WPTDeepStacks was back in action in the recent week and a half, as the tour was over in Europe for WPTDeepStacks Portugal in beautiful Vilamoura. The €200,000 guaranteed Main Event attracted a field of 250 entries, generating a guarantee-bursting prize pool of €242,500. Taking home the title and first-place prize of €57,010 was Portugal’s own Francisco Lopes.
“It’s a big trophy and a lot of money,” Lopes told WPT.com following his victory. “It’s been an amazing week. I have a lot of friends here with me. We study a lot together and for them to be here is really great. For one of us to win a big one is amazing.”
Included in Lopes’ first-place prize was a €2,000 package to the WPTDeepStacks European Championship to be held in Berlin, Germany, in January 2018.
“Vilamoura is an amazing place,” Lopes added. “I’ve never been here, even though I’m Portuguese. My friends have had some success in the side events, so we’re absolutely going out to celebrate.”
WPTDeepStacks Portugal Final Table Results
1st: Francisco Lopes – €57,010*
2nd: Omar Lakhdari – €40,037
3rd: Manuel Borges – €25,754
4th: Paul Marius – €19,061
5th: Gregory Janin – €14,305
6th: Joao Franco – €11,446
7th: Pedro Goncalves – €9,506
8th: Pedro Ferro – €7,615
9th: Omar Cabral – €5,699
*First-place prize includes €2,000 package to the WPTDeepStacks European Championship
For Lopes, the score represented the first victory of his live poker career, according to his profile on HendonMob.com. To earn the win, Lopes defeated Omar Lakhdari in second place. Lakhdari earned €40,037 for his runner-up performance in what was his second time finishing in second place this season on the WPTDeepStacks tour in Europe.
Following the elimination of Manuel Borges in third place, Lopes took a stack of 3.9 million in heads-up play against Lakhdari’s 2.3 million. Lakhdari took the lead at one point during the heads-up duel, but ultimately things went the way of Lopes, who finished off his opponent in Level 29 with the blinds at 50,000-100,000 with a 10,000 ante.
On the final hand, Lakhdari opened to 225,000 on the button and Lopes reraised all in with a covering stack. Lakhdari called it off for a little under 2 million with the 
. Lopes had the 
, and the board ran out 
to give Lopes the title.
Next Up for WPTDeepStacks in Europe is Marrakech
Coming up next for the WPTDeepStacks tour in Europe is the PMU.fr WPTDeepStacks Marrakech festival, kicking off Saturday, September 30, 2017, at Casino de Marrakech in Morocco and running through Sunday, October 8. The festival is anchored by the €1,200 Main Event starting on Friday, September 6. Players will also be thrilled to see the schedule includes Two other notable events the €1,800 High Roller and the €2,700 Super High Roller, starting on Wednesday, October 4, and Sunday, October 8, respectively.
Click here to view the PMU.fr WPTDeepStacks Marrakech event page on WPT.com for more information.
To view the full PMU.fr WPTDeepStacks Marrakech schedule, please click here.
In addition to the live satellites held at Casino de Marrakech, the event’s title sponsor, PMU.fr, is offering the chance for players to win packages to the event worth €1,800. Qualifiers will be held on Sundays leading up to the event on PMU.fr. More information can be found by clicking here.