Olivier Busquet, who has accumulated tournament earnings of more than $4.5m in an outstanding poker career, had never before won a major tournament outside his native United States until he took down the EPT Barcelona Super High Roller from 18-20 August 2104.
Suddenly his three runner-up finishes - in the Campione Main Event in Season 9, a €25,000 High Roller at the Grand Final two years before, and one in a €10,000 High Roller in Prague - seemed a long time ago.
Busquet defeated his protege Daniel Colman heads-up, the pair cutting a deal before the old master (32) defeated the young pretender (23) for an €896,434 pay-day.
When Vladimir Troyanovskiy hit the rail in third place, Busquet and Colman agreed to split the remaining prize-pool with €866,434 going to Busquet and €843,066 to Colman, with €30,000 and the title still to play for.
A brief scuffle ensued before Busquet's QH-JH hit a queen on the flop to beat Colman's AS-KD for the title.
There were nine players still involved when action resumed on Day 3 but fears of a long final table were eased by the fact Mustapha Kanit and Sam Trickett had only 12 and 13 big blinds respectively and both Colman and Busquet were also relatively short.
Morten Klein had the biggest stack at the table, with Sven Reichardt, Scott Seiver and Dan Shak completing the line-up.
Italy's Kanit was the first to perish after shoving over Reichardt's open to 125,000. He was in great shape with AC-QD against the German's AS-AC but the 8S on the flop put an end to his hopes and he left in ninth place for €105,455.
Reichardt's victory in that hand put him top of the leader board for a while, alongside Troyanovskiy, who was one of the most active players at a very active table.
But, in one of the most outrageous hands ever played on the European Poker Tour, Reichardt was soon to take a big hit after opening with KD-KS. Busquet moved all-in with AS-2S and naturally Reichardt called.
And it seemed as though this would be the end for Busquet, especially when the flop came 8H-8C-KC to make the German a more than a 99 per cent favourite to win the hand and send Busquet to the rail.
But there was still the slightest mathematical chance of a comeback for the American and the AH on the turn was a small step towards the ridiculous out-draw he needed. The AD on the river completed the “almost” impossible and gave Busquet a healthy stack with which to mount a challenge for the title.
And, he soon got the cards to continue his surge up the leaderboard. When Shak three-bet Trickett, Busquet found red aces in the big blind and his small four-bet persuaded Trickett out but not Shak, who shoved over the top.
Shak was in a world of hurt with AS-8S and he finished eighth for €138,600.
Klein was the next departure when he got his chips all-in with AS-QS but ran into Busquet who'd found aces again. And once more they held to send Klein to the rail €177,500 richer for his seventh-place finish.
Reichardt was the next exit, having never recovered from the hand against Busquet. His pocket tens were dominated by Colman's kings and he was out in sixth for €225,000.
Trickett's run came to an end on the very next hand, his AS-KC coming up short against Busquet's pocket eights. Trickett's €288,400 was his biggest payday on the EPT... just as well he has made about $15m elsewhere.
Seiver managed to cling on for another orbit or so, but when he shoved with AH-QD from the big blind, Colman had already been priced in after three-betting JH-9H from the small. A nine on the river ended Seiver's bid to be the first two-time Super High Roller champion and he had to make do with €364,200 for fourth.
Troyanovskiy, a familiar sight at final tables of high buy-in events, has never managed to win one though and he couldn't win a race with Ad-8H against Busquet's pocket fives either. Troyanovskiy's €473,200 put his career earnings up to more than $2.5m.
That just left the master and the apprentice to play for the title. As it happened, Busquet had the rub of the green, winning most of the significant pots with the best hands.
When Colman grew short and found AS-KH he shoved all-in, Busquet calling with QH-JH. The QD on the turn proved decisive and finally Busquet was a champion.
"It's a really special thing," said Busquet. "Dan and I have known each other for a long time. There's no one in the poker world I'm closer with. For us to get heads-up together, we were both just happy for each other."
EPT11 Barcelona, Super High Roller
1 Olivier Busquet €896,434
2 Daniel Colman €843,066
3 Vladimir Troyanovskiy €473,200
4 Scott Seiver €364,200
5 Sam Trickett €288,400
6 Sven Reichardt €225,500
7 Morten Klein €177,500
8 Dan Shak €138,600
9 Mustapha Kanit €105,455
