Season 1
The Grand Finale at Monte Carlo
Little did Brandon Schafer know what his ‘buddy road trip’ with Carl Olson to the French town of Deauville, just a few months before heading off to graduate school had in store for him. The two friends made it to first and second place in the EPT French Open at Deauville and thus won seats into the Grand Final at Monte Carlo. Schafer fought a tough battle to reach the last day as the chip leader.
With Brandon Schafer leading the way, the final eight at the table were as follows:
- Seat 1: Romain Feriolo 475,000
- Seat 2: Alex Stevic 57,500
- Seat 3: Abdulaziz Abdulaziz 181,000
- Seat 4: Ben Grundy 90,500
- Seat 5: Kevin Seeger 364,500
- Seat 6: Mikhail Ustinov 68,500
- Seat 7: Brandon Schafer 488,500
- Seat 8: Rob Hollink 384,000
The last round witnessed youth versus experience where Brandon Schafer and Rob Hollink met face to face with almost equal stacks. While Scahfer had been decking his stack by playing loose, Rob Hollink was being more watchful and cautious till he made sure he had the best of it.
The players sparred for ten to twelve hands after which Hollink took the upper hand. He did this by showing down cards that were better or pushing Schaefer off his hand. Scahfer was able to match this by playing aggressively and soon got ahead.
Schaefer made the standard raise and Hollink called. The flop came down T3T. Schaefer bet out, Hollink doubled the bet, and after some introspection, Schaefer called all in.
When Hollink called Schaefer senses danger. Even before the announcement was made, Schafer knew what Hollink held – 10. Schaefer's three were useless and he lost more than half his stack on this hand.
It concluded almost immediately only seconds later. Although Schaefer still had some chips to play with, he didn't get them all in with a top pair on the flop. By the river, Hollink had made two pair, got all-in, and triumphed Schaefer in the heads-up contest. While Schaefer got €350,000 for second place, Rob Hollink walked away in first place with a staggering prize of €635,000.
