The large tournament attracted players from all over the world
Lucien Cohen of France recently won the PokerStars 2023 Estrellas Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event, outlasting a record-setting field to take home €676,230 ($735,568).
The €1,100 buy-in tournament drew a record 7,398 entries (3,291 unique), breaking the previous record for PokerStars’ biggest live event ever. Players in eight starting flights descended on Casino Barcelona to raise the prize pool to €7,102,080 ($7.725 million).
Cohen, who owns a pest control business and goes by the nickname ‘The Ratman,’ overpowered his four final table opponents after entering with the chip lead, including Belgium’s Ferdinando D’Alessio, who took home €415,320 ($451,764) as runner-up.
“What a great final table performance from Lucien Cohen,” declared commentator Griffin Benger. “Really had this entire table in control. [Cohen] was the chip leader the whole time, was the most animated, was the center of attention. It felt like destiny and he brought it home.”
Cohen got his first major win 12 years ago after beating WSOP Main Event champion Martin Jacobson heads-up at the EPT Deauville to win a career-high score of €880,000 ($1,197,719), just his second career cash. This latest victory increases Cohen’s lifetime live winnings to over $2.5 million and is his second-largest career score.
The previous PokerStars live event record was 6,313 entries at the 2022 ESPT Barcelona Main Event. This recent upward trend has broken many records, including the WPTs Main Tour and Prime Events and the 2023 WSOP Main Event.
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