Razvan Belea Takes Down 2023 EPT Paris Main Event for €1,170,000
It is the first EPT Main Event title for a poker player from Romania
The sixth-largest PokerStars European Poker Tour Main Event in history has crowned a winner at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile. Out of a field of 1,606 entries in the 2023 EPT Paris €5,300 Main Event, PokerStars online qualifier Razvan Belea claimed the biggest portion of the €7,708,800 prize pool after defeating Sweden’s Peter Jorgne in heads-up play.
Razvan held the top spot after Day 4 and 5, never surrendering the top spot on the leaderboard during an action-filled grand finale.
It is the first EPT Main Event title for a poker player from Romania, as Belea finished one spot higher than Dany Parlafes at 2015 EPT Deauville when the popular tour visited France for the last time. His trademark victory came with a payday of €1,170,000 while Jorgne had to settle for a consolation prize of €780,100, picking up by far his biggest cash on the live poker circuit.
Belea started his poker journey grinding freerolls to build a bankroll and already participated in several EPT Main Events before earning his entry to this one via a $530 buy-in satellite on PokerStars.
“That this is unreal, that it couldn’t happen like this. I mean, yeah, it’s all I ever dreamed of since I started to play poker. I was watching all the time EPTs, have played a couple, and now I am here, it is an unbelievable feeling, I don’t know what to say … I am a bit emotional, but anyways, I follow my dream from the beginning and I studied a lot of hours behind the computers. Everything is possible!” Belea told commentator Joe Stapleton in the interview after all was done and dusted.
The Romanian wreaked havoc on the tables during the last two tournament days, sending several opponents to the payout desk and that directly correlates with one of the meanings of his last name translated into English: Trouble. He didn’t really have any of that en route to victory. Belea also had plenty of support from his fellow Romanians back home.
“They gave to me all the support and all the messages,” Belea told PokerNews after the win. “The entire country followed me to the end. And they said, ‘You’re going to win and you’re going to win it’. And I did believe it.”
source: pokernews.com
Action of the Final Day
Only five players returned to their seats on the main feature table and there was a huge discrepancy between the top four on the leaderboard and Henri Kasper, as the Estonian had a mere 11 big blinds and change at his disposal. He got through with some preflop jams.
Kasper then eventually ran out of chips when his ace-six suited stood no chance against the ace-king of Jorgne. The Swede became the second-biggest stack by some margin only to double Delaney with tens versus kings in a preflop contest. Until the first break, Belea had increased his stack to more than half of the chips in play while Bigot was the shortest stack on a still comfortable 27 big blinds.
The Frenchman continued to get involved in the action and clashed eventually with Delaney when he flopped bottom pair and turned a flush draw.
It was the first ever EPT Main Event cash for Delaney, which became a six-figure payday. Razvan Belea, in the meanwhile, had a near three-to-one lead over Bigot in second place while Jorgne was not far behind.
Bigot was denied a victory on home soil.
That elimination set up a heads-up duel between Belea and Jorgne with a very comfortable lead for Belea. A rather timid affair unfolded in which Belea retained a two-to-one lead all the way without any major drama.
The Romanian did come along to emerge as the latest EPT Main Event champion.
