Season XIV Champion Profile: Javier Gomez

When the final table of Season XIV’s WPT Prague began, no one could have guessed Spain’s Javier Gomez, who began the final table fifth in chips, would eliminate every single one of his opponents before claiming the trophy and the €175,000 first-place prize. It is no wonder his raucous rail, which included one of Spain’s all-time money earners, Adrian Mateos, were raucously cheering the poker on. He took a short stack and made it pack a punch, knocking out the shortest stack, Henrik Hecklen, then doubling through Abdelkader Benhalima to move up to the top of the counts. While the table shifted around chips, Gomez always managed to keep his stack in play.

Heads-up play came down to Gomez and Moldova’s Pavel Plesuv. When play began, Gomez had the slight advantage, but a massive double up for Plesuv early in the match had Gomez on the ropes. He came roaring back though, claiming victory when his A-10 prevailed over Plesuv’s A-3.

“I feel really excited. Really incredible,” Gomez exalted shortly after his victory. The victory in this €3,300 buy-in event, which drew 256 entries, marked Gomez’s first major victory, though he also final tabled an EPT main event event in Malta earlier in 2015. With five career cashes, Gomez’s lifetime earnings currently stand at $495,633.