Leon Sturm makes good on potential to become first 21st century-born SHR champion
Over the past few years, fans of elite level poker have grown accustomed to the sight of Leon Sturm, a young German phenom tearing it up on the live scene. Like so many, Sturm was schooled on the PokerStars online tables where, as “Rumukulus”, he won a WCOOP title in 2022 and a SCOOP title the following year.
But Sturm also won his first WSOP bracelet in a $50,000 buy-in event, and has become a fixture on the Super High Roller tours. The only question was when would he finally get his hands on a major piece of silverware in his native Europe?
The answer to that came tonight at EPT Barcelona, where Sturm plowed through the late stages of the €100,000 buy-in Super High Roller event to land a maiden title in a PokerStars-sponsored live event.
After agreeing a heads-up deal with American crusher David Coleman, Sturm earned €1,450,385, the biggest win of his career so far. And if you want to feel old, how about this stat: At 24, Sturm becomes the first player born in the 21st century to win a flagship event on the EPT.
Leon Sturm, 21st-century boy
This victory has, though, been coming a long time. Sturm shows a maturity beyond his years at the poker table, and has a game every bit as accomplished as anyone who has been doing this for decades. He was in the middle of the pack when six players returned for the final day of this tournament today, and after winning one particularly significant coup — his ace-king beating another ace-king for all of it — he managed to turn the screw and lock up this famous first success.
“New high score unlocked,” Sturm told Poker News reporters after the tournament concluded. “That’s very nice, always very cool to win a trophy. I think that’s more important than the score in the end.”
TOURNAMENT ACTION
To the surprise of nobody, the final six players returning today, from a starting field of 47 entries, featured many of the game’s established superstars. To be honest, there was barely a weak link in the entire field, such is the quality of Super High Rollers on the EPT.
But even in this rarefied company, there were some players in magnificent form — particularly David Coleman, Punnat Punsri and Jesse Lonis, who had already secured major scores in the past week or so. For all that, it was former WSOP Main Event champ Espen Joerstad who led the way, with more than double his closest challenger.
They lined up as follows at the start of the day:
Seat 1: Jesse Lonis, USA, 1,130,000
Seat 2: Leon Sturm, Germany, 1,430,000
Seat 3: David Coleman, USA, 2,365,000
Seat 4: Punnat Punsri, Thailand, 760,000
Seat 5: Aleksejs Ponakovs, Latvia, 1,280,000
Seat 6: Espen Jorstad, Norway, 4,785,000
Punsri was unable to spin up the short stack this time and took an early shower from the final table. He won €319,200 for sixth — although losing with kings to Coleman’s A♥5♣ on the very first hand probably stung a bit. Coleman wasn’t complaining, of course, as he began a surge up the counts, which only faltered when he Sturm four-flushed him to double with A♦K♠ beating Coleman’s A♠K♦.
Coleman held firm, however, and saw Aleks Ponakovs take the tumble next. The Latvian No 1 didn’t find the chance to get much going today, and put his last chips in the middle with K♠J♣. Jorstad’s A♠K♣ finished Ponakovs off. He won €410,400.
Despite winning this pot, Jorstad’s stranglehold on the tournament had weakened considerably in the opening salvos. Sturm had risen to the top, with Lonis clinging to his coat-tails, and Jorstad slipping down to third of four remaining. A big double for Coleman through the Norwegian swapped their places in the standings, and Jorstad was out soon after.
The overnight chip leader earned €524,400 for fourth.
Espen Jorstad perished in fourth
Lonis mopped up the last of Jorstad’s chips, but he was still the three-handed short stack, with Sturm holding more than his two other opponents combined. Lonis dwindled further and then got unlucky to bust when Coleman hit a three-outer to send him into heads-up play and Lonis to the rail.
After Sturm folded his button, Coleman open-jammed the small blind with only Lonis behind him. Lonis looked down at A♥9♦ and called for the last of his chips, learning that he was in great shaped against Coleman’s 9♣8♥.
However, the 8♠ came on the flop and that was curtains for Lonis. He took €706,800 for third.
Sturm had close to 8 million chips starting heads-up play, with Coleman sitting with 4.15 million. The big blind was 120,000, so there was still plenty of potential play to be had. These two bosses decided to take some of the variance out of it, however, and agreed a deal, Sturm locking up €1,250,385 and Coleman €1,148,755. There was €200,000 still to play for.
There was every indication that we could have been in for a long heads-up battle, even after the deal. However, Sturm was not only on his game, but he was enjoying the run of everything and quickly flew to the victory. He closed it out at only around 6.30pm local time when his A♥9♦ held against Coleman’s A♠5♥, all-in pre-flop.
“Good game, brother,” Coleman said, before bemoaning that he was “Always the bridesmaid”. He was referring to his second-place finishes in both the $10K Mystery Bounty and the first $20K Single Day event here in Barcelona. But add those to the near $1.15 million he just won here, he’s doing just fine.
Three second-place finishes for David Coleman
As for Sturm, he takes his total career live earnings past $10 million and adds a first win in a major PokerStars sponsored live event to his numerous other accolades. The young phenom continues to make very good on all the promise.
RESULTS
Event #23: €100,000 EPT Super High Roller
Dates: August 23-25, 2024
Entries: 47 (inc. 11 re-entries)
Prize pool: €4,559,940
1 – Leon Sturm, Germany, €1,450,385*
2 – David Coleman, USA, €1,148,755*
3 – Jesse Lonis, USA, €706,800
4 – Espen Joerstad, Norway, €524,400
5 – Aleksejs Ponakovs, Latvia, €410,400
6 – Punnat Punsri, Thailand, €319,200
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