Fouad Rabahie had everyone dancing to his tune in the PokerStars ESPT Madrid €1,100 Main Event after producing a dominant final table display in the Spanish capital.
The Lebanese poker player came onto the FT as the chip leader, which he never relinquished as he went onto bust five of the final nine. He overcame Roberto Agus in heads-up play and banked €105,000 along with his first major title.
The Main Event was well attended, with 597 entries, who generated a prize pool of €573,120.
2024 ESPT Madrid Main Event Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fouad Rabahie | Lebanon | €105,000* |
| 2 | Roberto Agus | Italy | €80,200* |
| 3 | A. Martinez | Spain | €50,700 |
| 4 | Pietro Corsi | Italy | €39,000 |
| 5 | Michael Uguccioni | Italy | €30,050 |
| 6 | F. Fragkopoulos | Greece | €23,100 |
| 7 | B. Driewerzynski | Poland | €17,770 |
| 8 | Timur Kurbanov | Russia | €13,670 |
| 9 | Lorenzo Negri | Italy | €10,960 |
*Denotes heads-up deal
Final Table Action
Almost two hours of play passed before the first final table casualty. Pietro Corsi looked down at ace-king and raised it up. Lorenzo Negri woke up with pocket nines and jammed in his last eight blinds. Corsi made the easy call and paired up on the flop before holding out on the turn and river end his compatriot’s run.
Big Slick then played a role in seeing off Timur Kurbanov. Eventual champion Rabahie had the premium hand and kicked off proceedings. Kurbanov had pocket jacks and ripped in his stack of more than 30 big blinds from the small blind. Rabahie, who was the chip leader heading into the final table, thought over his option while getting a count and eventually made the call. Another ace appeared on the flop and the massive pot was pushed to Rabahie.
Rabahie grabbed his second scalp of the FT after collecting B. Driewerzynski’s short stack. Rabahie raise-called from the hijack with K♥J♦. Driewerzynski made a move with his sub-four big blind stack with 10♣4♣. Neither player connected on the runout, meaning Rabahie’s king-high was good enough for the checkmark and knockout. Shortly after, Rabahie downed another short stack. This time, his pocket threes remained best against F. Fragkopoulos’ ace-king after the chips went in preflop.
Corsi then returned to the action, ousting another Italian player. Michael Uguccioni moved all-in with pocket jacks before Corsi isolated from the big blind with king-jack. Corsi flopped a gutshot to Broadway, which came in on the turn to bring the Main Event to its final four players.
It was then Corsi’s turn to find himself on the wrong side of the rail. Runner-up Agus was dealt pocket jacks in the small blind. He raised after action folded to him and quickly called an all-in when he caught Corsi speeding with A♦5♠ from the big blind. Corsi couldn’t find his three-outer and headed to the payout desk for his €39,000 prize. Corsi has had a fine start to the year in these PokerStars regional events. This payday followed his ninth-place finish which came in the FPS Paris Main Event in February.
Rabahie booked his place in heads-up after working some magic with pocket jacks himself. The pocket pair held out in an all-in preflop encounter versus A. Martinez and his ace-ten.
Rabahie’s final table dominance did not waiver in heads-up, and he picked up the victory after his ace-ten suited stayed in front of Agus’ ace-nine.
Editor & Live Reporter
Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum’s proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.