EPT11 Malta Main Event – Jean Montury Wins the Title in Clash of Compatriots

There will be no new double EPT winner just yet, as Victoria Coren’s record remains intact. Dominik Panka couldn’t quite make history yesterday at the final table of the EPT11 Malta Main Event. He fell short as two Frenchmen, Valentin Messina and Jean Montury, were left to fight it out for the title.

Six players returned to play yesterday and the first casualty came quickly. Germany’s Hossein Ensan returned as the official short stack and he was dispatched by Panka, whose King-Queen easily held up against the German’s Queen-Ten. This marked the second final table of the season for Ensan, who pocketed €153,700 for his great performance.

Spain just runs bad in EPTs and that trend continued as, once again, there will be no Spanish winner. The man holding the banner for his home country, Javier Gomez Zapatero, couldn’t go further than fifth as he too was sent to the rail by the young Pole. Panka found kq and once again was up against q10 of Zapatero. Panka’s hands holding up was a theme of the final table so it was no surprise to see the board blank out to send the Spaniard to the cashier to pick up his €205,300 reward.

Stefan Schillhabel was another German representative in the final six but he met the same fate as Ensan, although for a bigger payday. Despite putting up a good fight and managing some double-ups, the young German couldn’t find his way out of short stack territory and was eventually eliminated when his pocket Fours could find no help against the pocket Sixes of Valentin Messina.

At this point, Dominik Panka was halfway through to winning his second title. Only two Frenchmen stood in his path and judging by the way Panka had been running up to that point, not too many people would bet against him.

Despite a brilliant performance in Malta, Panka’s run would be cut short. The poker gods decided that it was someone else’s turn to run good and Dominik couldn’t hold in the defining flip when his pocket Nines fell short against Montury’s aq . To make things even more heartbreaking, the 10 to complete the Frenchman’s straight came on the river, sending Panka to collect his well-earned €347,300.

The Pole’s exit confirmed suspicions from the start of the day: the EPT title would be traveling to France, and the only question left to answer was would the honor go to Montury or Messina? Before starting what turned out to be a lengthy heads-up battle, the two made a deal that guaranteed Messina a payday of €615,000, while Montury would take home at least €587,400. Then, with €100k and the title still on the line, they proceeded to play.

Throughout the final encounter, things simply went Montury’s way. Valentin Messina put up a real fight, refusing to surrender, but Jean Montury kept coming out on top, taking all the crucial pots. The final confirmation of what was already expected came when Messina got it in with pocket Fives against Ace-Ten and the board double paired, counterfeiting his small pocket pair and wrapping up the confrontation.

Jean Montury thus added another €100k to his prize, taking home a total of €687,400 and the much coveted EPT trophy. He is in good company, as France has produced a number of EPT champions, like Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, Ludovic Lacay, and Remi Castaignon.

Photo: Neil Stoddart, PokerStars Blog