Veteran Barny Boatman Ships PokerStars EPT Paris Main Event
Historically, there have been 151 European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Events. This number includes seven tournaments branded, for one year only, as PokerStars Championship events. During the tour’s 20-year history, only three players – Victoria Coren, Mike Watson and Mikalai Pobal – have won more than one title.
No player joined these two-time winners at the end of February when the PokerStars-backed European Poker Tour rolled into Paris. However, history was created when Barny Boatman, aged 68, became its oldest-ever winner.
Age and experience got there: Barny Boatman poses with his chips, winning hand, and Paris EPT trophy. ©Danny Maxwell/PokerStars Live
The British player – who played in the first EPT in Barcelona in 2004 – is a popular figure in poker circles. He came to public attention when playing and commentating on Channel 4’s Late Night Poker in the late 1990s and early 2000s. During this time, he became a regular at the World Series of Poker and notably finished 16th in the 2000 World Series of Poker Main Event.
Two Jewels in the Crown, WPT Next?
Boatman is no stranger to success in tournament poker. In 2013, he won a World Series bracelet when taking a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event. Two years later, he turned €550 into €54,725 when landing an Omaha tournament at the World Series of Poker Europe staged in Germany.
Now, with an EPT title – that rewarded him with a €1,287,800 prize – to compliment his World Series of Poker bracelet, Boatman ‘only’ needs to win a World Poker Tour Main Event to complete Poker’s Triple Crown.
Mohsin Charania, Davidi Kitai, Harrison Gimbel, Bertrand Grospellier, Gavin Griffin, Scotland’s Niall Farrell and three Brits, Roland De Wolfe, Roberto Romanello, and Jake Cody, are the only players to have claimed poker’s Triple Crown.
Despite spells sponsored by online poker sites, Boatman does not appear enamoured with online poker. TheHendonMob website – a results database he helped set up – does not credit Boatman with any cashes in the online poker space.
Ironically, the European Poker Tour is owned and operated by PokerStars. Describing itself as “the world’s most popular online poker site” and serving the global poker community since its launch in 2001, the online poker room stages countless online satellites – allowing low-staking players with a good strategy to play in its live EPT events.
Sunday Million Reason to Celebrate
Over 200 billion hands have been dealt on PokerStars, more than any other online poker site. The Sunday Million tournament was one of its most significant attractions throughout online poker’s so-called ‘boom years’. The competition remains a big draw and a coveted prize.
The multi-player tournament has never missed a week since its inception, and in 2021, the 15th Anniversary Sunday Million attracted 69,876 entries, generating a $13,975,200 prize pool. Its $1.51 million first prize went to former video game designer Vanessa Kade from Canada.
This week, to celebrate its 18th year, PokerStars has announced plans for another anniversary edition beginning on April 7. The birthday event guarantees an $8 million purse for a buy-in of $215. Up to five re-entries will be permitted, and late registration will be open for 24 hours. The winner will walk away with a minimum and guaranteed $1 million prize.
