The UKIPT/ESPT Malaga has come to a close at the Gran Madrid Casino Torrequebrada. It has been seven days of poker in the sun concluding with two of the biggest and most prestigious events of the festival.
Sam Grafton battled to a first-place finish in the UKIPT/ESPT Malaga €3,300 Super High Roller while Artus Gimenez won the ESPT/UKIPT Malaga €1,100 Main Event.
These two victories wrapped up the Malaga leg of the tour, but the UKIPT will be back for a London series in August and the ESPT has a stop in Barcelona scheduled for later that same month.
Grafton Wins The Super High Roller
Sam Grafton added another title to his poker resume with a victory in the €3,300 Super High Roller at UKIPT/ESPT Malaga.
Grafton topped a 77-player field to defeat Italy’s Candido Cappielo heads-up, winning €62,450 and his first tournament victory since August 2023.
It’s been a good week for the PokerStars Ambassador; this is his second final table in Malaga. He also finished third in the UKIPT/ESPT Malaga €2,200 High Roller, taking home €37,500.
His deep run in the Super High Roller saw him clinch another PokerStars Live tournament victory. Grafton is no stranger to tournament victories, holding an Aussie Millions ring, a PokerStars Festival title and the Coin Rivet Invitational title.
The Coin Rivet Invitational result was the largest of his career and saw him take home $5,500,000 — only his second seven-figure score ever.
Sam Grafton: The Five And a Half Million Dollar Man
UKIPT/ESPT Malaga €3,300 Super High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Grafton | United Kingdom | € 62,450 |
| 2 | Candido Cappielo | Italy | € 40,300 |
| 3 | Ali Muthana Al-Kubasi | Iraq | € 28,800 |
| 4 | Jose Gonzalez Sanchez | Spain | € 22,140 |
| 5 | Tian Mengshi | China | € 17,030 |
| 6 | Anton Gililov | Russia | € 13,540 |
| 7 | Adria Colomina Guitart | Spain | € 10,830 |
| 8 | Alexandru Cinca | Romania | € 8,660 |
| 9 | Yerevan Sargysan | Armenia | € 6,930 |
Pop the Cava! Artus Gimenez Wins Main Event!
A record-breaking ESPT/UKIPT Malaga €1,100 Main Event concluded with a home-grown winner. Artus Gimenez beat a field of 1,146 entries to lift the beautiful trophy and pocket a prize of €145,000.
He defeated Poland’s Tomasz Wrobel heads-up. However, Wrobel took the lion’s share of a deal between the two with €156,200.
The ESPT/UKIPT Malaga event was a huge success, providing players with plenty of activities throughout their stay. These included football, paddle ball, beer pong, and karaoke. The return to the Costa Del Sol created the biggest Estrellas Poker Tour field outside of EPT Barcelona.
Speaking to local Spanish media, Gimenez said, “I played my very best poker and ran very well today. I will be playing at EPT Barcelona after winning a Gold Pass and hope to have continued success for the rest of the year.”
ESPT/UKIPT Malaga Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Artus Gimenez | Italy | €145,000* |
| 2 | Tomasz Wrobel | Italy | €156,200* |
| 3 | Ricard Gonzalez | Spain | €82,800 |
| 4 | Guido Pieraccini | Spain | €63,680 |
| 5 | Giulio Astarita | Sweden | €48,900 |
| 6 | Raffaele Sorrentino | Spain | €37,600 |
| 7 | Rafael Anera Ruiz | Poland | €28,900 |
| 8 | Giovanni Bellini | Italy | €22,300 |
| 9 | Pia Fransson | Italy | €17,100 |
*denotes heads-up deal
Story of the Main Event Final Day
Only 15 out of 1,146 players made it to the final day, with Italian Guido Pieraccini starting as the overwhelming chip leader. The first player to depart was Gasper Perasovic from Croatia. He moved all-in with big slick and ran into Ricard Gonzalez’s pocket aces in the second hand of the day.
The next bust out was Pokerstars Spain commentator Alex Romero, after losing a flip to Venelin Pashev.Toke Mortensen, Laurent Cessy, and Pashev all busted in quick succession, before a lull for two hours ahead of the next elimination.
Belgian footballer Jordy Vleugels was knocked out next in a hand where eventual champion Gimenez knocked him out by hitting running fives.
Main Event Final Table Action
Down to the final nine players, Gimenez kept hunting and knocked out short stack Pia Fransson to take it down to eight. Next, poker’s cruel side reared its head where both Giovanni Bellini and Rafael Anera Ruiz lost their all-ins with pocket jacks — the former against pocket nines, the latter against a flush.
2017 PSC Monte Carlo champion Raffaele Sorrentino, the most accomplished player at the final table, was unable to spin up a stack. Short-stacked, the Italian lost a flip to an excitable Gonzalez as his pocket queens lost the classic race against ace-king.
It was then time for Tomasz Wrobel to rear his head. After eliminating Giulio Astarita, he also rivered a straight to send Guido Pieraccini packing in fourth.
Down to three, it was Ricard Gonzalez bringing the energy, walking off the feature table to sweat with his rail every time there was an all-in situation. Despite the liveliness of Gonzalez, he wasn’t able to get there with ace-queen against Wrobel’s pocket nines to leave the field heads-up. The players then agreed to a deal.
In the final hand, Wrobel’s ill-timed all-in bluff with queen-trey backfired as Gimenez rivered two pair for the easy call. It was Gimenez’s biggest victory of his career and his first-ever six-figure score.
Never Miss a PokerStars Tournament Again
Have you used the PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar yet? Our free-to-use tool allows you to see upcoming and in-play tournaments at several online poker rooms, including PokerStars.
You can apply filters to narrow your search, including buy-in, game type, and even prize pool guarantees, enabling you to find your perfect online poker tournament in seconds, all without leaving PokerNews!
Managing Editor
Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019.
He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.