Former European Poker Tour champion Lucien Cohen has returned to the winner's circle by taking down the largest-ever live poker tournament sponsored by PokerStars, the EPT Barcelona 2023 Estrellas €1,100 Main Event. France's Cohen topped a record field of 7,398 entries to claim the event's €676,230 winner's payday. The 7,398-entry figure is the largest-ever turnout for any event on any live tour sponsored by PokerStars.
The 59-year-old Cohen previously won the 2011 EPT Deauville main event for €880,000, a figure that remains his career best. In the Estrellas main event, which served as the opener for the just-underway EPT Barcelona series, Cohen arrived at the final table with the chip lead, then powered through to the title, eliminating four of his five final-table foes along the way.
Cohen, affectionately known as "Ratman," owns a pest-control company in Paris, and he usually brings a small plastic rat with him to the table. At the Estrellas main finale, he eschewed the rat, but it didn't impact his good fortune. "The Ratman!" he called out on several occasions after winning big pots.
Cohen remains a part-time player rather than a touring pro, though his big 2011 win afforded him the chance to play more events in France and across Europe. He's been a familiar face at EPT stops for more than a decade, and he ranks as France's 44th-ranked all-time player in terms of career tourney winnings, according to THM.
The record turnout generated a prize pool of more than €7.1 million, and the final table also included a PokerStars brand ambassador, Canada's Parker Talbot.
Estrellas Barcelona 2023 Main Event final table results:
- 1st - Lucien Cohen, France, €676,230
- 2nd - Ferdinando D'Alessio, Belgium, €415,320
- 3rd - Petros Karadimos, Greece, €294,620
- 4th - Danilo Velasevic, Serbia, €232,090
- 5th - Ankit Ahuja, India, €177,810
- 6th - Avihai Smadga, Israel, €136,850
- 7th - Parker Talbot, Canada, PokerStars Ambassador, €105,590
- 8th - Igor Kaufman, Israel, €81,230
Featured image source: PokerStars / Danny Maxwell
