The
Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic marches on, ruthless, and unabating,
with the global number of cases edging towards 170,000, and more than
6,500 pronounced dead.
One
casualty you won’t see in those numbers is the live poker scene, and
this week, we saw a deluge of events falling through the cellar door,
including those affecting high rollers.
The
biggest story is the cancellation of the US Poker Open. Scheduled to
run March 19-31, most of the high roller fraternity would have planned
to travel to Las Vegas post partypoker’s inaugural MILLIONS Super High
Roller Series in Sochi, Russia. As it transpires, that’s the last
experience of live poker they may have in some time.
Poker
Central’s US Poker Open consisted of 12 events culminating in a $50,000
No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) Main Event. PokerGO would have streamed the
whole shebang live, and now the over-the-top (OTT) media service is left
with no new programming to show.
The
ARIA is an MGM Resorts International Property, and over the weekend the
casino giant decided to close all of its Las Vegas properties for
two-weeks, beginning Sunday, March 15. The Wynn and Encore are following
suit.
Caesars
Entertainment Corporation cancelled all live performance throughout
March, but there is still no news of casino closures or the anything
related to the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
WSOP
officials did issue an email declaring World Series of Poker Circuit
(WSOPC) cancellations and postponements, and the announcement of an
impromptu WSOPC Online Super Circuit Series on WSOP.com, but still no word on the WSOP due to commence at the end of May.
Another
event that’s gone the way of an earthworm disco discovered by a hungry
hedgehog is the European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo. PokerStars have
suspended the event due to run April 23 – May 2. EPT Monte Carlo had
five €25,000 buy-in events, a €50,000 event and a €100,000 event in the
schedule.
The
World Poker Tour (WPT) is also putting their show on ice. Adam Pliska
and the crew have postponed WPT Venetian March 13-17, and WPT Seminole
Hard Rock Poker Showdown April 16 to May 5. Both events joined WPT
Barcelona in a coffin.
We will bring you more news as we receive it.
People have to earn a crust, Coronavirus or no Coronavirus. Still, you can guarantee that for the 50 or so people who descended on the Sochi Casino in Russia for the inaugural partypoker MILLIONS Super High Roller Series it will be a relief to go home finally.
Before the madness hits Russia, and casino doors close indefinitely, Timothy Adams leaves with $3,600,000 reasons to be happy after winning the $250,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) Russia.
In doing so, Adams becomes the second player to win two SHRB titles, and the only player to do so back-to-back after conquering a 16-entrant field to win the $1.4m first prize in Australia barely a spit ago.
The win sees Adams all-time live tournament winnings rise to $24.3m. He moves seven places up the All-Time Money List surpassing luminaries such as Rainer Kempe, Brian Rast, Sam Trickett, Sam Greenwood, Phil Hellmuth, and Scott Seiver.
One person, Adams, did not overtake was his heads-up opponent, Christoph Vogelsang. The German star came mighty close to winning his second SHRB title before settling for the role of bridesmaid and a $2,400,000 payday that sees him leap one space ahead of Adams in the All-Time Money list at 19th & 20th place respectively.
Let’s see how the whole thing went down.
The Nutshell Action
Day 1 ended with Jason Koon leading 23 of the 34 entrants on that day, and by the end of Day 2, we had a seven-seater final table with more than $142m in live tournament winnings between them.
Ben Heath led going into the bubble period.
Final Table Seat Draw
Seat 1: Ivan Leow – 720,000 Seat 2: Mikitza Badziakouski – 960,000 Seat 3: Ben Heath – 2,500,000 Seat 4: Adrian Mateos – 2,060,000 Seat 5: Stephen Chidwick – 430,000 Seat 6: Timothy Adams – 1,380,000 Seat 7: Christoph Vogelsang – 1,950,000
Ivan Leow made the first bold move, jamming ace-jack over the top of Timothy Adam’s ace-three-suited, and Adams folded. The next three hands all involved post-flop agression and zero flop play, and when we did see a flop, Stephen Chidwick ended up wishing he hadn’t.
Chidwick opened on the button, and Christoph Vogelsang called from the small blind. The pair looked down at a Kh5s2d flop with Chidwick holding Ah6c and AdJh for Vogelsang. The German check-called a 40,000 Chidwick bet, and soon the pair were staring at the As on the turn, which gave them both top pair. Vogelsang checked, Chidwick bet 90,000, and Vogelsang called. The 7h was the final card to decamp from the deck, and Vogelsang check-called a 200,000 Chidwick bet, leaving the man from the UK with a mere six big blinds.
Then came the one-two.
Vogelsang opened for 70,000, and Chidwick called from the big blind holding Jh9s. Vogelsang’s Ah3h stayed ahead on the Qh8d4c flop, and the German called after Chidwick moved all-in for 140,000. The 6s and Ac were the final pieces of wood in this plank, and Chidwick duly walked off the edge, and the partypoker MILLIONS Super High Roller Series never saw him again.
Vogelsang hadn’t finished.
The German opened to 60,000 holding Qd7d, and Ivan Leow called on the button with Ah7c. The blinds were as interested in this hand as a bowler hat at a rodeo, and the pair saw a Qh7h3d flop. Vogelsang had flopped two-pairs and Leow middle pair. The couple got it in, and the best hand held confirming Leow as the sixth-place finisher.
Then Adrian Mateos took the chip lead.
The action folded to the Spaniard in the small blind, and he got sneaky with a limp holding pocket queens. The big blind seat contained Timothy Adams and looking down at KdTd he raised to 120,000. Mateos then check-raised to 41,000, and Adams made the call. Within no time the pair were staring at a highly flammable 8d5d3s flop. Mateos led for 275,000, and Adams moved all-in. Mateos called and faded the diamonds and kings to double into the chip lead.
Adams then exacted revenge when he three-bet Mateos with pocket jacks and called when the Winamax Pro set him all-in holding ace-king. The board ran out as low as an Olympic limbo pole, and Adams also took the chip lead.
By this time Mikita Badziakouski had done nothing except admire his clobber in the reflection of other people’s sunglasses. Then he found pocket tens and got it in against Ben Heath’s AdQd. Heath took the lead on an ace-high flop, but Badziakouski won the hand, and doubled-up, after turning a set.
Then we lost Mateos, showing how quickly poker can put you on a pedestal, before pushing you under a plough. When the end came, it was a blind on blind battle with Heath holding AhQs and pocket deuces for Mateos. Heath flopped trips, and Mateos was drawing dead on the turn.
Chip Counts
Ben Heath – 3,600,000 Timothy Adams – 3,200,000 Christoph Vogelsang – 1,700,000 Mikita Badziakouski – 1,400,000
Badziakouski began the hustle and bustle when four-handed, taking the chip lead from Heath, and then Vogelsang became the chip leader, with Heath once again at the wrong end of a thumping.
The run of the play dictated that Heath would fall next, and that’s what happened. The UK pro moved all-in for 1,200,000 from the small blind holding Qs6s, and Adams called and won with As2d. Heath picked up a million bucks for his fourth-place finish, his third seven-figure score in less than 12-months.
Adams would face Vogelsang heads-up for the title after the German despatched Badziakouski to the rail in third place. Vogelsang moved all-in from the small blind holding Jh3s, and Badziakouski called and fell holding the superior AcQh after Vogelsang flopped a pair and turned a flush.
Heads-Up
Timothy Adams: 5,200,000 Christoph Vogelsang: 4,600,000
Adams began with the chips, and the experience with 11 wins and six losses in heads-up contests, including winning his last three. Vogelsang had only reached this stage five times, losing three and winning two. Both had won SHRB heads-up confrontations with Adams winning in Australia only last month.
Adams had the better of the early exchanges, and the following hands produced a 3:1 chip lead.
Vogelsang opened the button to 235,000 with QdJs and then called when Adams three-bet to 900,000 holding KdJd. The 7s4h2s flop produced a 1,100,000 c-bet from Adams, and Vogelsang folded. Then Adams got a four-bet through holding AsTc versus Qc6d.
Vogelsang came back into contention doubling with As9c versus KcQh, but Adams always had control and secured his second SHRB victory when his Ah9s beat the Ac6d of Vogelsang in the final hand of the tournament.
ITM Results
Timothy Adams – $3,600,000
Christoph Vogelsang – $2,400,000
Mikita Badziakouski – $1,600,000
Ben Heath – $1,000,000
Adrian Mateos – $800,000
Ivan Leow – $600,000
Once Triton cancelled its Super High Roller Series in Jeju, tour operators in that region had no option but to do the same. The pandemic has since spread across the globe, with Europe the epicentre, and those spores found beneath the microscope are now forcing live tour operators to fold away their tables and ditch their filthy chips.
The
Coronavirus is highly adaptable, making the leap from Pangolins and bats to
humans. It will continue to evolve, and we place our hope in the brightest
scientific minds in the world, that we develop at a faster rate.
Companies
that rely on live tournaments for EBITDA will also have to evolve, and right
now, the best possible solution is to shift their flagship events online. The
law makes the switch more challenging than a decade ago, but it’s more than a
viable move for online poker operators; it’s a valuable opportunity.
Not
only can the likes of PokerStars and partypoker pivot by creating online
alternatives of their beloved live brands, but live tour operators with no
ability to offer an online product will be keen to partner with the best in the
business.
It’s
also a long term positive for the online poker community as the live tour
operators have to include in their risk assessment mitigation for future
pandemics of this nature, and that could lead to a more competitive online
poker landscape.
partypoker: The Role Models
partypoker
is currently leading the way when it comes to creating a virtual world that we
can call home, and is an inviting prospect for live tour operators.
The
online poker operator excels when it comes to creating value-laden partnerships
thanks to its sterling work with partypoker LIVE, putting them in a fantastic
spot to leverage those relationships post COVID-19.
One of
those partnerships is with the World Poker Tour (WPT), and for the first time,
that partnership is moving into the virtual realm in a big way. The pair have
coupled-up to host online satellites to live events in the past, but the
forthcoming WPT Online Championships is the first sense that Adam Pliska and
the gang are prepared to put a whole leg into the virtual waters, and not
merely dab a toe.
The
series runs on partypoker, May 10-26, with $30m in GTD prize money. The $3,200
buy-in, $5m GTD WPT Online Championship is the blaze in this fire, but there
are plenty of other hot coals.
The
WPT500 brand hits the online market for the first time when between May 10-18,
players invest $530 per bullet throughout ten Day 1’s in this $1m, GTD feast of
fun. The WPTDeepStacks brand also moves online for the first time with a $1,600
buy-in, $1m GTD event scheduled for May 25-26.
As you
would expect, high rollers get to have some fun with a $25,000 buy-in, $3m GTD
WPT Super High Roller Challenge on May 21, a $10,300, $2m GTD High Roller, May
24-25, and a wide variety of $5k buy-ins to boot.
The
series also traverses the live world with the winner of the WPT Online
Championships Main Event earning a seat into the $15,000 Tournament of
Champions should the event go ahead as planned.
Another
partypoker alliance involves the Irish Poker Open. The oldest event outside of
the World Series of Poker (WSOP) celebrates its 40th year on the partypoker
platform with a €1m GTD Main Event. The schedule will follow shortly.
Then Future
If the
WPT Online Championships is a success, then why not allow it to breathe once
COVID-19 is in the rearview mirror? While it doesn’t make sense to do this for
the Irish Open. It does make sense for the WPT to have an online leg, with the
winner securing a seat to the TOC, and there’s no reason why a coveted WPT
Champions Club spot shouldn’t also be in the goodie bag.
partypoker
recently held their first MILLIONS Super High Roller Series in Sochi, Russia.
If we have seen the end of live tournament poker this side of 2021, then Rob
Yong’s already indicated his willingness to replicate that event online, and
that’s in addition to the MILLIONS Online leg that is currently in situ.
PokerStars
are keeping their powder dry for now. But, what would stop them adding themed
online European Poker Tour (EPT) stops to their online offerings, or expand the
World Championships and Spring Championships of Poker idea to fill in the
blanks.
Elon
Musk wants to terraform Mars, knowing that at some point, human beings will
make Earth uninhabitable. Maybe, we don’t have to venture that far. Perhaps,
the movie ‘Ready Player One’ has the answer, and humanities future exists in a
virtual world. If that’s the case, then online poker isn’t dying; it’s
preparing for all-out domination.
If you’ve been following the coverage of the partypoker MILLIONS Super High Roller Series in Sochi, Russia, you may have noticed the name of ‘Jason Koon’ has been sorely lacking in the headlines.
Knowing Koon’s love for the game, one doubts he’s flown to Sochi to spend most of his time on the piste. So, the other alternative is that, so far, Koon’s Sochi experience has been as pleasant as sepsis.
All that can change if Lady Luck walks you through the minefields of an $8.5m (and rising) prizepool.
Nobody knows that more than Koon – the big man, for the big occasion.
The $250,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) Russia, the cherry on top of the partypoker MILLIONS Super High Roller Series in Sochi, attracted 34 entrants on Day 1.
Even without late registration remaining open for another full level on Day 2, SHRB Russia has dwarfed the field sizes of SHRB London (12) and SHRB Australia (16), held in 2019 & 2020 respectively. Of the other non-American SHRB events, SHRB Bahamas (51) in 2019 and SHRB China (75) in 2018 remain out of reach unless the crazy get a whole lot crazier.
Three former SHRB winners remain in the field, and two of them amongst the brands most recent Cheshire cats. Cary Katz took down the 2019 SHRB London for $2.6m, and Timothy Adams won SHRB Australia for $1.4m in February. Christoph Vogelsang is the third former winner. The German star won the 2017 SHRB in Aria for $6m.
Here are the main highlights.
The Main Highlights
Nick Petrangelo fell into a $500,000 hole when his pocket kings failed to hold when all-in versus the AK of Timothy Adams. An ace on the river making an exit, even more, excruciating for Petrangelo.
Adrian Mateos joined Petrangelo in the cash desk’s ‘re-entry’ column when his AhJh felt like a mussel against the oyster-like pocket aces of Alexey Rybin.
Kahle Burns became the third player to lose his stack. Artur Martirosyan played the role of vanquisher holding pocket sevens on 6h5s4c9d, with Burns holding Kd6s. The Russian put the Australian all-in on the turn, and the call came. The Qd on the river confirmed Burns’ fate. If he wanted to win this thing, it would cost him another $250,000.
Then a cooler sent the leader of the All-Time Money list to his hotel room knowing he would have to dip back into his bank account to find another $250,000. Bryn Kenney got it all-in pre-flop with pocket aces versus the pocket queens of Paul Phua. The board ran out Jh8d7d9cTd to hand Phua a straight – good enough for second in chips.
Chip Counts
Jason Koon – 745,000
Paul Phua – 690,000
Adrian Mateos – 550,000
Stephen Chidwick – 550,000
Ben Heath – 545,000
Mikita Badziakouski – 465,000
Timothy Adams – 420,000
Phil Ivey – 390,000
Artur Martirosyan – 386,000
Ivan Leow – 380,000
The world is facing unprecedented decisions and quandaries, but for a segment of the high stakes stratum, life motors on as usual with one man, in particular, finding Sochi is as sweet as figgy pudding.
Phil Ivey conquered a 55-entrant field in Event #7: $50,000 Short-Deck at the partypoker MILLIONS Super High Roller Series, a hop, skip and a jump away from finishing runner-up to Wai Kin Yong in the previous $50,000 Short-Deck event.
It’s the first tick in Ivey’s win column since beating Daniel “Jungleman” Cates, heads-up, in an HKD 250,000 Short-Deck event at the 2018 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro. It’s not that Ivey’s been in stealth mode for no reason. He’s had his reasons.
Appearances at the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), partypoker MILLIONS World, and now Sochi, prove that Ivey’s tool cupboard door is wide open. Let’s hope he doesn’t shut it for the foreseeable future.
Ivey’s win sees him move above the $30m mark in live tournament earnings, replacing Daniel Colman in the 11th spot, a blob of spit away from Steve O’Dwyer in tenth.
Here is how Ivey took this one down.
The Nutshell Action
Final Table Seat Draw
Seat 1: Sam Greenwood – 950,000
Seat 2: Phil Ivey – 3,515,000
Seat 3: Sergi Reixach – 2,915,000
Seat 4: Michael Soyza – 5,120,000
Seat 5: Lee Wai Kiat – 2,540,000
Seat 6: Seth Davies – 855,000
The day began with Event #6’s bubble boy leading the final six players. Michael Soyza did participate in the first big hand of the final, but his role was minor. The main cast members were Seth Davies and Sergi Reixach.
Soyza limped from under the gun, holding KdJh, and Seth Davies raised to 450,000 holding AdQc. The action then fell to Sergi Reixach who moved all-in holding AcKc. Davies called, and Soyza folded leaving a showdown with Davies at risk, and a queen on the river saved him.
The chip leader may have played a supporting role in the first big hand, but he was all over the second one.
Sam Greenwood moved all-in for 1,050,000 from under the gun holding KdQs, and Soyza called with pocket jacks. Greenwood did flop a second king, but it arrived alongside a third jack for Soyza, and the Canadian, making his third final table, became the first player to leave this one.
Then we lost Reixach.
Phil Ivey opened to the hijack for 300,000 with AhTh and then called when Reixach moved all-in for 1,260,000 holding the superior AdQh. After some math, Ivey made the call, and the man many youngsters thought was a fable, flopped and rivered a few more tens to send the Spaniard to the rail.
Soyza took his second scalp when eliminating Seth Davies in fourth. Davies made it 800,000 to play from the cutoff holding As7s, and then called after Soyza moved all-in holding AdQc. No sevens, spades or liferafts arrived to rescue Davies, and he fell out of the loop.
Lee Wai Kiat doubled through the chip leader when Ah8h bettered the pocket tens of Soyza. A flopped ace taking the role of the hammer to the head.
After that double-up, Kiat went on to take the chip lead from Soyza before losing it to Ivey. The compelling three-handed play ended when Soyza called from the hijack holding queens and called again when Kiat moved all-in holding JsTs. Soyza needed the third ten on the flop, after Kiat turned a jack, and he would take a 9.6m>6.3m chip lead into the heads-up phase against Ivey.
Heads-Up
The pair traded blows until Ivey landed one that took the puff out of Soyza’s guts.
With the action at 150,000/300,000, Soyza limped into the pot holding 9c8d and called when Ivey raised to 1,000,000 holding KhQh. The dealer placed a receding hairline producing flop of Jh9h7d onto the flop, and Ivey put Soyza all-in. The call came, and Ivey rivered the nut flush to take a commanding chip lead.
Then, down to ten button antes, Soyza flung them across the line after Ivey had set him in holding Ah6h. Soyza called with Kd7s, and although he flopped the lead with a second king, Ivey caught up by the river, securing a flush for his first title in yonks.
ITM Results
Phil Ivey – $856,050
Michael Soyza – $561,780
Wai Kiat Lee – $374,520
Seth Davies – $267,520
Sergi Reixach – $214,010
Sam Greenwood – $160,510
Dmitriy Kuzmin – $133,760
Thai Ha – $107,000
When Paul Phua won the Global Poker Award (GPA) for Industry Person of the Year, it was his first piece of silverware since winning a 13-entrant €100,000 No-Limit Hold ’em (NLHE) event at the 2016 Monte-Carlo One-Drop Extravaganza.
Four years is a long wait for a man who leads the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in the money finish (ITM) leaderboard with 16, proving that he doesn’t merely mingle with the supremely talented, he is one.
The wait is other.
Phua came into the final day of Event #6: $100,000 NLHE as the shortest stack of the nine remaining players, but breezed through Day 2, overcoming Matthias Eibinger, heads-up, for the title.
Let’s get to the nitty-gritty.
Nutshell Action
As the 42-entrant field boiled down to the final seven combatants, only six would receive a check. The first person to dangle from that precipice was Michael Soyza, and he fell.
The action folded to Matthias Eibinger on the button, and he applied maximum pressure on the players in the blinds by moving all-in holding Ad2d. Soyza woke up with AcKc and made the call.
Soyza had Eibinger dominated, and the situation worsened when a second king arrived on the flop to increase Soyza’s lead. Then, the light at the end of the tunnel for Eibinger, as the 3d hit the turn to give the Austrian a wheel draw that connected when the 5c hit the river.
It was an exit that stank of intestines and curse words, but Soyza took it like the champion he is.
Paul Phua then doubled through Kahle Burns. The Australian opened with AhKc from under the gun, and Phua called with pocket deuces. The two shortest stacks didn’t need surgical instruments after the nuclear flop of Kh7d2c put the writing on the wall. Phua checked, Burns bet 60,000, and Phua called. The 4h hit the turn, and Burns bet 130,000, Phua raised all-in for 180,000 more, Burns made the call and mucked when he saw how dead he was.
Burns fell to a mere four big blinds after that hand. He did double-up through Eibinger when As5s beat Kh9s but then fell to Adrian Mateos when Ac3s hit the dam like AsJd.
Michael Addamo followed his compatriot out of the poker room door next. The action folded to Addamo in the cutoff, and he moved all-in for 1,140,000 holding Ks8s, and Chin Wei Lim isolated with a jam holding two red aces. The deck had placed a ligature around Addamo’s neck, and it cut off all oxygen after five blank community cards.
Then we lost Adrian Mateos.
The Spaniard moved all-in from the small blind holding 4c5c, and Phua made the call from the big holding Ks7c. A second seven landed on the flop, leaving three in the hunt for the title.
From the bottom of the pack to the top, Phua took the lead after doubling through Eibinger when AhQc beat AsJd when all-in pre-flop. Eibinger would have the chance for retribution after Phua then eliminated Lim to face the Austrian heads-up.
Phua opened the button to 250,000 and Ac5d, and Lim called with 7c5c in the big blind. The dealer dropped 4h3d3s onto the flop like a cloud dropping rainwater into a gutter, and Lim check-raised jammed after Phua had bet 175,000. However, Phua would not be fooled and made the call with ace-high. The turn and river bricked and Lim was out.
Both Phua and Eibinger battled hard during the heads-up phase, but the Austrian’s chip stack never reached the heights of the Triton founder. The final hand saw Phua open to 400,000 with As8s, and Eibinger call holding Th8h. The dealer dealt a mustard flop of Ah9d8c, and Eibinger check-called for 250,000 and 500,000 when the Kd hit the turn. Finally, the 6c hit the river to give Phua a lock on the hand, and he moved all-in.
“I don’t believe you,” said Eibinger.
The call arrived, and Phua, not Eibinger ended up with the trophy.
ITM Results
Paul Phua – $1,512,000
Matthias Eibinger – $1,008,000
Chin Wei Lim – $672,000
Adrian Mateos – $420,000
Michael Addamo – $336,000
Kahle Burns – $252,000
61-entrants breezed through Event #3: $25,000 Short-Deck at partypoker’s MILLIONS Super High Roller Series in Sochi, Russia, and the Asian contingent ran amok with Wai Leong Chan ending up on the throne.
The emergence of the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series has unearthed a few gems, and Chan is becoming one of the most valuable. With 12 in the money (ITM) finishes, Leong is one of the most consistent players on the tour, but he has never won a title. In fact, before a few months ago, you had to stretch back to 2011 to find a Chan win in any event.
It seems Chan’s found the winning formula – play more partypoker events.
In November, Chan won a $25,000 No-Limit Hold ’em and $25,000 Short-Deck event at the partypoker MILLIONS World in the Bahamas. Today, he adds a third partypoker title to his resume with victory in Event #3, and he did so by getting through the formidable figure of the recently crowned Industry Person of the Year, Paul Phua, during heads-up play.
Let’s see how these two incredible poker bosses made it to the end zone.
The Nutshell Action
Final Table Seat Draw
Seat 1: Paul Phua – 2,395,000 Seat 2: Ivan Leow – 725,000 Seat 3: Aaron Van Blarcum – 1,710,000 Seat 4: Thai Ha – 4,705,000 Seat 5: Danny Tang – 2,380,000 Seat 6: Wai Leong Chan – 6,385,000
Short-Deck is one of the most uncertain games in the business, but one thing for sure – there will be more double-ups than chirps of “pieces of eight” from a parrot sitting on the shoulder of a man wearing a patch – the first of which belonged to Ivan Leow. Paul Phua opened with KJo, and then called Leow’s shove with KQo. The best hand held.
That hand saw Phua slip down the chip counts like a pillowcase ready for the washing machine. His next move was to move all-in holding AJo, and he received a caller in the form of Wai Leong Chan holding KJo, and once again the best hand held, this time giving Phua the double-up.
Aaron Van Blarcum is maintaining his fine form in this series, finishing third in the opening event, and sixth in this one. Phua limped into the action holding two red nines, Van Blarcum called with QsTs, Thai Ha raised to 275,000 from the cutoff holding Ad7h, and both limpers called. The dealer dusted Js9c8h onto the flop to give Van Blarcum the nuts, and Phua middle set. Phua led for 500,000, Van Blarcum moved all-in for 1,305,000, Ha folded, and Phua called. Phua needed the board to pair, and that’s what happened on the turn to send Van Blarcum looking for some hot cocoa and digestive biscuits.
Out in fifth was the Natural8 ambassador, Danny Tang.
Ha limped into the action for 80,000 holding Qs9s and folded after Tang shipped it for 1,370,000, holding KdQh, and Phua did likewise with AcQc. The JcJsQc flop missed both hands, and it stayed that way after inconsequential turns and rivers saw Phua take Tang’s scalp with ace-high.
Ivan Leow maintained his impressive form, finishing fourth, one event after finishing second in the $25,000 No-Limit Hold ’em (NLHE). Leow got it in with Phua, but his AcJc was not strong enough to beat the AdQc of his mentor, and Leow went looking for a candlestick to beat someone to death in the library.
Ha fell in third after limp-calling on the button with Jh9h. The flop of Th8s7c handed Ha the nuts, and raiser Chan’s AhKh had a lot of catching up to do. Both players checked. The 6h on the turn gave Chan the nut-flush draw. Ha led for 500,000, and Chan called. The 8h gave both players the flush, all the money went in, and Ha began penning invites to his pity party after the full unveil.
That left two of the most successful Triton players never to win a Triton title to battle it out for the partypoker title. Chan had a 10m v 8m chip lead over Phua that he never relinquished.
The final hand saw Chan put Phua all-in holding KhTc. The Malaysian All-Time Live Tournament Money earner called holding the more impressive looking AJo, but a king on the flop sealed the deal for Chan, leaving Phua with another close but no cigar moment.
ITM Results
Wai Leong Chan – $457,500
Paul Phua – $305,000
Thai Ha – $213,500
Ivan Leow – $152,500
Danny Tang – $122,000
Aaron Van Blarcum – $91,500
Dmitriy Kuzmin – $76,250
Sergey Lebedev – $61,000
Sam Greenwood – $45,750
I love the wren. I love its cuteness, and how it struts its stuff with its erect tail in the air wagging its derriere in your face. Most of all, I love the way it weaves its nest into the bracken, making it almost impossible to spot.
I want that nest.
I want to be a wren.
I want to fly away and shut myself off from the world.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the Coronavirus a pandemic after the caseload rose to 118,619, with 4,292 dead.
In a quick response, President Donald Trump addressed the nation, declaring a ban on all incoming European travel beginning midnight, Friday, March 13. The ban will last for a minimum of a month. The UK is exempt.
The NBA suspended the season after a player tested positive.
Italy is on lockdown.
Even Tom Hanks has it.
It’s a nightmare.
How it Affects Poker
Daniel Negreanu had this to say about live poker on Twitter.
All poker operators: stop.
Suspend all tournaments and cash games now.
There isn’t a more infectious environment imaginable than a poker table.
You can expand Negreanu’s views to the entire gambling industry. A poker table is a baccarat table is a blackjack table. It is a real problem, and currently, without a vaccine, the best plan of attack is isolation, and that doesn’t bode well for live poker.
PokerStars have already cancelled or postponed a swathe of European events, with the ‘Road to the PSPC’ suffering most. 888Poker has cancelled their flagship 888Live event in Bucharest, and the oldest live tournament outside of Las Vegas, The Irish Open, has also felt the full force of the guillotine.
High profile events still planned to shuffle up, and deal are the US Poker Open in the ARIA, European Poker Tour (EPT) Sochi & Monte Carlo, and the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
While you can see the first two on that list going ahead, if the virus continues to spread throughout Europe, then Monte Carlo will fall. That leaves the unimaginable cancellation of the WSOP. Then again, who would have thought the NBA would cancel its season!
Online Poker: Where Are You When We Need You?
During the DAT Poker Podcast on Wednesday, March 11, Daniel Negreanu urged the US Government to lift the ban on online poker to give people something to do while quarantined.
While the idea makes sense, especially given how hard the virus will impact the ability for people to earn a living throughout the world, one doubts with the panic setting, anyone in the government will have the time to give little old poker a second thought.
While the US government might not notice us, the online poker rooms will. You can expect the movers and shakers to be drawing up blueprints for summer online poker festivals, including the WSOP, who, should the unthinkable happen, could run their entire 2020 WSOP on the WSOP.com platform.
“From what I’m reading, the only real way to curb the growth is a social distance, keeping people away from each other. That’s good for me. I don’t really like people that much anyway,” Negreanu joked on the DAT Podcast.
It’s time to develop a ball and chain mentality. Lock yourself in your little cottage, and start getting used to the idea of wiping your arse with Doyle Brunson’s Super System.
The poker world is in crisis.
The world is in crisis.
Some thought artificial intelligence (AI) was humanity’s greatest challenge. Others thought it was nuclear war. It turns out that those espousing the dangers of a virus wreaking havoc on the world were the smart ones to listen to.
Now, what did they say?
Wai Kin Yong killed it in Triton Million London, winning a combined haul of £4.5m, and it seems he still has the winning bug.
The partypoker MILLIONS Super High Roller Series in Sochi, Russia, shut the stable door on the $50,000 action, and it was Yong who rode the final winner, defeating Phil Ivey in heads-up action, no less.
Event #5: $50,000 Short-Deck attracted 50-entrants, including repeat final table appearances for Sam Greenwood (2), Cary Katz (3), and Aaron Van Blarcum (4).
Let’s see how Yong took it down.
Final Table Seat Draw
Seat 1: Wai Kin Yong – 1,645,000 Seat 2: Aaron Van Blarcum – 820,000 Seat 3: Phil Ivey – 2,915,000 Seat 4: Cary Katz – 1,200,000 Seat 5: Seth Davies – 1,620,000 Seat 6: Mikhail Rudoy – 1,160,000 Seat 7: Sam Greenwood – 4,590,000 Seat 8: Paul Phua – 1,050,000
The first of many double-ups in the stew of frenzied action brought a smile to the face of Wai Kin Yong. The Malaysian moved all-in holding the beautifully painted AhKh, Mikhail Rudoy also moved all-in holding pocket jacks, prompting a fold from Cary Katz, holding pocket queens. On your marks, get set, go – Rudoy flopped a set of jacks, but Yong rivered Broadway.
Everything happens for a reason. Had Katz called with those queens, he would have been out. He didn’t. He wasn’t. Then he doubled through Yong when finding pocket kings he moved all-in, and the Malaysian called and lost with AhQc.
The third double-up arrived at the doorstep of Phil Ivey. Sam Greenwood moved his big stack into the middle holding KsJh, and Ivey put his tournament life at risk by calling with AcJd. The dealer handed Greenwood the nuts when AhQcTh fell on the flop, but the nuts are rarely the nuts for long in Short-Deck. Two more tens, arrived on the turn and river to hand Ivey a lifeline.
Seth Davies was one man who didn’t catch the double-up bug.
Ivey limped into the pot holding KcQc, Rudoy did likewise with AsJs, and then Davies jammed for 1,300,000 holding KdTd. Of the pair, only Rudoy made the call, and his ace proved to be the match-winner on a double-paired board sending Davies to the rail.
Ivey then took a big chip lead after eliminating Rudoy.
The Russian got it in with pocket jacks versus the ace-king of Ivey, and a king on the flop handed the American half of the chips in play, leaving Rudoy to ruminate on what might have been.
Yong doubled for the second time when his QsJs flopped a queen to take the hand away from Aaron Van Blarcum’s pocket tens, and then Sam Greenwood came in for the kill. Van Blarcum moved all-in from the cutoff holding Kc9c, and Greenwood called and killed with AcQd.
Katz then doubled through Yong, hitting a full-house with Ad7c versus Tc9c, but Yong rebounded well, doubling through Ivey when AcKs beat AhQd.
Then Katz lost one.
His final one.
Katz moved all-in holding 9c8h, and Greenwood picked him apart like a vulture on a carcass with pocket queens.
Greenwood was on a roll.
Then this happened.
Ivey called from the hijack with two red aces, and Greenwood did likewise with Kc8c. The dealer placed the AcQc8s on the flop, handing Greenwood the nut-flush draw and a pair, but giving Ivey top set. As on the turn gave Ivey quads, and both players checked. Then the Jc on the river gave Greenwood the nut flush. Ivey bet 400,000, Greenwood raised to 1,950,000 and called when Ivey moved all-in. Greenwood hit the rail, and heads-up became the focus of attention.
Heads-up began with Ivey holding a commanding 11,640,000 v 3,360,000 chip lead, but Yong took that lead after his AsJd overcame QdJh when all-in pre, and then JdTs beat pocket aces, after flopping two more tens.
The longest heads-up of the series ended when Yong made it 300,000 to play holding JcTc, and then called after Ivey made it 900,000 with QcJd. The dealer placed QhJh9s onto the flop, and the pair got it in with Yong holding middle pin and the straight draw, and Ivey with top two pair. The Ks on the turn straightened Yong up, and the 6h on the river guaranteed Yong the title.
ITM Results
Wai Kin Yong – $800,000
Phil Ivey – $525,000
Sam Greenwood – $350,000
Cary Katz – $250,000
Aaron Van Blarcum – $200,000
Mikhail Rudoy – $150,000
Seth Davies – $125,000
Paul Phua – $100,000
Mikita Badziakouski is mustard.
The three-time Triton Poker Super High Roller Series champion stepped on the top podium for the 13th time in his career after taking down Event #4: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) at the partypoker MILLIONS Super High Roller Series at the Casino Sochi in Russia.
The partypoker ambassador has had a quiet start to 2020 on the tournament front with only one score on the board (a runner-up finish to Luc Greenwood in an AUD 50,000 NLHE event at the Australian Poker Open), but you can’t keep a man like Badz down for long.
It took only two hands for the final table experience to feel like a sauna full of kippers for Wiktor Malinowski. The Pole, who made deep runs in £/€100k events in Europe circa 2019, jammed over an Artur Martirosyan open for eight bigs holding KdQh, and the Russian called with the superior AsKh. The deck favoured the best hand, and Malinowski exited in the seventh position.
Sam Greenwood began the final table as the shorty with one move. The Canadian moved all-in without any takers until Mikita Badziakouski looked him up with pocket sevens. It was a race against Greenwood’s QhJh, and running queens on the two latter streets saw him double up.
It was a move worth an additional $45,000, as Cary Katz and not Greenwood hit the rail next.
Greenwood moved all-in for 840,000, and KsJd and Katz called for his tournament life holding pocket sixes. The second race in quick succession for Greenwood and this one went the same way as the last one. Katz’s run ended in sixth place, his second final table appearance of the series.
Greenwood was heading for the attic, and then he ended up in the basement.
Firstly, Greenwood got it in with AsQd versus the pocket kings of Badziakouski. No, luck there. Then the Canadian got it in with pocket nines and lost out to Martirosyan’s Ah7d after the Russian hit a further two aces on the river. Just like that, Greenwood went from the shorty to the chip leader to the fifth-place finisher.
Aaron Van Blarcum’s third final table of the series ended with a fourth-place finish. Badziakouski opened from position holding AcKs, and then called when Van Blarcum jammed with As9h from the big blind. Domination station. The nines did an ostrich, and Van Blarcum went looking for some peach brandy.
We reached heads-up one hand later when Martirosyan chopped down another Greenwood after A9o beat QJo.
The heads-up between Martirosyan and Badziakouski began even in chips. The Belarusian had the experience edge. Badziakouski opened up a lead before the Russian doubled back into contention. Still, the double-up didn’t change anything as Badziakouski put his foot down and accelerated away once more, this time never looking back.
In the final hand, Martirosyan limp-called the button holding Qs6s, and him and Badziakouski (holding Kh9d) saw a flop of 7h6h6c. Badziakouski led for 220,000 with his airball, and Martirosyan, holding trips, raised to 540,000; Badziakouski called. The Th on the turn handed Badziakouski a flush draw. Martirosyan moved all-in with the best hand, and after some deep thinking, Badziakouski called.
“I’m a fish.” Said Badziakouski.
Only a heart would stop Martirosyan from doubling into the chip lead, and that’s what hit the deck as the 5h handed Badziakouski the title with his flush beating trips.
