In a brand new feature for PokerStars, the first-ever ‘Team Pro Vlog’ covers beloved high-roller Parker Talbot on his run in PokerStars highest-attended live event of all time, the Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event at 2023 PokerStars EPT Barcelona this August.
Watch here if viewing from the United Kingdom
The Canadian Twitch streamer, best known as “Tonkaaaa” to his fans online, navigated a record-breaking field to reach the penultimate day, finishing seventh in the event for a total prize of €105,590.
The lively final two days were dominated by the eccentric performance of the eventual winner, the “rat man”, Lucien Cohen. An interesting occurrence happened earlier in the tournament for Talbot, however, when the Ontario native called time on himself in the early stages of the event’s Day 3 – to the puzzlement of fellow players and staff alike.
Why Did Tonkaaaa Call the Clock on Himself?
In the vlog, Talbot describes the situation as living by the same rules as he gives to other players. The high-stakes pro details that he is known to call the clock on any player who takes two minutes or more to decide.
Blinds: 30,000 / 60,000
Talbot 3,520,000 stack) holds K♦K♣ in the small blind, three-betting the 125,000 open of the player in cutoff (600,000 stack) to 300,000 and being called by both the Big Blind (6,009,000) and the original raiser.
Flop: J♦9♠4♣
The 275,000 continuation-bet from Talbot is raised to 600,000 by the player in big blind, folding out the original raiser after some consideration. The Team Pro representative calls as play continues heads-up.
Turn: K♠
Talbot makes his set, but the king also completes some straight-draws. Talbot checks, and the big blind checks back.
River: Q♠
The board is complete, opening up a strong possibility of straight draws and now the spade flush draw to boot.
Talbot bets 725,000 on the river, to which his opponent quickly raises to 2,100,000. This sends Talbot into the tank, visibly perplexed by the runout, pondering, “Ace-jack of spades?” At this moment, Talbot kneels on his chair, calling time on himself, drawing laughter from onlookers in the tournament room of Casino Barcelona.
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Talbot does eventually fold, correctly, as it turns out when his opponent shows the ace-jack of spades and confirms the soon-to-be seventh-place finisher’s suspicions.
The vlog culminates in the “unofficial” final table, seeing Parker cling onto a short stack until his eventual dismissal from the tournament in a three-way pot won by the queens of eventual runner-up Ferdinando D’Alessio. Talbot leaves the event with a €105,590 score, and the remaining six players return the next day for the final table of the record-breaking event.
You can watch the first Team Pro Vlog right now on PokerStars Global and PokerStars United Kingdom YouTube channels with future vlogs to come – including Talbot’s sidekick Ben “Spraggy” Spragg’s run at EPT Barcelona.
You can also read about Parker Talbot’s recent WCOOP $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em Super Tuesday High Roller win, where the streamer continues his hot streak to take him a $213,228 payday just three weeks after his Barcelona result.