The heads of Sam Soverel and Daniel Dvoress sleep soundly on plush pillows after the pair earned a couple of rubies at the Poker Masters and Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) respectively.
We start in Las Vegas and the 2019 Poker Masters.
Sam Soverel entered the competition as the winner of Poker Central’s previous event: The British Poker Open (BPO), while also holding the title of 2018 Poker Central Player of the Year (POY). After sending all and sundry to the Poker Masters funeral pyre, Soverel is odds-on to defend that POY title.
Long before Soverel stood in the Aria doorway, flexing his muscles, Chance Kornuth looked the likeliest of winners. Kornuth had the frustration of finishing runner-up in Events #1, #2 and #6 to take the lead in the championship table before Soverel cackled into control winning Event #7.
Soverel would finish fourth in Events #8 & 9 (both $25k NLHE events), before going on to secure victory by winning Event #10: $50,000 NLHE. When the dust had settled in the aftermath of Soverel’s EMP style winning performance he had banked $1.4m in prize money, prompting writers of the ilk of Remko Rinkema to call him ‘The Best No-Limit Hold’em Tournament Player in the World.”
After the Poker Masters, high rollers had a choice – go home and wrap some presents, or play some more poker. Daniel Dvoress was amongst those that couldn’t resist the temptation. The Canadian ended up in the Bahamas for the $250,000 buy-in SHRB (a Poker Central and partypoker partnership), and won his first major title, beating 51-entrants, and collecting $4m in a performance where ‘everything came together.’
In other live poker-related news, our good friends at Triton have released Part II of the Triton Montenegro Cash Game, and Tom Dwan’s “I am High Stakes Poker” episode.
Online Poker: Igor Kurganov Leaves PokerStars; High Roller Series Scheduled
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the most beautiful PokerStars ambassador of them all?”
“Not Igor Kurganov or Liv Boeree.”
Last week, PokerStars’ Posh & Becks departed for pastures new. Boeree joined PokerStars in 2010, and Kurganov followed in 2017.
Kurganov’s first year at Stars was his best in recent years winning the $10,000 Tag Team title at the WSOP (with Boeree) as well as winning €25,000 and €50,000 games in the now-defunct PokerStars Championships.
As well as announcing ambassadorial departures, PokerStars also announced plans to host another High Roller tournament series Dec 1 – 9. The online giant has guaranteed $11m in prize money throughout 27 events. The buy-ins range between $530 and $10,300, with at least one game daily falling between the $5,200 & $10,300 range.
Here are the $10k+ events.
Dec 1 – $10,300 NLHE 8-Max, $1m GTD
Dec 3 – $10,300 NLHE 8-Max, $1m GTD
Dec 5 – $10,300 NLHE 8-Max PKO, $1m GTD
Dec 8 – $10,300 PLO 6-Max, $500k GTD
The Beef: Doug Polk v Daniel Negreanu on the WSOP POY Race
You couldn’t listen to a poker podcast without stumbling across the voice of Daniel Ngreanu this past week. Kid Poker hit the podcast airwaves en masse to defend his honour after Doug Polk intimated that perhaps Negreanu did know that he had been incorrectly awarded too many Player of the Year points in Las Vegas this summer.
Negreanu stuck with a consistent line that he knew nothing about the error. Mike Matusow leapt to the defence of Negreanu, but when Polk is in the line of fire, the Mouth likes to stick his fangs in him.
Life Outside of Poker: Bill Perkins’ Death Date; Leonard’s Musical Tour
Bill Perkins is expecting to die in 13,230 days. We know this because Perkins likes to keep an ‘estimated death date countdown’ on his phone ‘to keep a sense of urgency in my life and remind me of the gifts I get to enjoy and that they don’t last forever.
Patrick Leonard and his buddies followed the British rap star, Dave, on every stop of his North American tour last week. Leonard and his tribe followed the Psychodrama tour throughout the USA and Canada, documenting the trip on Twitter, including an interested ten stop pizza tour of the Big Apple.
The Quote of the Week
We leave you with the quote of the week, courtesy of Sam Greenwood, who chimed in on the Daniel Negreanu WSOP POY debate with this piece of comedic genius.
And that’s a wrap for this week’s Pinnacle.