PokerStars EPT Poland Open Won By Joao Barbosa

João Barbosa of Portugal this week claimed the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour (EPT) Polish Open title and the Euro 367,141 ($457,489) main prize.  The €5,200 buy-in event, held in Warsaw, attracted 217 entrants after 4 days of poker action, Joao Barbosa emerged as the first ever EPT winner from Portugal.

Barbosa, a former computer engineering student from Porto, was playing against some strong opposition.  The stars competing included 10 former EPT champions and a host of top pro players including Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri and Arnaud Mattern, Gavin Griffin, Luca Pagano, William Thorson, Alex Kravchenko, Theo Jorgensen, Bertrand Grospellier, Marcin Horecki, (WSOP Europe Bracelet Winner), Roland de Wolfe (WTP Champ), as well as Mark Telscher and Sebastien Ruthenberg.

Barbosa entered the final table seventh in chips and faced an uphill battle to overtake the chip leader, Italian poker pro Dario Minieri.  After a tense three hour heads up battle with German player Nico Behling (23), Barbosa finally took the title, in only his fourth ever European Poker Tour event.

A delighted Barbosa, who was also celebrating his 26th Birthday, said: “Things worked perfectly for me. For three hours, I was trying not to think about anything but winning. It’s the best birthday present I’ve ever had. It was great to win.”