Santiago speaks

Click here for more winner pics

The PP blog had a word with our newly crowned PPT champion in the moments after his victory at the Gran Casino Barcelona and here's what he had to say...

How does it feel to be crowned ParadisePoker Tour Barcelona champion?
It’s a great feeling to have won. It’s the first title I’ve won and having come close one other time, this is just perfect.

You made a deal at heads-up for €25,000 each, but the trophy looked important to you both judging by the way you played.
100% winning the trophy really meant a lot – more than the money to be honest. For sure.

So how does this compare with your poker achievements so far?
This is definitely up there with my best moments in poker. I cashed for almost the same in an APPT event but this feels really great.

At the end of Day 1 you were our chip leader, so what are you memories of that?
I had a big hand when I flopped a set vs top pair top kicker. We went all-in on the flop for around 300 big blinds so that put me over 100,000 in chips. I made a couple of moves and got up to 150,000 but everything was going my way. Even when I didn't have the cards they folded so everything went great.

Day 2 was a little more challenging though...
I had a much rougher day on Day 2 because although I went up to 260,000 I then lost a big pot. On the bubble I only had 60,000 but I doubled up two or three times and ended up on around 540,000.

What about Day 3 and the final table?
I had a couple of bad beats early on the final table, like when Marga [Gonzalez] flopped quads with 6s against my 8s in the first hand. I had a very tough decision with 8s again but eventually I started making my hands and the day went great.

You made a deal for €25,000 each even though you were a 1,000,000 chips behind.
Heads-up I kind of knew I was going to make it but I had to make a deal for €25,000 each because the money is important. There was a €12,500 difference between first and second so it was a good deal I think and it all came good in the end.

Nanev was such a dominant chip leader for so long - was there ever a point where you thought you might not catch him?
When we were three-handed I only had about 1,000,000 but I started to chip up, stole some pots and I just felt like I was going to win it. He had a million more than me when we made it to heads-up but I felt like I had an edge that made us more even. I wasn't sure I was going to take it, but I was very confident. I've not had that much experience playing heads-up but I definitely felt I had an edge over him from the way we were playing.