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Ike Haxton Wins the 10k Short Deck Championship
 
The skinny redhead burns; the scent of sulphur sends Puff the Magic Dragon flying through your nostrils, and before you know it a discarded match on a hike through the Californian hills leads to horse owners trotting them down a billowing freeway in a bid to save them from becoming toast.
Wildfire.
It spreads rapidly, given the right circumstances.
Short-Deck No-Limit Hold’em Poker, anyone?
Born in the private Asian cash games, and given centre stage at the Triton Poker Series events in Montenegro and Jeju, Short-Deck is fast becoming as cool as squid ink eyeballs.
PokerStars are about to add it to their lobby.
America’s Cardroom, the same.
And yesterday, for the first time since Homo Sapiens left Africa to look for a football to kick about, the game showed up in a Western live arena.
The 2018 Poker Masters is now four events old.
The latest, Event #4: $10,000 Short Deck Poker, gave players three bullets worth 100,000 each, and for most of them, a new concept to master.
The event attracted 55 entrants, and there were six left at the end of Day 1.
 
Final Table Standings
Seat 1: Dominik Nitsche – 4,980,000
Seat 2: Ryan Tosoc – 3,025,000
Seat 3: Maurice Hawkins – 1,025,000
Seat 4: Cary Katz – 830,000
Seat 5: Isaac Haxton – 1,775,000
Seat 6: Andrew Robl – 4,865,000
 
I’m pulling my finger from my mouth and holding it in the air when I say only Cary Katz and Andrew Robl have experienced this format of poker.
Let’s take a look at the highlights.
 
The Run-In
Hawkins Becomes a Contender.
Maurice Hawkins tripled up when all-in holding pocket kings against the QTdd of Ryan Tosoc, and the Tc9s of the chip leader Dominik Nitsche. The Cowboys managed to run through a five card town lined with Gattling guns without receiving a single shot, and Hawkins emerged the other end as a contender.
 
Dominik Nitsche Eliminated in 6th Place.
Oh boy, the beauty of Short-Deck.
Nitsche went from the chip leader to first to bust after clashing with Isaac Haxton in the following hand.
Nitsche moved all-in for 1,440,000, holding pocket jacks, and Haxton made the call with pocket tens. Unbeknown to the pair, Andrew Robl had folded a ten, leaving Haxton with a single out heading to the flop, but he didn’t need it. The dealer burned and turned the allotted number of cards, handing Haxton a straight, and we had a new chip leader, and only five players remaining. Nitsche earned $33,000 for his endeavours.
 
Hawkins Doubles
Hawkins looked down to see the rockets and raised to 800,000. Ryan Tosoc made the call holding T9ss. The dealer put the Td9d6h flop onto the felt to give Tosoc the lead with the two pair hand. Tosoc moved all-in, and Hawkins made the call and was at risk of finding something else to do. Then the dealer placed the 6c down on the fourth-street, giving Hawkins a stronger two pair hand, and the double up.
 
Cary Katz Eliminated in 5th Place.
Katz limped into the action holding KQhh. Sitting in the next pew was Haxton, who moved all-in, and Katz called what little he had left. Haxton turned over AdTc, and despite Katz taking the lead after flopping a second queen, Haxton turned an ace and rivered a ten to bust the man who brought the game to the ARIA from his recent trip to Jeju.
 
A Double Decker For Tosoc.

Tired of the taste of metal in his mouth, Tosoc reminded his tablemates that he was a force to be reckoned with after doubling up twice, firstly through Robl: AT>AQ, and then Haxton AJ>KQ.
 
Andrew Robl Eliminated in 4th Place.
Then we lost the most experienced Short-Deck proponent at the final table in Andrew Robl.
The first blow came when Robl saw a Kd8h6c flop with both him and Hawkins searching for a straight with Robl holding 9d7s, and Hawkins sitting behind T7cc. The turn card was the 9h filling Hawkins up, and both players checked. The river card was the, Ah, to give Robl a weaker straight (the ace plays like a five). Hawkins checked, Robl bet 900,000, Hawkins raised to 2,400,000, Robl called and looked as sick as a walnut left in bathwater overnight when he saw the nut hand.
That hand saw Robl drop to 400,000 in chips.
Robl would double against Haxton when his K7hh turned a boat against AT, and then his luck ran out when he moved all-in holding T9o and Tosoc also moved all-in holding QJo. The battle of the short stacks went the way of Tosoc who flopped trips and turned a full house to seal the deal. Robl walked away with $55,000.
 
Chip Counts

  1. Maurice Hawkins – 7,840,000
  2. Ryan Tosoc – 4,995,000
  3. Isaac Haxton – 3,665,000

 
Haxton Doubles Through Tosoc.
Haxton limped into the hand holding pocket queens, and then called after Tosoc jammed AK. Broadway decided to shut down for five cards, and Haxton gathered up a chip stack capable of winning this thing.
 
Ryan Tosoc Eliminated in 3rd Place.
Tosoc moved all-in for 490,000 holding ATo, and Haxton made the call with AJo, and there were no flags of victory for Tosoc once the dealer had done his job.
We were heads-up.
Tosoc banked $77,000 for his troubles.
 
Heads-Up
Haxton won the first four hands to take a 2:1 chip lead.
Hawkins fought back like a tiger to take the lead.
Then Haxton doubled up.
Hawkins limped into the pot holding pocket queens, and then called after Haxton moved all-in holding AJo. A second ace appeared on the turn smelling all fresh and fancy, and Haxton took a big lead.
Then it was Hawkins’ time to double up, after the pair both turned a straight in a limped pot, only for Haxton to find himself staring up at a loftier hand.
And then it was over.
Hawkins looked down to see 97dd and moved all-in. Haxton peeled back the top of his cards, saw an ace and a queen, and thought, ‘What the hell.’  The dealer planted the Ad8h8c onto the flop, improving Haxton’s lead, but giving Hawkins a straight draw. The Kc reduced Hawkins’ odds. The Qh gave him zero odds. It was all over. Ike Haxton was our champion.
 
Final Table Results

  1. Isaac Haxton – $176,000 (300)
  2. Maurice Hawkins – $115,500 (210)
  3. Ryan Tosoc – $77,000 (150)
  4. Andrew Robl – $55,000 (120)
  5. Cary Katz – $44,000 (90)
  6. Dominik Nitsche – $33,000 (60)

 
Only 18 people in poker’s history have won more live tournament dollars than the $19,313,033 that has passed through Ike Haxton’s bank accounts, and yet, despite making more final tables than an Ikea table maker, this victory was only the fifth of his illustrious career.
It was also the first time he has ever played Short Deck.
Let’s hope this success gives him the confidence to try the more significant buy-in events on future Triton Poker Series events.
Here is the current state of affairs with three tournaments remaining.
 
Poker Masters Leaderboard
– Brandon Adams – 510 points
– Isaac Haxton – 480
– David Peters – 300
– Keith Lehr – 300
– Jared Jaffee – 210
– Jonathan Depa – 210
– Brian Green – 210
– Cary Katz – 210
– Maurice Hawkins – 210

Keith Lehr Wins the $25k PLO
Look.
This shit is serious.
Diego Maradona has agreed to become the manager of the Mexican second-division club, Dorados, home of one of the most powerful drug cartels in the world (yes, they don’t just exist on Netflix), and people are playing poker in Las Vegas blissfully unaware.
“It’s going to be like carrying an elephant on my shoulders,” Maradona said about the challenge he faces at his new club.
From the Hand of God to a few men and women desperately wanting the right Hands from God.
I hope nobody puts him in a box after losing a few games.
An elephant?
Ok, it’s not going to be that difficult to win the 2018 Poker Masters, maybe, a racoon?
Let’s recap.
The winner of the 2018 Poker Masters is the person accumulating the most points through a seven-event series. Before last night we were two down with five remaining.
David Peters won Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) beating 69 entrants to claim the $193,200 first prize, and maximum 300 points.
Brandon Adams won Event #2: $25,000 NLHE beating 50 entrants to win the $400,000 first prize, and maximum 300 points.
 
Poker Masters Leaderboard After The First Two Events

  1. Brandon Adams – 420
  2. David Peters – 300
  3. Brian Green – 210
  4. Jared Jaffee – 210
  5. Rainer Kempe – 150
  6. Jake Schindler – 150

Moving swiftly on.
 
Event #3: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)
Event #3 was a new event for Poker Masters.
Some would ask why did they include the four-card variant, considering the US Poker Open is a mixed game event, and the 37 entrant number may force them to reconsider.
Until then.
Day 1 ended like this:
 
Final Table
Seat 1: Dan Shak – 781,000
Seat 2: Ben Yu – 832,000
Seat 3: Jonathan Depa – 1,413,000
Seat 4: Brandon Adams – 1,138,000
Seat 5: Keith Lehr – 712,000
Seat 6: Isaac Haxton – 675,000
 
Haxton was making his second final table, after coming sixth in Event #1, and Adams was making his third successive final table, finishing fourth and first in the previous two.
Let’s take a look at the run-in.
 
The Run-In
The first big hand of the day involved the two biggest stacks, and the result was a new chip leader.
Jonathan Depa opened to 30,000 from the cutoff, and Brandon Adams made the call in position. The flop was KsQc7s, Depa checked, Adams bet 50,000, and Depa made the call. The turn was the 5h, and once again the action fell to Adams. This time, the series leader bet 190,000, and Depa made the call. The 4s hit the fifth street, and Depa check-called a 240,000 bet from Adams.
Depa showed Ts9s8d6s for a flush, but Adams held AsAdQs8s for the nut flush.
Adams – 1,702,000
Depa – 903,000
Isaac Haxton doubled through Keith Lehr, and then through Ben Yu, only for Yu to gain revenge on Haxton in the following hand to leave him with five big blinds.
Haxton called from the button, and Yu checked his option from the big blind. The action checked through to the turn on a board of AsQd8s7c; Yu bet 140,000; Haxton called. The action card was the 5h on the river. Yu bet 300,000, and Haxton called. Yu showed QsQh3d2d for a flopped set, and Haxton mucked his hand.
Then the partypoker ambassador doubled through Depa, to leave him short, only for the Omaha specialist to triple up shortly after, and then we had our first casualty.
 
Dan Shak Eliminated in 5th Place.

Shak opened to 140,000 from under the gun, Depa raised to 480,000, and Shak made the call for his tournament life.
Depa: KhKd4s2s
Shak: 9d7d3c2c
Board: QhQs9sAd4c
No hope for Shak and the businessman was out, earning $55,000.
Then we lost the man of the moment.
 
Brandon Adams Eliminated in 5th Place.

Yu opened to 175,000 from the button, and Adams called from the big blind. The dealer laid the Td5d5h flop down in a brick-like fashion, Yu bet 125,000 once checked to, Adams moved all-in, and Yu called.
On your backs gentlemen.
Yu: AcQsQh4h
Adams: JsTh9d8d
Yu had the lead with queens up. Adams had to get lucky. He didn’t. The 4s on the turn and the 4c on the river didn’t change the outcome of the hand, and Adams was out in fifth earning $74,000.
 
Isaac Haxton Eliminated in 4th Place.

Keith Lehr tripled up in an all-in threeway showdown against Depa and Haxton. The partypoker pro was ahead pre-flop holding pocket aces, but Lehr’s AhTh7s7c flopped a set of sevens to take the hand and send Haxton down to the bottom of the barrel.
And then Depa filled it with water and sealed the lid.
Haxton opened to 280,000 on the button, and Depa made the call from the big blind. The flop rained down Qs6s5d, Depa put Haxton all-in, and he made the call.
Depa: JcTc7d4d
Haxton: AcQh9s3c
Haxton was ahead with top pair.
Turn: Jh
Depa hit a pair but was still behind.
River: Ts
Depa secured a two-pair hand, sending Haxton to the cashier desk to collect his $92,500 prize.
And then we were heads-up.
 
Ben Yu Eliminated in 3rd Place.

Yu opened to 280,000 on the button, and Lehr called in the big blind. The flop was a soaking wet JcTh9s; Lehr checked, Yu moved all-in, and Lehr bit his hand off.
Lehr: Qs9d8c6s
Yu: As7s7c6d
Lehr had flopped the straight. The Jh and 8d didn’t help Yu improve, and he was out, earning $148,000.
 
Heads-Up
Jonathan Depa: 2,800,000
Keith Lehr: 2,750,000
The bubbles hadn’t settled on either player’s sparkling water when Lehr struck a near fatal blow.
Depa opened to 240,000 on the button, and Lehr called. The flop was a rainbow looking Kd9s2h, and Lehr check-called a 225,000 Depa bet. All four suits hit the board after the dealer planted the 6d into the felt. Lehr checked his option, Depa bet 675,000, Lehr moved all-in, and Depa made the call.
Lehr: QdTc9d6h
Depa: 6s6c4s3d
Depa was ahead with a set of sixes, but Lehr was right in the mix with two pairs and a flush draw. The dealer flicked over the 5d to give Lehr his flush, and knock Depa down to less than two big blinds.
Depa stuck them in the middle on the next hand and got more back.
Then he did it again.
It didn’t work the third time.
Depa called on the button, and Lehr checked. The dealer placed the final flop of Js3d2h onto the felt, Lehr bet 240,000, Depa raised to 720,000, Lehr put him all-in, and Depa called.
Lehr: KsJh8d5d
Depa: 7h4h3s2s
Once again, Depa was ahead with Lehr holding the top pair, and Depa holding the bottom two pairs. Then everything changed. The dealer sent the 8c into play to give Lehr a higher two-pair hand, and the useless 5s on the river changed nothing. Lehr was our Event #3 champion.
 
Final Table Results

  1. Keith Lehr – $333,333 (300 points)
  2. Jonathan Depa – $222,000 (210 points)
  3. Ben Yu – $148,000 (150 points)
  4. Isaac Haxton – $92,500 (120 points)
  5. Brandon Adams – $74,000 (90 points)
  6. Dan Shak – $55,500 (60 points)

The win takes Lehr over the $3m mark in live tournament earnings. It’s his sixth live tournament victory of a career that stretches back to 2002 including two World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets, and a World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) gold ring.
 
Poker Masters Leaderboard
– Brandon Adams – 510 points
– David Peters – 300
– Keith Lehr – 300
– Jared Jaffee – 210
– Jonathan Depa – 210
– Brian Green – 210
– Isaac Haxton – 180

Brandon Adams
Brandon Adams

In 2011, Brandon Adams began a coaching business with a difference called Expert Insights. For the princely sum of $6,000, you could spend an hour talking to Patrik Antonius; $6,500 would net you 60-mins with Tom Dwan.
It’s time Adams stuck the defibrillators on the old idea and started selling lessons with himself.
The high stakes cash game player, author and everything else in between, has taken down 2018 Poker Masters Event #2: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE), the $400,000 first prize, and the early lead in the race for the Purple Jacket.
The two-day event attracted 50-runners.
Here was the final table at the start of Day 2.
Final Table
Seat 1: Daniel Negreanu – 1,035,000
Seat 2: Jake Schindler – 630,000
Seat 3: Jared Jaffee – 2,100,000
Seat 4: Jason Koon – 755,000
Seat 5: Bill Klein – 470,000
Seat 6: Brandon Adams – 1,260,000
Let’s find out how Adams took it down.
The Run-In
Daniel Negreanu Eliminated in 6th Place.
Brandon Adams opened to 75,000 from the cutoff, and Daniel Negreanu called on the button. The dealer spread the 8s7h5c across the felt, Adams checked, Negreanu bet 60,000, Adams check-raised to 205,000, and Negreanu made the call.
Turn: 3h
Adams bet 405,000, Negreanu moved all-in, and Adams made the call. Negreanu showed pocket tens for the overpair, but Adams tabled pocket queens for the stronger overpair, and after the Jc floated down the river, Negreanu left the studio.
Jason Koon Eliminated in 5th Place.
Bill Klein doubled through Jason Koon when his pocket sixes beat KQo in a race; Jake Schindler did likewise through Adams when his AJo beat Q9s in an all-in, pre-flop rat race. And then Klein left Koon on life-support after winning his second race in close quarters 99>AQo. Soon after, Jaffee put Koon all-in from the small blind holding T7o, Koon made the call with 82o and failed to find his life-saving card-combo.
Bill Klein Eliminated in 4th Place.
Schindler opened to 110,000 from the cutoff, and Klein moved all-in from the small blind for 520,000. Schindler called, and Klein waited for the five cards that would determine his tournament fate.
Schindler: A8s
Klein KJo
Board: 8c7s6d9d3s
No kings. No jacks. No hope.
Three-Handed Chip Counts
1. Jared Jaffee – 2,945,000
2. Brandon Adams – 2,415,000
3. Jake Schindler – 890,000
Schindler limped on the button, Jaffee called in the small blind, and Adams checked in the large. The dealer produced a 7h5d3s rainbow flop, Adams moved all-in, Schindler called instantly, and Jaffee left the party.
Schindler: Kc7c
Adams: QcTc
Adams was at it, and in another hand, it may have worked, but Schindler had flopped top pair, and a turn and river card later he had doubled-up.
Then a critical hand between the two big stacks.
Adams opened to 150,000 from the button, and both players called in the blinds.
Flop: As4s3h
The action checked to Adams who bet 250,000, Schindler folded, but Jaffee moved all-in. Adams made the call for his tournament life holding ATcc for top pair, and Jaffee had him in an Andre the Giant chokehold with pocket treys for a set.
Adams needed a miracle.
The Poker Gods gave him two.
The Td on the turn gave Adams added outs, but the Ad was one of them. Adams filled up and left Jaffee thinking of what might have been.
Adams – 3,060,000
Jaffee – 970,000
Jake Schindler Eliminated in 3rd Place.
Adams moved all-in from the small blind, and Schindler looked him up from the big blind.
Adams: Ad5c
Schindler: QcTs
Board: 8s3s2d9s6d
Despite picking up some additional outs on the turn, Adams’ hand prevailed, and Schindler was out.
Brandon Adams Wins Event #2: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Heads-up only lasted two hands.
Jaffe, who began with the smaller stack, moved all-in holding Kc5s, and Adams called holding Ac9h. The 8d4c4s was a great flop for Adams. The 7s on the turn gave Jaffee the straight draw, but the 2d was as clean as they come, and Adams took the $400,000 first prize, 300 points, and the lead in the race for the Purple Jacket.
The victory was the third of Adams’ live tournament career, and two of them have come in this competition with Adams defeating 39 entrants to win the $50,000 NLHE event in the 2017 Poker Masters for $819,000, his most substantial victory to date.
In April, Adams beat 40 players to a pulp in the $25,500 NLHE High Roller at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida for $370,000.
Adams also finished fourth in Event #1: $10,000 NLHE a few days ago.
Final Table Results
1. Brandon Adams – $400,000
2. Jared Jaffee – $262,000
3. Jake Schindler – $175,000
4. Bill Klein – $125,000
5. Jason Koon – $100,000
6. Daniel Negreanu – $75,000
Poker Masters Leaderboard
1. Brandon Adams – 420
2. David Peters – 300
3. Brian Green – 210
3. Jared Jaffee – 210
5. Rainer Kempe – 150
5. Jake Schindler – 150

David Peters beats Brian Green, heads-up, to take the early lead in the 2018 Poker Masters, and bank $193,200 in the process.

David Peters
David Peters

Six more events must come before we reach our final lap.
The runners stare at the heels of David Peters and Brian Green; two men bang in form. Two months ago while the cynical cats were brutally butchering the beautiful birds, Peters was in Jeju for the Triton Poker Series, winning an HKD 500,000 (USD 64,000) buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event for HKD 8,775,000 (USD 1,118,484). Green, while not in the same prize pool ballpark, is also in the same rich vein of form, making the final table of the $2,500 buy-in NLHE WinStar River Poker Series Main Event, finishing ninth.
Let’s take a peek at how they ended up 1-2 in this thing.
To remind you, Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em attracted 69 Entrants, and Day 1 shed that down to the final six.
Final Table Seating
1. Brian Green – 880,000
2. Cord Garcia – 1,125,000
3. David Peters – 1,585,000
4. Rainer Kempe – 2,230,000
5. Brandon Adams – 2,385,000
6. Isaac Haxton – 410,000
The Route to the Title
Level 18: 15k/30/30k – Isaac Haxton Eliminated in 6th Place
Isaac Haxton was the first casualty.
The partypoker ambassador, who makes more final tables than Hugo Boss makes buttons, moved all-in over a Brandon Adams open for 11 big blinds, and the chip leader looked him up.
Adams: As2c
Haxton: AhJc
Haxton was in great shape to double up until a second deuce hit the flop, and a third hit the river, sending the man who has won more than $19m playing live tournaments to the cash desk to collect his $41,400 bounty.
Level 19: 20k/40k/40k – Cord Garcia Eliminated in 5th Place; Peters Takes The Chip Lead
David Peters raised from the small blind, Rainer Kempe put him all-in, and Peters made the call. Both had pocket pairs, with Peters’ jacks bettering the eights of his German opponent after the dealer had finished the hand.
Then we lost Cord Garcia.
The man who beat 22,374 players in the inaugural Colossus opened to 115,000 from the button and then called an all-in from David Peters in the small blind.
Peters: A2hh
Garcia: 8c8d
Once again, the eights made an appearance in the final act of someone’s story, and once again they ended up deader than a couple of snowmen living in a greenhouse after Peters turned the Broadway straight to eliminate his opponent in fifth place.
Level 20: 25k/50k/50k – Kempe & Adams Double Up
Kempe opened to 240,000, Adams moved all-in, and Kempe made the call. This time the eights were good, as they squared off against pocket fives. Kemp moved up to 1.1m, leaving the overnight chip leader with nine big blinds.
Adams then turned those nine big blinds into 18+ when he doubled through Peters. Adams opened to 320,000 from the cutoff, and then called an all-in from Peters in the small blind. Adams was ahead at showdown, holding Ad7c against the QThh of Peters. The former Global Poker Index (GPI) Player of the Year did flop a queen, but Adams rivered an ace to take the hand.
Level 21: 30k/60k/60k – Kempe Up & Down
The action folded to Kempe on the button, and he shipped it holding AcKd, and Green called holding pocket kings in the big blind. That cooler shrank Kempe’s stack to dust, but the German doubled up twice through the chip leader, Peters, to find himself right back in the game.
Level 22: 40k/80k/80k – Adams Eliminated in 4th Place; Kempe Leaves in 3rd
Adams moved all-in from the button for 320,000, and Peters called in the big blind. Adams’ ATdd beat the 9d6c of Peters in the ensuing race. But it was only a brief respite for Adams. A few hands later, Peters moved his freight train of a stack into the middle from the cutoff, and Adams called from the small blind.
Peters: QdJh
Adams: KcJd
Adams was ahead until the board ran out with four hearts to give Peters a flush sending the Day 1 Chip Leader to the cashier to collect his $69,000 payout.
And then Peters passed some of those chips to Kempe when the pair got it in with Peters ahead ATdd>KcJd only for Kempe to hit a Jack on the river. But once again Peters would gain revenge of the ‘forever’ sort.
Peters moved all-in from the small blind holding pocket twos, and Kempe called with the snowmen, only for the board to once again run out with a four-card flush to give Peters all of Kempe’s chips, and send the Poker Masters opening event into heads-up.
Heads-Up Chip Counts
Peters – 7,560,000 (76bb)
Green – 1,070,000 (10bb)
Level 23: 50k/100k/100k – Green Draws First Blood
Green was the first to draw blood.
Peters applied the pressure by moving all-in on the first hand of heads-up play, and Green made the call. Peters held Q2dd, and Green turned over KJcc. A Jack on the flop cementing his double up.
And then Green doubled once more.
The same action ensued with Peters holding Jd8h, and Green showing up with Ah9c for the winning hand.
And then we were all square.
Green moved all-in holding KQss, and Peters made the call holding QdJs. A King on the flop bringing Green on par with the once dominant chip leader.
Level 24: 60k/120k/120k – David Peters Wins Event #1 For $193,200
Green moved all-in from the button holding pocket eights, and Peters made the easiest call of his life holding pocket kings.
Game over.
Final Table Results
1. David Peters – $193,200 (300 points)
2. Brian Green – $138,000 (210 points)
3. Rainer Kempe – $89,700 (150 points)
4. Brandon Adams – $69,000 (120 points)
5. Cord Garcia – $55,200 (90 points)
6. Isaac Haxton – $41,400 (60 points)

Long before the likes of Fedor Holz, Dietrich Fast* and a million other top-class German poker players became the German Crew, there was another German Crew; the original German Crew.
Philipp Gruissem.
Nicklas Heinecker
Tobias Reinkemeier.
Fabian Quoss.
Igor Kurganov*
*Not only were the two groups, German. They both had a Russian masquerading as a German.
But what became of the original crew?
Gruissem plies his trade with partypoker. Kurganov does the same with PokerStars, but the rest are long gone.
Nicklas Heinecker
Tobias Reinkemeier.
Fabian Quoss.
Three top, top players who bowed at of the game while at the peak of their powers, and on August 22 (yes, I know I am a tad slow), we heard from one of them.
Fabian Quoss ‘Exits’ Poker

Fabian Quoss
Fabian Quoss

I only spoke to Fabian Quoss once. It was six or seven years ago during a poker tournament in Prague, a World Poker Tour (WPT) event, I think. I remember he had a beard a dwarf would have been proud of, and the best Christmas jumper I had ever seen.
A handsome man, one for the ladies, I waltzed up to him at the break to ask him for an interview.
“Sorry, Lee, I don’t do interviews.”
And so I never spoke to him again.
Reading his exit interview, I feel like I have missed out.
During his tenure with the original German Crew, Quoss won close to $10m competing in the most significant buy-in events around the world. Quoss won nine tournaments during his time in the game, including the $100,000 Super High Roller at the 2014 PokerStars Carribean Adventure (PCA) for $1.6m, and another million dollar score for winning the AUD 100,000 NLHE Challenge at the 2016 Aussie Millions.
After winning $2.8m in 2016, Quoss dropped off the map, only to surface on Instagram, surprisingly; sharing his globe-trotting exploits accompanied by a smattering of profound and meaningful quotes.
And his decision to begin spending more time on social media prompted the once silent Quoss to open up about his absence from the game, and it’s terrible news for his fans because I’m not sure he’s coming back.
In a long, well thought out speech accompanying shots of his poker highlights, Quoss spoke of the laser-like focus he needed to apply to become one of the best players in the game, and how that focus took him away from other vital areas in his life.
Quoss played for the freedom poker provided, and because of his success, he continues to have that freedom without having to play a game that no longer holds the allure it once did.
“The reason why I loved playing poker professionally wasn’t that I thought poker was especially interesting or rewarding of an activity (though, at times, it really can be both), but more because of the freedom it provided me.” Quoss wrote before continuing. “There‘s an infinite amount of things we can choose to focus on, but for most of us, the majority of our lives revolves around a small number of things. We basically only exist in our own little bubbles, completely ignoring the infinite variety of other bubbles all around us.”
Ironically, after spending much of his life trying to avoid bubbles, Quoss was about to leave the game so he could find more.
“Spending most my time on poker just isn’t an option anymore,” said Quoss.
So what will Quoss do next?
“Poker gave me the incredible opportunity to make conscious choices about what to spend my time on,” said Quoss. “I’m so lucky and blessed— I know this is something most people won’t ever have. I feel responsible, now, to make use of that gift, and to live my life in a conscious way.”
How does he plan to do that?
I won’t know unless I ask him, and as he’s no longer in the business, he may be kind enough to break that ‘I don’t do interviews’ rule?
I hope he does.

There’s one thing we know for sure as the best poker players in the world converge on the ARIA Resort & Casino to do their coconuts in the second iteration of the Poker Masters.
poker-masters-header
We won’t have a repeat champion.
Last year, Steffen Sontheimer won the inaugural event, prompting Daniel Negreanu to call him the best No-Limit Hold’em tournament player in the world, only this time around, Sontheimer is choosing to stay on European soil.
Who needs two purple jackets, right?
Sontheimer won his first purple jacket after making four of the five final tables, winning two, and accruing $2,733,000 in prize money, including winning the $100,000 Main Event.
Things have changed slightly.
There are now seven events.
Pot-Limit Omaha and Short_deck are on the menu.
Here is the schedule
Event #1: $10,500 No-Limit Hold’em
Event #2: $26,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Event #3: $26,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
Event #4: $10,500 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck
Event #5: $26,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Event #6: $52,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Event #7: $100,300 No-Limit Hold’em
The scoring system has changed. Instead of the player with the most money won earning the title, there will be a point system.
Here is it:
Points System
1 – 300 (Prelims) and 350 (Main Event)
2 – 210+245
3 – 150+175
4. – 120+140
5. – 90+105
6+. – 60+70
The first event is a two-day $10,500 No-Limit Hold’em event. Each player received 125,000 in chips and was permitted two re-entries. The plan for Day 1 was to play down to a final table of six, and this is how that happened.
Level 3: 1k/1.5k/1.5k
Maurice Hawkins and Igor Kurganov got it in on a Kd6c2d7c board. The PokerStars Team Pro held Ac5c for the flush-draw, but Hawkins was ahead with Qd6d for the flush draw and the pair of sixes. The river was the 3h, and Kurganov lost his first life.
Andrew Lichtenberger fell short after losing an encounter JJAK flip.
Level 14: 6k/12k/12k
Berg eliminated Daniel Negreanu after the pair got it in pre-flop with Negreanu way behind with AK versus AA, and the deck remained in favour of Berg proceeding in the tournament.
Level 15: 8k/15k/15k
Schindler lost his last life when all-in, pre-flop holding pocket nines against the AK of Green. An ace and a king on the flop doing the damage. Hutter and Berg also exited in this level.
Nines were no good for Schindler, and they were no good for Emmett either. Kempe found pocket queens at the same time Emmett made a stand with nines, and neither flop, turn or river helped him escape death.
Level 16: 10k/20k/20k
We were down to the final two tables.
Top 10 Chip Counts
1. Matthias Eibinger – 1,270,000
2. Cord Garcia – 1,215,000
3. Brandon Adams – 1,180,000
4. Rainer Kempe – 890,000
5. Isaac Haxton – 880,000
6. David Peters – 740,000
7. Ali Imsirovic – 715,000
8. Brian Green – 575,000
9. Cary Katz – 470,000
10. David Eldridge – 330,000
Sam Soverel was the first to bust when his pocket sixes ran into the pocket tens of David Peters in a fight to the death, and his exit signified hand for hand bubble action.
Level 17: 15k/25k/25k
Tom Marchese opened to 75,000 in midfield, Brandon Adams three-bet in the next pew to 150,000, Eibinger called in the big blind as did Marchese (who was all-in).
Flop: JcTs8s
Eibinger bet 175,000; Adams called.
Turn: 5s
Eibinger moved all-in, and Adams called.
On your backs.
Marchese tabled Ad8h for the third pair, Eibinger had pocket queens for the overpair, but Adams had flopped a set with pocket tens. The 3d hit the river, and Adams took the chip lead, eliminated two dangerous opponents, and everyone would finish in the money, except Marchese.
Level 18: 15k/30/30k
Cord Garcia opened to 60,000 from the first position, and both Peters and Catz called in the blinds. The flop was an all spade J53, Peters checked to Katz who bet his final 175,000, and only Peters called. Katz showed AsTc for the nut flush draw, and Peters was well behind with Ac9s only for a nine to pop up on the river to send Catz packing.
Next to go was Imsirovic, and Kempe was the man in the library holding the candlestick. The pair got it in pre-flop with Kempe well behind A8hh>A9cc, only for the German to turn an eight.
And then we had our final table after the elimination of David Eldridge.
Peters opened the button to 70,000, Kempe called in the small blind, and Eldridge did likewise in the large. The dealer thumped Tc5d2h onto the flop, and the action checked to Peters who bet 80,000. Kempe made the call, but Eldridge check-raised all-in for 290,000; Peters folded, and Kempe called. Eldridge showed T4dd for top pair and backdoor flush draw, but Kempe had him beaten with QdTs for a higher top pair. It stayed that way, and play drew to a close with the chip counts looking a little something like this:
1. Brandon Adams – 2,385,000
2. Rainer Kempe – 2,230,000
3. David Peters – 1,585,000
4. Cord Garcia – 1,125,000
5. Brian Green – 880,000
6. Isaac Haxton – 410,000
Play resumes on Saturday, 2 pm (Local Time) with all the action live on PokerGo.

I help people stop drinking alcohol.
I have a podcast.
I have a movement.
I have a training course that’s central to my philosophy.
Earlier this week, someone on this course told me that my work was insular and plagiarised while demanding a refund. At the same time, another person wrote to me concerned that my ‘strong’ personality was getting in the way of my message.
My immediate reaction was to twist.
Change course.
Lower my voice.
And then a third person sent me this:
“You have a unique USP, which I believe will be found to be the most successful way of giving up alcohol known to man.”
I decided to stick.
Human nature as it may be; trying to be all things to all people is as folly as eating soup with chopsticks. We all want universal love and acceptance. And if you keep twisting each time a piece of shrapnel like feedback opens up another wound, you become another cog in this brutal industrialised, zombified system of ours.
Oh god.
How the fuck is Phil Galfond going to create an online poker room?
Phil Galfond: From Player to Instructor to Creator

Phil Galfond
Phil Galfond

In the year that Osama Bin Laden finally found out if all that afterlife nonsense was right, an online poker player going by the name OMGClayAiken began competing in the high stakes cash games on Full Tilt Poker. Two years, later and the account peaked at $10.1m, profit.
That Full Tilt Poker account eventually settled at $6.6m, profit before Black Friday pulled the plug.
Galfond has also won $1.4m profit playing on PokerStars as MrSweets28 and close to $3m playing live tournaments including two World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets.
While tearing the high stakes online poker room’s arsehole, Galfond also showed that he was one of the best teachers of poker, after creating content on the online poker training site BlueFirePoker. An internal dispute saw Galfond leave his position, and it’s the best thing that could have happened to him. Galfond created Run It Once an online poker training site many believe to be the best ever produced.
Retire.
Join the theatre; play Tarzan with Farah in the role of Jane.
Hike into the Ugandan mountains and watch Gorillas pleasuring themselves while eating their poo.
Nope.
Not, Phil.
With all of this going on, he decided to stick his reputation inside a Blendtech, after announcing plans to launch the Run It Once online poker room. In the ensuing two years, he has continued to compete at the highest level in the game, create great content for his fans, win a WSOP bracelet, lead a team of online poker developers in a different continent, and even find time to make a baby.
You can’t dress it up any other way.
Phil Galfond is a high stakes rock star.
Run It Once Poker: Coming Soon. Really
Galfond announced plans to launch Run It Once Poker back in August 2016 with a preliminary launch date of Q1, 2017. He never made it. Four months ago, Galfond began sharing further details on the project with his prospective customers in a series of blog posts, and late last week, we received Episode #5 “Phil Plays.”
Unlike the previous four episodes, which were all written, this one is an 18-minute video of Galfond playing for real money on Run It Once Poker in beta mode.
Thanks to his four previous posts we knew that Run It Once Poker would be HUD-free, competitors wouldn’t know who you were, and avatars would display emotions depending on how the game was flowing.
We also knew that the core currency would be euros, you would have your tables selected randomly, and that the launch would arrive in two phases with cash games beginning this summer, and tournaments following sometime later.
More recently, prospective Run It Once Poker players voted to have a six-table cap and for specific designs relating to the table surface, front and back deck design, and tagging colours.
In the video, we get to see the software for the first time, and the first thing that leaps out at you is how similar it looks to Full Tilt Poker (FTP). Given that there has never been software as aesthetically pleasing to the eye, or as responsive to playability than the FTP client, this is a peacock feather in Galfond’s cap.
It looked beautiful.
While playing (folding) Galfond talked through recent developments. There are close to 40 people working in Malta trying to root out and terminate as many bugs as they can find. Even Run It Once ambassadors are getting in on the act.
The Run It Once team have been playing real money games since April in beta mode, and although Galfond believes they have searched and clicked everywhere on the site, they will have to launch without things being 100% tickety-boo.
And on to that launch.
The summer deadline is a miss.
Galfond is non-committal on a fresh start date, for a good reason, but will welcome 1,000 beta testers to start competing on the site for real money on September 13. If you want in, then head to the Run It Once website and sign up for a free account, and become part of the randomised selection process.
Early feedback from beta users has led to Galfond’s team redesigning the avatars to make them bigger. The players felt the tweak was necessary to magnify the emotions and the colour of the players’ shirts (Run It Once doesn’t have a typical colour tagging system, you colour the avatar’s clothing).
There are also plans to change the betting buttons and slider with Galfond stating that it makes him feel calm when he knows the software’s operability is reacting to him.
Galfond also showed you how the ‘Sitting Out’ policy works. When you decide to leave a game, a countdown appears in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Set for 12-minutes, and it does feel like an eternity when one-tabling, but Galfond points out that when six-tabling, it could take quite a long time to finish all hands, and feels 12-minutes is the right pitch for now.


So Galfond is also twisting but in response from core loyal followers and not a group of disbelievers. Galfond and his team at Run It Once have decided that if they are going to be in this race, they want a horse that’s like no other, and after reading all of his blog posts, understanding the mission and values of the company, and now seeing the gameplay in action, I have a feeling Run It Once Poker is going to be unique.

6ceb2b5366
2018 has been a fine vintage for Andras Nemeth. The Hungarian pro has been grinding for as long as I have been out of nappies, but something has clicked this year.
Four months after winning the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller in the PokerStars World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) for a career-best score of $576,087, he has just gone one better.
Nemeth topped a field of 95 entrants to win the €25,000 Single-Day High Roller at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona for a career-high €605,600, after beating the in-form Wai Leong Chan in a short heads-up match.
You have to go way back to 2009 for Nemeth’s previous best score, when he finished fourth in a €6,200 buy-in event at the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam, although he did secure a €108,250 payday for finishing 2/737 in a €1k event in this casino back in 2013.
Chan came into EPT Barcelona in fine fettle.
He cashed in four Triton Poker Series events in Montenegro and Jeju including placing runner-up to Mikita Badziakouski in the Jeju Main Event earning $3.5m. A few days later he finished third in the Triton Poker Series High Roller as part of partypoker MILLIONS Russia for another $472,315. Chan might not be filling up his trophy cabinet, but his bank balance is swelling.
Let’s see how these two got to the end zone.

Level 3: 1000/1500/1500
The Finnish star, Juha Helppi, was the first player to bust.
No details.
Just a name, and an empty chair.
Michael Dyer, James Chen, Moam Makavy, and Dario Sammartino joined Helppi in the ‘should I buy back in’ club.
Helppi did buy back in.

Level 4: 1000/2000/2000 
Romain Lewis, Igor Yarovshevskyy, Dominykas Karmazinas, and Byron Kaverman lost every single one of their chips.

Level 5: 1000/2500/2500
Bryn Kenney, Oleh Olekotskyi and Kazuhiko Yotsushika left a table without anything in their rack.
The Barcelona and Spain star Gerard Pique bought-in.
Kenney lost his second and final bullet. Sylvain Loosli, Pavlo Kolinkovskyi, Behzad Ahadpour, Sergio Aido, and Nick Petrangelo lost their first.

Level 6: 1500/3000/3000
Pique lost a life in a hand against Louis Nyberg AJ<AK.
Jean-Noel Thorel took the chip lead after eliminating Luc Greenwood. The pair got it in on the turn with both holding top pair; only Thorel’s had the mightiest kick. Greenwood rebought.

Level 7: 2000/4000/4000
Alex Komaromi, Ramin Hajiyev, Jean Ferreira and Jacob Reffeldt Rasmussen all busted. Sergio Aido lost his second bullet.
Mikita Badziakouski sent Chan Wei Leong to the rail when the pair got it in 33>AK. Badziakouski beat Leong heads-up to win the $5.2m first prize in the Triton Poker Series Main Event Jeju recently.
Stephen Chidwick and Luc Greenwood left the tournament area after losing their second bullets.

Level 8: 2500/5000/5000
Kristina Holst, Sam Greenwood and Matt Moss all left. Aaron Been doubled through Dan Smith KK>AQ. Badziakouski ate every single one of Pauli Ayras’ chips QQ>86o.
Ivan Luca, Juha Helppi, Nick Petrangelo and Henrik Hecklen all busted in this level.

Level 9: 3000/6000/6000
Igor Yaroshevskyy eliminated Mark Teltscher when his AQ rivered an ace against pocket fives, all-in, pre-flop.

Level 10: 4000/8000/8000
The souls of Timothy Adams, Patrik Antonius, Pauli Ayras, Tsugunari Toma, Dan Shak and Jan-Mikael Kesänen extinguished in this level.
Been took care of Daniel Negreanu when his AK beat the crap out of A3 all-in, pre-flop for all the marbles.
Chin Wei Lim’s AK beat the QQ of Nyberg to send the Swede back whence he came.

Level 11: 5000/10000/10000
Taylor Black, Ryan Riess, Linus Loeliger, Ivan Leow, Michael Soyza, Fabrice Maltez, Alberto Lapena, and Shyngis Satubayev were left twiddling their thumbs in this level.
The prize pool is confirmed:
13 players receive a minimum €45,620.
Here are the top five positions:

  1. €605,600
  2. €420,800
  3. €278,280
  4. €217,820
  5. €175,600

Neither Jack Salter, Farid Jattin, Yaroshevskyy or Loosli would get a sniff.

Level 12: 6000/12000/12000
23 players remained.
Orpen Kisacikoglu is the first to go.
Andras Nemeth leads.

Level 13: 8000/16000/16000
Dan Smith eliminated Lucas Reeves when his AQ beat A8 all-in, pre-flop. Joao Vieira also busted in this level. Vladimir Troyanovskiy eliminated the in-form Alex Foxen QQ>QJo. And Seth Davies took out the €100k Super High Roller winner, Badziakouski A9>QJ to take the chip lead.
Pascal LeFrancois sent Fan Zhang to the rail when his pocket sixes won a race against AK. The outstanding Matthias Eibinger found aces to crush Sam Greenwood’s 97ss on a Ks7c6s flop. The turn and river bricked, and Greenwood was out.
Kaverman doubled through Been AT>A7.
Thorel moved into the chip lead after eliminating Murad Akhunov AK>QQ, after flopping a king.

Level 15: 10000/25000/25000
Hand for hand action on the bubble.
Eibinger busted Been 99>ATo, and we were on the stone cold bubble.

Level 16: 15000/30000/30000
Eibinger put a smile on everyone’s face when he took out Juan Pardo Dominguez in a brutal beat A8cc>AA. The Austrian hitting runner-runner clubs to break the Spaniard’s heart, and send everyone into the money.

Level 17: 20000/40000/40000
Nemeth took out Davies AK>KQ. Salman Behbehani and his A7o couldn’t beat the pocket fives of Eibinger or the KTcc of Chan, all-in, pre-flop. And Nemeth took another scalp when his pocket fives bested the KQs of LeFrancois.
Michel Dattani doubled through Nemeth AQ>AJ.
Nemeth got some of those back after busting Dan Smith Q6>A2 after Troyanovskiy had taken most of his chips AA>22.
We had our final table.

Level 18: 250000/50000/50000
The Final Table

  1. Matthias Eibinger – 2,150,000
  2. Andras Nemeth – 1,950,000
  3. Chin Wei Lim – 1,050,000
  4. Wai Leong Chan – 825,000
  5. Jean-Noel Thorel – 825,000
  6. Vladimir Troyanovskiy – 820,000
  7. Michel Dattani – 800,000
  8. Sean Winter – 650,000
  9. Byron Kaverman – 470,000

Kaverman hit runner-runner straight cards for his KT to beat the AK of Lim. Thorel ousted Winter 88>KQs. And Lim’s pocket fours were far better than Troyanovskiy’s pocket threes.

Level 19: 30000/60000/60000
Eibinger eliminated Dattani in seventh place when his 86h beat A9o, after turning a straight. Kaverman sent Thorel to the cash desk in sixth when his A7 beat K5 and the American grabbed more chips when he doubled through Chan AJ>K5s.

Level 20: 40000/80000/80000
Nemeth doubled through Chan KJs>22 after rivering a king.

Level 21: 50000/100000/100000
Nemeth’s pocket kings were too strong for the A6dd of Lim.
Kaverman did it again, this time doubling through Eibinger K5s>JTs, but Chan left him crippled when 88 beat AQ, leaving Kaverman with 105,000.

Level 22 60000/120000/120000
Kaverman was all-in whether he liked it or not and his QT couldn’t beat Chan’s A8hh. Kaverman left with €217,820, and a fourth-place finish on his resume.
And then Chan picked up some much-needed chips for his heads-up battle with Nemeth after eliminating Eibinger AQ>JT. The Austrian has had a sterling series making the final table in the four most significant events.

Heads-Up Chip Counts
Nemeth: 6,100,000
Chan: 3,400,000
Chan pulled level through a series of pots before Nemeth ended his revival in brutal circumstances. The pair got it in with Nemeth holding A2o, and Chan holding the rockets, only for the Hungarian to river a wheel to cement his victory.

Final Table Results

  1. Andras Nemeth – €605,600
  2. Wai Leong Chan – €420,800
  3. Matthias Eibinger – €278,280
  4. Byron Kaverman – €217,820
  5. Chin Wei Lim – €175,600
  6. Jean-Noel Thorel – €136,860
  7. Michel Dattani – €108,350
  8. Vladimir Troyanovskiy – €84,400
  9. Sean Winter – €63,900

pollak
Benjamin Pollak has taken down the €50,000 Single-Day High Roller at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona, beating his compatriot Jean-Noel Thorel in heads-up action.
Pollak has been in outstanding form since coming third in the 2017 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $3,500,000, cashing 16-times, winning two titles, and taking $4,567,377 away from the tables.
The €50k attracted 54 entrants, 15 re-entries, and created a prize pool of €3,347,190.
The whole thing lasted a mere 20-levels.
Let’s see how Pollak tied this one up.

Level 1: 500/1000/1000
Jean-Noel Thorel’s first bullet didn’t last long. The French amateur sunk to 20,000 before moving them across the line with pocket treys and Seth Davies sucked them up like a Dyson, holding KQdd. The American flopped the flush, and Broadway straight draws and hit them both when the Td hit the turn.

Level 3: 1000/1500/1500
Scott Margereson, Almedin Imsirovic and the Global Poker Index #1, Stephen Chidwick, all busted while all around them people were still entering.

Level 5: 1000/2500/2500
Daniel Dvoress hit the sack early.
Chi Zhang sent Jean Ferreira to the rail when his pocket sixes cracked pocket eights when a third six hit the flop are after the pair got it in pre-flop.

Level 6: 1500/3000/3000
Chidwick and Margereson lost their second bullet. Mark Teltscher, Helio Neves, Frederik Jensen, David Peters, Bryn Kenney and Adrian Mateos also busted.

Level 7: 2000/4000/4000
Jack Salter tripled up after taking care of Thomas Muehloecker and Orpen Kisacikoglu. The Austrian opened the action with a raise to 85,000, Kisacikoglu three-bet all-in for 22,000, Salter four-bet to 34,000, Muehloecker moved all-in, and Salter called.
Salter: KhKd
Muehloecker: AdQc
Kisacikoglu: 2s2d
Board: 9c9s7dJdQh
The Cowboys held, and Salter moved up to 395,000. Muehloecker bought back in immediately for 25 big blinds.

Level 8: 2500/5000/5000
Adrian Mateos sent the hottest player in Barcelona to the rail when he got it in A8hh>K5dd. An ace on the flop strengthened Mateos’ lead, a king gave Badziakouski some help on the turn, but a third ace on the river sealed things, and the €100k Super High Roller champion walked over to the cash desk to buy back in.
Jean-Noel Thorel sent Lim Chin Wei packing. The pair got it in on QcTc4d with Thorel holding KTss for the middle pin, and Wei holding K9cc for the draws that never arrived.

Level 9: 3000/6000/6000 
Chi Zhang, David Peters, Aaron Been and Ben Heath ended up thinking about a day without poker in this level.
Jan-Eric Schwippert sent Tsugunari Toma to the pool when his pocket tens beat QTo, all-in, pre-flop. Stefan Schillhabel and Henrik Hecklen also exited stage left.
Byron Kaverman’s pocket fives cracked Linus Leoliger’s pocket jacks to give the American a much-needed double-up. And he did it again when J8ss, found a Jack to double through Sam Greenwood’s pocket fours. The €100,000 Super High Roller runner-up, Ahadpur Khangah was not so lucky, hitting the rail hard in this level.

Level 10: 4000/8000/8000
Bill Perkins moved all-in holding AsTh, and Dietrich Fast called with pocket jacks. The jacks held, and Perkins was out. Nick Petrangelo also busted in this level.
Then we lost Kisacikoglu for the second time.
Matthew Eibinger opened to 17,000, Dean Nolan called on the button, and Kisacikoglu did likewise from the big blind. The flop was JdTd2c, and everyone checked to the 4d turn. Kisacikoglu opened with a 30,000 bet, and both players called. The river was the Ah, and this time Kisacikoglu checked. Eibinger bet 73,000, Nolan folded, and Kisacikoglu moved all-in. Eibinger sighed but called, and it was good. The Austrian showed AJo for the top two pairs, and Kisacikoglu showed A5o for the one pair.
Alex Foxen eliminated Steffen Sontheimer A8>QT, and Sean Winter also left the tournament in this level.

Level 11: 5000/10000/10000
Not long after eliminating Perkins, Fast also found the exit sign. The Russian born star got his chips in against Bryn Kenney holding A8<A9, and he never saw them again.
Seth Davies eliminated Badziakouski for the second time when AK beat A7, and Alex Foxen continued to be a significant player in this one when his pocket queens took care of the KTo of Ramin Hajiyev.
Michael Soyza is in splendid form, but couldn’t carry it into the higher buy-in event losing his last life in a three-way all-in against Mikalai Vaskaboinikau and Jan-Eric Schwippert. Soyza held QJss, and his two opponents both held AK. The superior hands held, and the pair chopped Soyza’s stack like a piece of steak.
And then Foxen took the chip lead with 21 players remaining, eliminating Sam Greenwood AK>AQ, all-in, pre-flop, before busting Kenney QQ>TT. Ryan Riess doubled through Sergio Aido AQ>99, and then Pollak made his mark on the event, tripling up in a monster hand versus Cary Katz and Adrian Mateos.
The Spaniard opened to 20,000 from early position, Katz made the call in the next pew before Pollak moved all-in for 128,000 in the big blind. Mateos moved all-in, and Katz called.
Pollak: AdAh
Katz: AcKd
Mateos: KsTs
The board steered clear of any mishaps, and the Frenchman tripled up. Katz and Mateos left the hand with 248,000 and 105,000 respectively.

Level 12: 6000/12000/12000
Seth Davies sent Timothy Adams to the souvenir shop when his K5cc beat A4o all-in, pre-flop. Vaskaboinikau, who qualified for the event via a €5k satellite, eliminated Nolan in a flush-over-flush hand. And Chin Wei Lim’s tournament ended after running jacks into Stanley Choi’s kings, and then K3o v KTo of Eibinger.
And then Jean-Noel Thorel, the man first to lose a bullet, became a man to be feared, eliminating Mateos and Kaverman when his AQ beat KQ and A7 all-in, pre-flop.
The top ten chip counts with two tables remaining looked like this:

  1. Alex Foxen – 1,300,000
  2. Jean-Noel Thorel – 830,000
  3. Matthias Eibinger – 800,000
  4. Ivan Leow – 630,000
  5. Mikalai Vaskaboinikau – 480,000
  6. Jack Salter – 420,000
  7. Jan-Eric Schwippert – 420,000
  8. Cary Katz – 380,000
  9. Luc Greenwood – 380,000
  10. Benjamin Pollak – 350,000

Pollak began his ascent, eliminating Aido KK>A6o, and Luc Greenwood 88>44, and by the time we reached the break at the end of Level 12, the Frenchman was second in chips to Alex Foxen.

Level 13: 8000/16000/16000
Another level.
More Pollak power.
This time Katz felt the pain when he got it in holding pocket tens against Pollak’s AKo, and an ace on the river and a king on the turn gave Pollak two pairs. Katz was out; Pollak was the new chip leader.
Riess doubled through Salter JJ>AK. Salter did hit his ace on the flop, but the former World Champion hit a two outer on the turn to survive. Vaskaboinikau doubled through Leow AK>88 after flopping a king, and Salter got some back when he doubled through Eibinger 87cc>KTss after flopping a seven.

Level 14: 10000/20000/20000
Riess doubled again, this time KK>JJ of Eibinger, Pollak eliminated the short-stacked Leow when his A3cc beat pocket queens after flopping two pairs. And Pollak continued his onslaught eliminating Loeliger and Choi on the bubble, finding pocket aces to bust KQss, and AKo.
Moving into the final table, Pollak had a commanding lead.

Final Table Chip Counts

  1. Benjamin Pollak – 2,275,000
  2. Jean-Noel Thorel – 1,095,000
  3. Ryan Riess – 810,000
  4. Alex Foxen – 735,000
  5. Mikalai Vaskaboinikau – 540,000
  6. Seth Davies – 380,000
  7. Jack Salter – 355,000
  8. Jan-Eric Schwippert – 345,000
  9. Matthias Eibinger – 230,000

Eibinger added €97,090 to the €97,500 he won in the €25k REG Charity event, and €759,680 for coming third in the €100,000 event after leaving the party in ninth. The Austrian got it in with deuces and found callers in two spots. Pollak held pocket sevens, but Seth Davies woke up with aces to triple up.

Level 15: 10000/25000/25000
Salter doubled through Foxen 66>AK.
Then we lost Schwippert.
Riess made it 60,000 to play on the button, and the German called in the big blind. The dealer placed 8c6h5c on the flop, Schwippert checked, Riess bet 60,000, Schwippert check-raised all-in, and Riess called.
Schwippert held T4cc for the flush and straight draws. Riess held pocket queens. The ladies got through another two streets with their crowns intact, and Schwippert was out, earning €127,200.

Level 16: 15000/30000/30000
Jack Salter’s run ended in seventh for €164,000 when he got it in holding AKdd versus the pocket aces of Foxen.

Level 17: 20000/40000/40000
Foxen continued his hatchet job, taking care of Davies. Once again, Foxen found the rockets. Davies’ K7o paling in comparison and €207,500 would have to do for the American.
Vaskaboinikau turned €5k into €267,800 after busting in fifth place. Firstly, the Belarusian doubled through Foxen when his pocket fours managed to avoid any mishaps against A8o, but his AK couldn’t cause one when it came up against the pocket queens of Pollak.

Level 18: 250000/50000/50000
The former World Champ left the competition in fourth for €344,700. Riess looked lively when he got it in with pocket sevens against the pocket threes of Thorel, but a third trey appeared on the turn to send Riess back to his hotel room.

Level 19: 30000/60000/30000
Alex Foxen left the two Frenchman to fight for the title when he exited in third for €456,900. Pollak’s AQ beating his KQo, all-in, pre-flop, to make Pollak the favourite going into the end zone.

Heads-Up Chip Counts
Thorel – 3,800,00
Pollak – 3,100,00

Level 20: 40000/80000/80000
Pollak pulls into the lead after a series of pots went his way.
Down to only seven big blinds, Thorel made a stand with A3o, and Pollak peeled back his cards to see A9o.
Call.
Five community cards later, and Pollak was our winner.

Final Table Results 

  1. Ben Pollak – €979,000
  2. Jean-Noel Thorel – €703,000
  3. Alex Foxen – €456,900
  4. Ryan Riess – €344,700
  5. Mikalai Vaskaboinikau – €267,800
  6. Seth Davies – €207,500
  7. Jack Salter – €164,000
  8. Jan-Eric Schwippert – €127,200
  9. Matthias Eibinger – €97,090

The PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona slapped a €100,000 buy-in Super High Roller on the card for the first time, and when it came down to form, there was one man everyone had to beat.
Justin Bonomo is the hottest player in the world right now. But when Bonomo doesn’t turn up for work, that mantle becomes the responsibility of Mikita Badziakouski.
The Belarusian star came into this event after winning back-to-back Triton Poker Series Main Events in Montenegro and Jeju. Add a fourth-place finish in the Super High Roller Bowl to that collection, as well as a series of other sterling results, and you’re looking at an annual haul of $12,411,966 – only Bonomo has won more ($24,945,435). Badziakouski’s form would have seen him top the live yearly tournament earnings charts in three of the past four years.
Could anyone stop him?
The headline is a bit of a giveaway.
Let’s see how he took it down.
 
Day 1
44 entrants participated in eight levels of 60-minutes, at the end of the day 28 remained with Badziakouski bagging up 402,000 chips, good enough for 80 big blinds.

Top Ten Chip Counts

  1. Ahadpur Khangah – 1,155,000
  2. Pascal LeFrancois – 647,000
  3. David Peters – 638,000
  4. Seth Davies – 622,000
  5. Timothy Adams – 587,000
  6. Jan-Eric Schwippert – 545,000
  7. Patrik Antonius – 517,000
  8. Jean-Hoel Thorel – 496,000
  9. Bryn Kenney – 494,000
  10. Benjamin Pollak – 469,000

Day 2
Ten people took advantage of the late registration, making the final field size, 54. The prize pool was €5,239,080.
Here were the payouts:

Payouts

  1. €1,650,300
  2. €1,191,900
  3. €759,680
  4. €576,300
  5. €445,300
  6. €340,550
  7. €274,050

Level 10, with blinds at 4,000/8,000/8,000, and a critical hand for Badziakouski.
Badziakouski opened to 21,000, Adams three-bet to 69,000 and Badziakouski called. The flop was Ts6h2c; Adams bet 38,000, Badziaouski raised to 100,000, Adams moved all-in, and Badziakouski called for his tournament life. The Belarusian showed ATcc for top pair, and backdoor flush draw, but Adam was ahead with pocket queens. The As landed on the turn to give Badziakouski two pairs, and after a blank river he doubled up to 780,000.
By the time we reached the final three tables, Badziakouski was third in chips.

Top Five Chip Counts

  1. Ahadpur Khangah – 1,819,000
  2. Matthias Eibinger – 1,200,000
  3. Mikita Badziakouski – 960,000
  4. David Peters – 940,000
  5. Daniel Negreanu – 685,000

With blinds at 8,000/16,000/16,000, Badziakouski took care of Pascal LeFrancois. Le Francois opened to 36,000 on the button, Badziakouski three-bet to 140,000 from the small blind, and LeFrancois called. The flop was 8d5h2d, Badziakouski made an 80,000 c-bet, LeFrancois moved all-in, and Badziakouski called.
Badziakouski: KhKd
LeFrancois: Kc5c
Badziakouski was light years ahead, and another king on the turn sealed the deal. Badziakouski moved up to 1,550,000 to solidify his #3 spot behind Matthias Eibinger (the new runaway chip leader), and Khangah.
The next player to feel the power of Badziakouski’s hands was Christoph Vogelsang. The former Super High Roller Bowl winner opened to 44,000 (with blinds at 10k/20k/20k), Badziakouski three-bet to 135,000, and Vogelsang made the call.
Flop: 5h3s2s
Both players checked.
Turn: 7s
Vogelsang bet 120,000; Badziakouski called.
River: 9s
With four spades on the board, Vogelsang checked his option, and Badziakouski put him all-in. The German star made the call and left the building after Badziakouski’s pocket aces (with the ace of spades) beat the pocket tens (ten of spades) of Vogelsang.
At the dinner break, Badziakouski had moved into the second spot.

Top Five Counts

  1. Matthias Eibinger – 2,580,000
  2. Mikita Badziakouski – 2,300,000
  3. Bryn Kenney – 1,200,000
  4. Daniel Negreanu – 1,040,000
  5. Cary Katz – 910,000

Timothy Adams eliminated Daniel Negreanu, Ahadpur Khanga took care of Adrian Mateos and Bryn Kenney, and we had a final table.
Nine players remained.
Only seven would win any money.

Final Table Chip Counts
 

  1. Matthias Eibinger – 3,040,000
  2. Mikita Badziakouski – 2,570,000
  3. Ahadpur Khangah – 2,105,000
  4. Cary Katz – 1,425,000
  5. Timothy Adams – 1,245,000
  6. Rui Neves Ferreira – 1,020,000
  7. Benjamin Pollak- 765,000
  8. Jean Ferreira – 720,000
  9. Byron Kaverman – 610,000

Day 3
The first player to exit was Cary Katz, and it was a brutal way to go. The Poker Central founder got it in with pocket queens against the KTcc of Matthias Eibinger. The ultra dry flop of Qs6c2h gave Katz an incredible opportunity to double up, only for the Austrian to hit runner-runner clubs to eliminate Katz with a flush.
The elimination of Katz led to the bubble, and the last player to leave with nothing was Byron Kaverman. Once again Eibinger played the role of Albert Pierrepoint, tightening the noose around the American’s neck with 87o>A8dd, and letting the trap door go when a seven hit the turn to give Eibinger the win.
Jean Ferreira earned €275,050 for a seventh-place finish after running AJo into the pocket kings of Khangah all-in, pre-flop. Badziakouski doubled up through the chip leader, Eibinger, when his pocket tens won a flip against the AQ of the Austrian. And Rui Neves Ferreira became the second Ferreira to leave the final table when his pocket queens lost out to the KQ of Khangah after the Iranian flopped the second cowboy.
The former November Niner, Benjamin Pollak, took €445,300 for a fifth-place finish when Eibinger sent him packing 86cc>AJo after flopping an eight and rivering a six in an all-in, pre-flop encounter. Timothy Adams banked €576,300 after losing a flip 88<KQ to Eibinger. And we reached heads-up play after Badziakouski’s AQ found an ace on the flop to eliminate Eibinger who was holding pocket tens.

Heads-Up Chip Counts
Badziakouski – 7,700,000
Khangah – 5,800,000

Khangah finished sixth in the 2016 €50,000 Super High Roller in this very building, and also finished seventh in the €111,111 One Drop High Roller at the 2017 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), but he is no match for the silky skills of the Belarusian.
Khangah would need the luck to be on his side, and it stayed in the deck.
Badziakouski won a succession of pots to take a commanding chip lead before busting his opponent after both players flopped top pair. The money went in on the turn after Badziakouski turned his weaker top pair hand into two pairs.

It was an excellent run for the Iranian, but he was up against one of the hottest poker players in the world.
Here are the final table results.

Final Table Results

  1. Mikita Badziakouski – €1,650,300
  2. Ahadpur Khangah – €1,191,900
  3. Matthias Eibinger – €759,680
  4. Timothy Adams – €576,300
  5. Benjamin Pollak – €445,300
  6. Rui Ferreira – €340,550
  7. Jean-Christophe Ferreira – €275,050

“Are you going to be in Manila for Triton in December?” I asked Badziakouski after his win.
“I guess I have to be now,” said a calm as you like Badziakouski.
That’s not good news for anyone else heading that way.