table got down to five players with the eliminations of Alayn Comendador (9^th place), Tobias Usselmann (8^th place), Janja (7^th place) and Carlos Martín (6^th place).

The next to exit was Spanish player Alejandro Vázquez in 5th place leaving David Santana as the only Spanish player in the field. The other three players on the four-handed table were Indians Mahaveer Solanki and Pranjal Batra alongside German player Tezer Cetindag.

Unfortunately for Spanish interests, David Santana hit the rails next at fourth place. In just a few hands, Pranjal Batra was ousted by compatriot Solanki, at third place, setting up the heads-up duel with Solanki in the lead with 17M against Cetindag`s 12M.

Right from the word go Solanki pushed on the aggression by moving allin on numerous occasions putting his German adversary somewhat on the back foot. Cetindag finally moved allin with King-Deuce only to run into the big slick of Solanki. The board kept Solanki in the lead and Cetindag was eliminated in second place.

The Indian player Mahaveer Solanki was proclaimed the Spanish Poker Festival 2017 Winter Edition Main Event champion.

Final Table Results

1. Mahaveer Solanki – €27,552

2. Tezer Cetindag – €19,043

3. Pranjal Batra – €12,831

4. David Santana – €9,775

5. Alejandro Vázquez – €7,536

6. Carlos Martín – €5,674

7. Janja – €4,114

8. Tobias Usselmann – €3,210

9. Alayn Comendador – €2,617

SPF High Roller

28 out of the 55 registered players made the final day where the top six places were to be paid. Five players of Spanish origin managed to make it to the final table but none was able to take down the title. Alberto Martínez finished in sixth place, Pedro Lamarca in fourth place and Paúl “Vilacrack” Lozano finished third.

Ukrain`s Volodymyr Kernytskyi defeated Germany`s Johannes Wassmuth to take home the title and €9,771 (₹6.95 Lakhs) for his first place finish.

Next up is Spanish Poker Festival 2017 Summer Edition that takes place from June 29 to July 9!