Ali Tekintamgac has been playing poker for more than 20 years but only recently began playing in live poker tournaments. His first major event was last month’s EPT Grand Final, where his experience showed through with a 125th place finish in that prestigious event. Tekintamgac improved on that finish in his second event, but by a much larger margin than anyone probably expected, he is the newest World Poker Tour champion after the win in Barcelona.

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The WPT Barcelona event made headlines last week when it drew 326 players, the largest field since the tournament began in 2007. That field built a €1,043,200 prize pool, with €315,000 due to the winner, a great choice for your second live tournament if you’ve already cashed against the best in Monte Carlo. By the time the final table was set, the 40 year old Tekintamgac was in the driver’s seat with a significant chip lead.

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Tekintamgac held that lead the entire way, finding himself a 5-to-1 favorite against Spain’s Roberto Garcia Santiago by the time heads-up play began. Santiago had led the tournament in its early days, but he was unable to find the winning combination against the German and had to settle for a €160,000 runner-up prize. Tekintamgac, meanwhile, grabbed the top prize and a seat in next year’s World Poker Tour Championship. He says his next stop is the WSOP Main Event, where he should stand a pretty good chance of making himself three-for-three cashing in major tournaments.

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