Carlos Gurdiel Wins the First-Ever PokerStars Live Spin & Go Championship

PokerStars ran the inaugural reside Spin & Go Championship throughout the European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague competition, and Spain’s Carlos Gurdiel will perpetually be often known as the competitors’s first-ever champion. Gurdiel fought his method by the 81-strong crowd and helped himself to the €25,000 high prize.

Spin & Go tournaments are immensely in style at PokerStars however that they had solely been performed in a web based poker setting till the latest EPT Prague cease. PokerStars invited 81 gamers, consisting of 74 on-line qualifiers and 7 particular friends, to Prague to compete within the inaugural Spin & Go Championship.

Day 1 noticed the 81 entrants face off throughout 27 tables, every having to win 4 matches to progress to Spherical 2. Twenty-seven gamers locked horns and butted heads throughout the second spherical, with the 9 gamers who received 5 video games navigating to Spherical 3.

The three gamers who received 5 reside Spin & Go tournaments throughout Spherical 3 progressed to the ultimate, the place they had been assured a prize of €10,000, €15,000, or €25,000.

The ultimate was performed in a first-to-six format, and Spain’s Carlos Gurdiel, Lithuania’s Mantas Meskevicius, and Brazil’s Murilo Monterio confronted off in a sequence of Spin & Gos.

Unsurprisingly, all three finalists grind Spin & Go tournaments on-line at PokerStars. Maeskevicius has performed the three-handed hyper-turbo jackpot video games solely for 3 years, whereas Monteiro received his place by topping the low-stakes Spin & Go leaderboard. The Brazilian largely performs $5 Spin & Gos but discovered himself with a professional shot of turning into this occasion’s first champion.

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Learn our recap

Gurdiel Dominates the Closing Spherical

Gurdiel was by far essentially the most skilled at Spin & Go video games than the opposite two finalists. A former Supernova Elite, Gurdiel used to grind sit & go tournaments earlier than switching to Spin & Go video games. His capacity to log unbelievable quantity on this fast-paced format had already seen Gurdiel bag a Platinum Go to the 2023 PokerStars Gamers Championship, and he bulldozed his approach to a bundle to this maiden Spin & Go Championship by topping one of many promotional leaderboards.

Gurdiel dominated proceedings, operating out a 6-2-2 winner and raking in a €25,000 prize. Throughout the decisive recreation, Monteiro busted in third, leaving Gurdiel heads-up towards Meskevicius. The profitable hand noticed Gurdiel limp on the button with nine-seven and name when Meskevicius raised with what in the end turned out to be seven-three.

Meskevicius continued on the draw-heavy queen-jack-king flop with two golf equipment, and Gurdiel referred to as. Meskevicius continued his bluff by shifting all in on the ten of golf equipment flip, however Gurdiel referred to as together with his straight, which left Meskevicius drawing useless. A queen on the river accomplished the board, and Gurdiel turned the inaugural reside Spin & Go Championship champion.

As Meskevicius and Monteiro had been tied on two victories, they confronted off in a one-off heads-up match to find out the runner-up.

The conflict was action-packed, and Meskevicius loved a considerable chip lead when his king-four of golf equipment held towards Monteiro’s jack-nine of golf equipment. Nevertheless, Monteiro twice doubled up, first discovering pocket jacks that beat nine-six, then spiking a 3rd queen on the river to make sure his queen-six beat Meskevicius’ ace-ten, which had flopped an ace.

A brief-stacked Meskevicius dedicated the final of his chips with queen-nine, and Monteiro referred to as with king-jack. A king appeared on the flop, and Meskevicius by no means caught again up.

Spin & Go Championship Closing Spherical Outcomes

The Spin & Go Championship debut went down a storm in Prague, so it won’t be a shock to see the format seem at one other reside cease throughout 2025. As at all times, as quickly as PokerNews learns of any plans for a follow-up occasion, you may be the primary to know.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the UK, and has labored within the poker trade since 2008, and labored for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he turned the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from reside reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his function of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.