After a grueling 14-hour battle in which he fought from an immensely disadvantageous position, Marti Roca De Torres was able to grow his short stack and managed to defeat Gianluca Speranza to win the 2017 World Series of Poker Europe Championship Event title, bracelet and a cash prize worth €1,115,207.
The 2017 WSOP Europe at the King's Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic had finally come to an end on November 4, 2017, and it was Marti Roca De Torres who was the last man standing, holding all the chips in the €10,300 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Event #11) after an epic heads-up match that spanned four hours against Italian poker pro Gianluca Speranza.
In 2011, Gianluca Speranza actually came close to winning a WSOP bracelet as he finished 2nd to Andrew Hinrichsen in a €1,000 WSOPE Event in Cannes, and things are quite the same for him this year too, as he ended up again as the bridesmaid for a career-best payday of €689,246.
Roca De Torres is the fourth poker player hailing from Spain, and the first Catalan, to ever have won a WSOP bracelet, and so this is the seventh bracelet overall for his home country. WSOPE tournament director Jack Effel asked him after the event as to how does he feel at that time, to which Roca De Torres answered, "I don't know, I am more nervous now than before when I was playing. But for sure I am very happy and it is a dream come true, I don't know what to say."
For those who know Marti Roca De Torres, this journey of his can be regarded as a Cinderella story, as he quit his job as an economics teacher a couple of years ago so that he can focus on his passion of poker, and astonishingly, he won his entry to the WSOP Europe Main Event via a €220 satellite on 888poker.es, and then he turned it into a whopping €1,115,207!
Roca De Torres also thanked his friends on the sidelines who motivated him and gave him power as he played. He also sent greetings to his young daughter and partner, and he happily shared news that they are expecting another child.
During the winner interview, he said, "At this point I thought that I was going to win for sure because I was in a perfect situation. For a moment I thought it's done. Then, for a moment it looked impossible. But finally I was growing my stack hand by hand. I tried to play hand by hand and don't think in the future. Because I thought in the future and this is bad thinking."
Below are the final results of the 2017 WSOPE Main Event
|
Place
|
Player Name
|
Country
|
Prize
|
|
1
|
Marti Roca De Torres
|
Spain
|
€1,115,207
|
|
2
|
Gianluca Speranza
|
Italy
|
€689,246
|
|
3
|
Mathijs Jonkers
|
Netherlands
|
€476,585
|
|
4
|
Robert Bickley
|
United Kingdom
|
€335,089
|
|
5
|
Niall Farrell
|
United Kingdom
|
€239,639
|
|
6
|
Maria Ho
|
United States
|
€174,365
|
|
7
|
Jack Salter
|
United Kingdom
|
€129,121
|
|
8
|
Luis Rodriguez
|
Spain
|
€97,344
|
Source:
https://www.highstakesdb.com/8281-online-qualifier-marti-roca-de-torres-wins-wsope-main-event-1115207.aspx
