It’s been an absorbing week in Spanish sport. Former Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas suffered a heart attack, former Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez announced his plans to retire after 21-years in the game, and Sergio Aido won the €100,000 Super High Roller at the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) in Monte Carlo.
It’s a little too early to call Aido a legend (only Carlos Mortenson deserves that status in Spain). However, with $10.5m in live tournament earnings, his first big high roller win under his belt, and the ability to bend the ear of Adrian Mateos then maybe there is a Fairy Godmother waiting in the wings ready to wave a magic wand above his head.
It was a remarkable win for Aido, who began the final table sitting behind a stack of seven big blinds, but two quick double ups gave him enough chips to start swinging. The first to donate was Mikita Badziakouki. The double Triton Poker Series Main Event winner, was way ahead with AK versus A9 only for the deck to come to Aido’s rescue when a second nine landed on the flop. Next Aido beat the starting day chip leader, Daniel Dvoress after AQ beat pocket fives in a flip.
Charlie Carrel was making his second final table of the series after finishing fourth in the €10,300 No-Limit Hold’em event, but the man with supernatural poker powers was unable to turn 9c5c into a world beater, and Aido sent him to the rail in sixth place.
The next player to fall was Badziakouski. After falling short, the Belarusian stuck his last few chips into the pot with 6c3c, and Jesus Cortes put them on his plate and ate them with a little help from AhQh.
Then we lost two Canadians thanks to back-to-back pocket kings.
First Aido’s pocket kings hammered the Ad9h of Dvoress, and then the most significant prong in the Greenwood Trident exited stage left. It was a fantastic run for the defending champion, but his AT couldn’t beat Aido’s pocket Kings when all the chips went into the middle.
That left us with an all Spanish heads-up with the new boy Cortes impressing once again after his third-place finish in the $100,000 at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in the Bahamas. He would have his work cut out in this one with Aido’s 10,735,000 looking like a Bang & Olufson against the transistor radio of 2,265,000.
The duel lasted three hands before Aido had all of the chips when KcQh beat 9s2d to take the €1,589,190 first prize.
It’s the seventh live tournament victory for Aido, and the fourth time he has reached a final table in Monte Carlo (including a ninth in the 2017 €50,000). Aido sits third in the Spanish All-Time Money List with $10,542,720. Carlos Mortenson has $12,106,336, and Adrian Mateos has $17,301,912.
Here are the final table results.
Final Table Results
Sergio Aido – €1,589,190
Jesus Cortes – €1,147,750
Sam Greenwood – €731,530
Daniel Dvoress – €554,950
Mikita Badziakouski – €428,830
Charlie Carrel – €327,930
Wiktor Malinowski – €264,860
Daniel Dvoress
Prince Albert II (a proper prince, and not a stud through the tackle) of Monaco will award Michael Douglas with the Crystal Nymph career honour during the Monte Carlo Television Awards in June.
We don’t have any nymphs competing in the €100k Super High Roller at the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo, but we do have a few fine actors, and like Douglas, one of them will leave with the delightful problem of fitting a golden trophy into a Louis Vuitton suitcase.
Day 1 of the richest buy-in of them all saw 48-entrants compete, and four more made the final count 52 after Charlie Carrel, Matthias Eibinger and Jesus Cortes re-entered, and Mikita Badziakouski bought in for the first time at the start of Day 2. It seemed a smart move with three of the four making the final table.
Day 2 consisted of ten levels, and poker had a chokehold on the best in the business for 13-hours. At that time we had a final table of nine with Daniel Dvoress leading the way after experiencing a pheasant in the mouth of a hound type of day.
Here is the highlight reel.
Level 9: 3k/6k/6k
The Global Poker Index (GPI) #1, Alex Foxen, fell first when his pocket sevens failed to beat the pocket tens of Ali Reza Fatehi. The Iranian didn’t have a chance to wallow in that victory before Dvoress sent him to the rail, and he had company. Fatehi got it in on the turn holding the jack of diamonds on AdTd2d7d, Kazuhiko Yotsushika was also all-in holding the queen of diamonds, and Dvoress took every slice of pizza with the king of diamonds.
Fatehi wasn’t the only Iranian losing his life in Level 9. Ahadpur Khangah bluffed off his stack to Luc Greenwood with the Canadian sitting on a full house to leave the competition shorn of all mention of Iran.
Khangah wasn’t the only player willing to bluff with all of his chips on the line. Ivan Leow did the same thing, and like Greenwood, the Day 1 chip leader, Wiktor Malinowski, was also sitting on a full house.
Charlie Carrel had a wonderful day, beginning by dispatching the Winamax Pro, Adrian Mateos to the rail when ATs came up against AA and the kitchen sink.
Level 10: 4k/8k/8k
888Poker’s ambassador, Dominik Nitsche, left the competition when Ike Haxton’s AJ got there on the river in a race against pocket fives. Nick Petrangelo eliminated Orpen Kisacikoglu AT>QJ after an ace landed on the flop, and Sean Winter also lost his footing and fell fatally, although we don’t know who pushed him.
Level 11: 5k/10k/10k
There was only one elimination in Level 11, but it was significant with Bryn Kenney falling to Matthias Eibinger when AQ failed to find any help on the board against QQ.
Level 12: 6k/12k/12k
The deadly David Peters left the contest when Jc9c walked into the Hulk like KK of Stanley Choi. Haxton’s sublime looking JcTd lost to Sergio Aido’s AcKc to end his hopes, and Petrangelo fell in a three-way pileup that saw Jesus Cortes gather enough chips to make a run at this thing, hitting a straight on the river with Dvoress, the other loser in the hand.
Then Carrel eliminated two players when his AhKh found an ace on the flop to beat Jean-Noel THorel’s JsTc and Choi’s pocket nines when all-in pre-flop. We were down to 15-players, and Aido had the chip lead.
Level 13: 8k/16k/16k
Luc Greenwood eliminated Richard Yong when 88 beat A7dd.
Level 14: 10k/20k/20k
Cortes eliminated Seth Davies QQ>88, and Dvoress began battering people, starting with Eibinger, sending the Austrian home TT>AQhh.
Level 15: 10k/25k/25k
Timothy Adams fell to Dvoress next when a turned straight extracted full value from a flopped middle set.
Level 16: 15k/30k/30k
Then Dvoress eliminated the dangerous O’Dwyer after his set of fives pulled every chip from a pair of queens on a 5c6s3d8cJh runout. The final elimination of the day saw the reigning champion, Sam Greenwood, eliminate Michael Soyza when KsQs beat pocket eights after a king on the flop and a queen on the river led to our final table.
The Monte Carlo Bay Casino & Resort is stocking the champagne. Corks can’t wait to pop. The high rollers invade like a gale force wind ploughing through a town made of matches. The PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) is in town, and Day 1 of the €100,000 Super High Roller is like a bun in the oven.
The first day attracted 33-players, and 48-entrants, meaning a Dan Bilzerian glut of bullets, and with registration open until the start of Day 2, expect that number to grow.
So who arrived via the upmarket corner street Thai restaurant?
The Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1, Alex Foxen is in the house, as is the defending champion, Sam Greenwood, and the recent Triton Poker Series Jeju Main Event winner, Timothy Adams.
Talking about Triton, the tour’s founder, Richard Yong is involved as are Triton regs Ivan Leow and Wai Leong Chan. The Aussie Millions Main Event winner, Bryn Kenney is also tangled in this expensive knot, as is the Super High Roller new boy, Jesus Cortes.
When it comes to players in form, look no further than Seth Davies and Michael Soyza.
Seldom do you see someone new enter a cauldron of this intensity. It happened in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in January when Jesus Cortes finished third in the $100,000 and second in the $25,000, and it’s happened again in the principality.
Wiktor Malinowski, 24, made his debut in Day 1 of this event and finished with more chips than 27-foes who made it through to the second day. Malinowski told PokerNews that he’s no stranger to competing at high stakes, as he frequents the highest stakes online, but his appearances in the live realm are as sparse as tweakers in Tescos calmly buying packets of tea.
The Pole’s one cash to date came in 2017 when he finished 187/1204 in the inaugural partypoker MILLIONS UK; the year that Maria Lampropulos became a millionaire.
He’s in prime position to follow her lead.
Let’s take a look at the highlight reel.
The Nutshell Action
Level 3: 1k/1.5k/1.5k
The Spaniard, Jesus Cortes, eliminated Jean-Noel Thorel AK>AJ. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, Michael Addamo, eliminated Daniel Dvoress AK>AQ, and Ahadpur Khangah, also lost a life. All three players re-entered.
Level 4: 1k/2k/2k
The defending champion, Sam Greenwood, had an expensive afternoon, buying in three times. The Canadian lost his first bullet after firing it into the bulletproof vest of Malinowski after flopping two pairs with Qh9h on Qc9d2s versus the pocket aces of the Pole, only for the board to pair on the turn. The money went in on the river.
Level 5: 1k/2.5k/2.5k
Steve O’Dwyer eliminated Stanley Choi in a cooler than saw the pair both get it in with Big Slick, only for O’Dwyer to score a four flush knockout. Choi re-entered.
Level 6: 1.5k/3k/3k
Fresh from his deep run in the €10k event, where he finished fourth, Charlie Carrel started well, sending Thorel to the rail for the second time when pocket jacks beat AJ. The Frenchman bought in for the third time. Other stars to lose a casing in this level were David Peters and Sam Greenwood.
Level 7: 2k/4k/4k
Bryn Kenney’s goal in poker is to own the All-Time Money spot and to do that you need to win events like this. The Aussie Millions Champ began brightly sending Nitsche to the rail 99>AT, Khangah coolered Cortes 88>QQ, after flopping an eight, and the Winamax star, Adrian Mateos also lost a life fighting the demons in this level.
Level 8: 2k/5k/5k
Richard Yong sent the in-form Orpen Kisacikoglu packing when KK bettered AK, and then Christoph Vogelsang, Koray Aldemir and Daniel Dvoress also accrued extra thinking time on the wrong side of the rail.
Dvoress and Vogelsang rebought, but the German’s second bullet lasted as long as a blind barber when he failed to hit his flush draw against Soyza’s set. Chan lost his first life, as did Matthias Eibinger after Khangah’s pocket sixes gobbled up the Austrian’s short stack and Qd4d.
The soon to be crowned chip leader, Malinowski, eliminated Carrel when ATo beat the pretty looking QdTd, and O’Dwyer eliminated Joao Vieira when AdQd found a diamond flush on the turn against pocket sevens.
Here is the end of day chip counts.
End of Day Chip Counts
Wiktor Malinowski – 1,042,000
Ahadpur Khangah – 985,000
Isaac Haxton – 953,000
Sergio Aido – 880,000
Michael Soyza – 813,000
Luc Greenwood – 758,000
David Peters – 530,000
Jean-Noel Thorel – 480,000
Steve O’Dwyer – 480,000
Sam Greenwood – 480,000
Dominik Nitsche – 458,000
Nick Petrangelo – 454,000
Ivan Leow – 428,000
Bryn Kenney – 410,000
Koray Aldemir – 331,000
Sean Winter – 308,000
Christoph Vogelsang – 258,000
Kazuhiko Yotsushika – 250,000
Adrian Mateos – 242,000
Richard Yong – 218,000
Daniel Dvoress – 213,000
Orpen Kisacikoglu – 207,000
Seth Davies – 182,000
Ali Reza Fatehi – 175,000
Alex Foxen – 162,000
Stanley Choi – 133,000
Timothy Adams 132,000
Michael Addamo – 101,000
Previous €100k Monte Carlo Winners
2012: Justin Bonomo (45 entrants) €1,640,000
2013: Max Altergott (49-entrants) €1,539,300
2014: Dan Colman (62-entrants) €1,539,300
2015: Erik Seidel (71-entrants) €2,015,000
2016: Ole Schemion (61-entrants) €1,597,800
2017: Bryn Kenney (61-entrants) €1,784,500
2018: Sam Greenwood (46-entrants) €1,520,000
Thanks to PokerNews for the updates.
May’s birthstone is the Emerald, and the only city made entirely out of the dragon scale gem stands at the end of the yellow brick road. There are those that believe L. Frank Baum’s 1900 classic is a political allegory, and the yellow bricks represent the gold standard.
Wizards.
It’s time to win some bullion.
Four events are promising $25,000+ buy-in events throughout May, and we begin in chronological order.
PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo
PokerStars’ European Poker Tour arrives at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Casino in Monte Carlo gagging for action: 25 April through to the 4 May.
The €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super High Roller will be done and dusted before the start of May, as will a €25,000 and €50,000 buy-in event.
That leaves these two beauties.
Thu 2 – Sat 4 May – €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em EPT High Roller
Fri 3 – Sat 4 May – €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Last season, Sam Greenwood defeated 46-entrants to win the €100,000 buy-in event for €1,520,000. Steve O’Dwyer climbed on top of 41-bodies to take down the €50,000 game for €676,300. Justin Bonomo won two of the three €25,000 events for more than €600,000, combined, and Albert Daher won the 91-entrant €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em EPT High Roller for €595,386.
Triton Poker Series Montenegro
After Monte-Carlo, the best in the business head to the Maestral Resort and Casino in Montenegro for the most ambitious Triton Poker Series to date. There are ten events on tap, including the highest stakes cash games anywhere in the world.
Last season, Phil Ivey defeated 61-entrants to win the $604,992 first prize in the HKD 250,000 Short-Deck event, and Jason Koon took down the HKD 1,000,000 Short-Deck Main Event besting a field of 103-entrants to win a personal best $3,579,836. In the No-Limit Hold’em events, Triton founder, Richard Yong, conquered a field of 35-entrants to win the HKD 250,000 Six-Max, and Mikita Badziakouski won the HKD 1,000,000 Main Event beating 63-entrants to secure the $2,499,184 first prize.
Merit Poker Classic, Kyrenia
2.1k away from Montenegro, as the crow flies, lies the Merit Crystal Cove in Kyrenia, and between Wed 8 and Sat 11 May, there will be a $25,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Super High Roller as part of the Merit Poker Classic.
The 50th Annual World Series of Poker, Las Vegas
After raiding the European larders of chicken legs, noodles and every yellow brick they can find it’s off to Las Vegas and the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
The 50th Anniversary special runs between 28 May and 16 Jul, and beginning on Friday 31 May is the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em (50th Annual High Roller) High Roller with a single re-entry.
Last year, the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em fell at the end of the series with Benjamin Yu defeating 128-entrants to claim the $1,650,773 first prize.
Ready?
We’re off to see the wizards….
The click of the receiver.
Silence.
There’s nothing left to do, except to dig into the scrambled egg world of high stakes poker.
We begin with a look into the lives of the people who gnaw their way out of the womb and into the largest buy-in live multi-table tournaments (MTTs) in the world – first stop, the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, FL.
The World Poker Tour (WPT) set up camp from Thu 4 April – Tue 16 April, and one of those tepees contained the largest buy-in event in the world last week: $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em.
The $2m GTD event attracted 99-entrants, and the double WPT Main Event Champion Aaron Mermelstein defeated the Global Poker Index (GPI) #1, Alex Foxen, heads-up, to bank the $618,955 first prize. It was the first time Mermelstein had cashed in a $10k+ buy-in event outside of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.
Aaron Mermelstein
ITM Results
Aaron Mermelstein – $618,955
Alex Foxen – $545,000
Joe McKeehen – $305,665
James Calderaro – $210,295
Shannon Shorr – $136,935
Niall Farrell – $100,255
Alan Schein – $83,140
George Adams – $70,915
Ben Yu – $68,470
Sean Winter – $66,025
Andjelko Andrejevic – $63,580
Sam Soverel – $61,135
Ali Imsirovic – $58,690
Rainer Kempe – $56,240
Ali Imsirovic sneaked into the money in that one, and three days later turned up at ARIA and beat 24-entrants in a $10,500 No-Limit Hold’em event. It was the Poker Masters’ fourth tournament victory of 2019. The third-place finish for Seth Davies was his third top-three finish in $10k Vegas events in April.
$10k ITM Results
Ali Imsirovic – $102,480
Jake Schindler – $75,120
Seth Davies – $38,400
Sean Perry – $24,000
There were zero $25k+ events in Europe this week, but a high roller reg did win a tournament during the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) UK at Dusk till Dawn (DTD) in Nottingham. Orpen Kisacikoglu won the £5,300 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller, beating Sam Trickett, heads-up, to claim the £90,000 first prize. The event attracted 31-entrants. It was only Kisacikoglu’s second live tournament win despite making 11 final tables in High Roller events in 2018.
In other live tournament news, the $25,500 WPT LAPC winner, Maria Ho, hopes to become the second female to win a WPT Main Event after making the final table of the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. Ho sits second in chips, and the final takes place Thu May 30 at the HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas. Dan Smith will not feature in either the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) in Monaco, or the Triton Poker Series in Montenegro instead keeping his powder dry for Vegas. And speaking of Triton, the brand has added the online betting company 12Bet as their Official Betting Partner. The new deal begins in Montenegro in May.
The Third Rail: Andras Nemeth is the New World Number #1
There was a $25,500 buy-in partypoker POWERFEST Championship event the week. The game engaged the minds of 105-entrants, and the Russian PhileasFogg won the $643,125 first prize, a record for that pseudonym.
And we have a new PocketFives World #1.
Andras ‘probirs’ Nemeth replaces Roman ‘Romeopro’ Romanovskiy at the top of the world rankings for the first time in his career. The Hungarian high roller star hit the top spot after a fantastic first half of April that has seen him win the $10,300 buy-in, $1m GTD partypoker POWERFEST Championship for $311,150, the $1,050 buy-in, $100k GTD PokerStars High Roller Club Daily Warm-Up for $30,435.89, and the $1k Blade on the GGNetwork for $29,340.51. Nemeth has won $12.8m playing online MTTs.
High Stakes Insights: Koon Wants a Union; Hellmuth to be Roasted; Kitai Wins Awards
Triton Poker and partypoker hired Jason Koon, not just because he turns his high stakes opponents into suckling pigs, but because he is also a leader, and this week Koon has turned his attention to the possibility of creating a poker player’s union.
What are your thoughts?
Would it be possible to create a poker players union or other model that would allow people who file as professional poker players access to group insurance and other benefits? I would happily devote effort to help facilitate discussions if possible.
Martin Jacobson appeared in the London Evening Standard this week. The article is a little cat on the leash, but it’s worth pointing out that Jacobson believes to compete with the best in the business you have to consider yourself an elite athlete.
One man who knows a thing or two about elite athletes is Harabalos Voulgaris, and the occasional, high stakes poker punter, has been falling in love with the meditation app Headspace this week. 53 days and climbing.
Headspace isn’t the only meditation app on the market. We have one in the higher echelons of poker in Fedor Holz’s Primed Mind, and this week, the German star was in Coachella playing Connect 4 as mindfully as he could.
In other high stakes jinks, Sam Trickett has sold his home in Retford and moved lock, stock and two smoking barrels to Ibiza, Phil Hellmuth is going to be the victim of a WPT Roast, and a few folks in the poker community are none too pleased that it will be a private affair. One man who has been on the end of a few Hellmuth roasts is Davidi Kitai, and this week the Belgian HR picked up three awards at the Belgian Poker Awards.
Igor Kurganov and Philipp Gruissem’s Raising for Effective Giving (REG) released their 2018 Transparency report. In 2018, REG donors gave $5,160,173 to cost-effective charities, a 20% increase YoY. Chris Kruk is still banging on about the Global Poker Awards and suggests Eric Danis and the team should consider a ‘Bubble of the Year’ award instead of a ‘Live Tournament’ award. And finally, Tom Dwan tweeted something for the first time since July 2018.
I guess it’s finally coming out in the news that trump’s a golf cheat.
We end with this week’s High Stakes Tweet of the Week, and it goes to Bill Perkins, who throughout his recent tour to Japan, continued to force humanity to think about the most pressing matters in life – like not getting splashbacks on your white chinos.
How many men think about the physics of those various plastic devices they put in urinals to prevent your pee from splashing? Asking for a friend. #RandomThoughts#Physics
There is an exciting battle currently ongoing between PokerStars and partypoker to court the attention of the people who play the highest stakes in the business. A hive mentality that could benefit the ecosystem as a whole doesn’t function between these two. It’s bee eat bee.
In previous years, partypoker’s POWERFEST has aligned with PokerStars’ Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) and World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). Rob Yong admitted this had been a mistake, and they rectified it by going it alone.
Only those employed to worry about such things will know if the move was a success. We know one thing. The first POWERFEST of 2019 is over, and bloodshot eyes have the opportunity to return to pristine rose petal white.
A few members of the high rolling fraternity earned some big bucks (whether or not that means they emerged from the series in profit is another thing entirely).
One of the earliest winners in the series was Sam “DeanMalenko” Greenwood who defeated 141-entrants to win the $5,200, $500k GTD 8-Max event for $162,079. Greenwood has earned more than $6.7m playing online multi-table tournaments (MTTs), $1.89m of which has come from partypoker’s tables.
Winning substantial six-figure scores online is not uncommon for Greenwood. The Canadian has clocked-up 12 of them throughout the past decade, with a 2013 SCOOP victory in a $2,100 buy-in event for $377,280 ranking as his best.
As a member of partypoker Team Pro, high roller, Dzmitry “Dzmitry_Urbanovich” Urbanovich, has a contractual obligation to playing in anything (or perhaps he loves it). The Pole won a $5.50, $5k GTD PKO Fast 8-Max event beating 1,452-entrants to claim the POWERFEST title and a few grand in pocket change.
Urbanovich has earned close to $2m playing online MTTs with more than 75% of that bounty coming from PokerStars’ tables. Urbanovich’s most significant online MTT score came last year when he won a $10,300 8-Game High Roller during WCOOP for $225,000.
Few people are playing as well, live and online, as Andras ‘probirs’ Nemeth, and the Hungarian added another notch on his headboard with victory in the $10,300 buy-in, $1m GTD Championship Event. Nemeth beat 127-entrants to collect the $311,150 first prize. Michael “ilove2fish” Telker came second, Conor “ADRIEN_BRODY” Beresford third, and Joao “joaosimaobh” Simao fourth.
Nemeth has earned $12.8m playing online MTTs, and only four people have ever made more. He is currently ranked #1 in the world, overtaking Roman “Romeopro” Romanovsky in the past first days, the first time the Hungarian has reached the pinnacle of the online MTT world.
This win is Nemeth’s eighth six-figure online MTT score, and his most significant remains the $576,087 he won for taking down the $25,000 Super High Roller during SCOOP last year.
There was one $25,500 buy-in event on the POWERFEST schedule, and Russia’s PhileasFogg took time out from travelling around the world in 80-days to win it. The $2.5m GTD Championship Event pulled in 105-entrants, creating a $2,625,000 prize pool, and the Russian picked up $643,125 for the win. Viktor ‘Isildur1” Blom finished fourth and Kristen Krissyb24” Bicknell busted in ninth.
PhileasFogg has earned $9.6m playing online MTTs, with $4.2m coming from the PokerStars tables where he or she performs under the monicker ‘hello_totti.’ The POWERFEST victory is the most significant to date smashing the $160,888 he or she won after taking down the Sunday Million in August.
It’s been a quiet month on the high roller front. Let’s call it the calm before the Triton Poker Series Montenegro storm. The Poker Gods are up there sharpening forks of lightning and creating boom boxes full of thunder. The greatest players in the world are in the starting blocks, finding traction, hearts beating in anticipation of another chance to create history.
Until then….
The World Poker Tour (WPT) may have failed in their bid to create a home for High Rollers when the Alpha8 dream collapsed and drowned beneath a wave of something devastating, but they are slowly adding more $25,000+ events in conjunction with casino partners.
The WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Hollywood had two such events. Elio Fox defended his title in the $50,000, $1m GTD No-Limit Hold’em Super High Roller. Fox conquered a field of 20-entrants to bank the $440,000 first prize, five fewer than when he won this title in August.
The win was Fox’s sixth live tournament victory in $10,000+ events since he re-emerged on the live tournament scene since winning his second gold bracelet in the summer, as well as finishing runner-up to Nick Petrangelo in the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em event in the same series.
Here are the ITM results.
ITM Results
Elio Fox – $440,000
Sam Soverel – $260,000
Alex Foxen – $180,000
Ali Imsirovic – $120,000
$25,500, $2m GTD No-Limit Hold’em High Roller
Poker Central High Roller of the Year, Sam Soverel, Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1, Alex Foxen, and the Poker Master, Ali Imsirovic, also cashed in the $25,500, $2m GTD No-Limit Hold’em High Roller.
Foxen went the furthest, losing to the eventual winner, Aaron Mermelstein, in heads-up action. Foxen has had a bright start to 2019, making eight final tables in live tournaments asking for $10,000+. And yet he hasn’t crossed the finishing line, making it to the last three places, on four separate occasions.
It’s there, around the corner.
The victory was Mermelstein’s first at these stakes, and the first time he has cashed in a $10,000+ buy-in event outside of the WSOP Main Event. The two-time WPT Main Event champion picked up $618,955 for the win, but it wasn’t his most significant score. That came in 2015 when he defeated 989-entrants to win the $3,500 WPT Borgata Winter Open for $712,305.
ITM Results
Aaron Mermelstein – $618,955
Alex Foxen – $545,000
Joe McKeehen – $305,665
James Calderaro – $210,295
Shannon Shorr – $136,935
Niall Farrell – $100,255
Alan Schein – $83,140
George Adams – $70,915
Ben Yu – $68,470
Sean Winter – $66,025
Andjelko Andrejevic – $63,580
Sam Soverel – $61,135
Ali Imsirovic – $58,690
Rainer Kempe – $56,240
$3,500, $3m GTD WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event
The WPT do things a tad different these days. Main Event players that have generated enough heat to set fire to a forest have to cooldown as they wait for the final table to play out at the HyperX Esports Arena in the Luxor Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
The $3,500, $3m GTD WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event is one such event. It attracted 1,360-entrants, and one player who frequents the High Rollers had made the final table.
Maria Ho sits second in chips behind the WPT Champions Club member, James Carroll. Ho is in fine form. She became a WPTDeepStacks Champion in October after beating 387-entrants to win the $69,166 first prize, and since then she has had a deep run in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event (29th), and beaten Kristen Bicknell, heads-up, to win a $25,000 High Roller during the WPT LAPC for $276,690. Also, Ho won the Broadcaster of the Year award at the Global Poker Awards, so if poker doesn’t work out, she can still feed Rainer.
The final table reconvenes on Thursday, May 30.
Final Table
Seat 1: Maria Ho – 16,650,000
Seat 2: Chad Eveslage – 3,350,000
Seat 3: Jerry Wong – 3,225,000
Seat 4: Eric Afriat – 4,425,000
Seat 5: Ami Alibay – 8,175,000
Seat 6: James Carroll – 18,525,000
Payouts
1st. $715,175*
2nd. $465,120
3rd. $344,960
4th. $257,815
5th. $194,610
6th. $148,380
*Includes a seat in the $15,000 Tournament of Champions
High Rollers who carried a cross deep into this one included Erik Seidel (35th), Aaron Mermelstein (53rd), Niall Farrell (55th), Robert Mizrachi (57th), Seth Davies (64th), Darren Elias (89th), Anthony Zinno (96th) and Brian Hastings (139th).
The Best of the Seminole Rest
Brian Altman made the final table of the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em finishing seventh, and then went on to win both the $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max, and the $1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Purple Chip Bounty for approx. $100k in total. Altman is currently the leader of the Global Poker Index (GPI) Player of the Year race.
The Irishman, Gavin O’Rourke, had a fine festival, winning two events, despite a whole host of High Rollers on his coattails in the $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed event, with Jake Schindler (4th), Elio Fox (5th), Niall Farrell (14th) and the former NFL star, Richard Seymour (21st) running deep.
Ben Yu finished 5/56 in the $2,200 Pot-Limit Omaha Deep Stack event, and Kristen Bicknell (6th) and Brian Altman (7th) both made the final table of the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em.
World Series of Poker Circuit UK – Dusk till Dawn
The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) in Dusk till Dawn, Nottingham, UK, didn’t have any $25,000+ buy-in events on the schedule, but there was one high roller who turned up, unperturbed.
Orpen Kisacikoglu was the star of the show cashing in three events, and winning one. The Turkish High Roller finished 57/1737 in the £330 No-Limit Hold’em Colossus, 20/1023 in the £1,100 World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Main Event, but he saved his best for the £5,300 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller.
The event attracted 31-entrants, and Kisacikoglu beat Sam Trickett in heads-up action to win the £90,000 first prize. It’s a significant milestone for the Turkish star as it’s only his second live tour win, and his first in two years, after winning a $10k event at the PokerStars Championships in Panama (beating a final table housing Adrian Mateos, Koray Aldemir, Mike McDonald and Michael Watson).
Kisacikoglu made 11 final tables in High Roller events in 2018 without booking a win.
The only other WSOPC UK event that saw several High Rollers float towards the top of the pile was the £2,200 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller. The former World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Main Event winner, Jack Sinclair, finished third, Paul Newey finished sixth, and although he isn’t a High Roller, he does put enough food on their table, so it’s worth mentioning that partypoker MD, Tom Waters, finished 10th. The event attracted 104-entrants.
If the Global Poker Index (GPI) had an award for Resurrection of the Year, Elio Fox would have made the nomination list. In 2011, Fox earned $2,669,311 playing live tournaments, including winning the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Main Event in Cannes for €1.4m.
Then nothing.
I doubt Fox became a tree surgeon, dedicating his time to saving the dying elm from the microfungus dispersed by bark beetles. There were games. Fox was in them, winning, but they weren’t live multi-table tournaments (MTTs).
Then last year, Fox returned from his deep freeze after a stunning showing at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw him win a bracelet in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super Turbo Bounty, and then finish runner-up to Nick Petrangelo in the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller for $1,798,658.
Fox allowed the tugboats to pull him through the high stakes water for a full year, earning $4,277,915, his best-ever haul, and with it, five tournament wins, including a victory in the $50,000, $1m GTD No-Limit Hold’em Super High Roller at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Florida.
He’s just defended that title.
Fox defeated a field of 20-entrants to capture the $440,000 first prize and then finished 5/182 in a $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em event at the same series. With the WSOP in tripod range, is Fox getting ready to leave his burrow once more?
$50,000 ITM Results
Elio Fox – $440,000
Sam Soverel – $260,000
Alex Foxen – $180,000
Ali Imsirovic – $120,000
Fox was in esteemed company. Sam Soverel is the reigning Poker Central High Stakes Player of the Year, Alex Foxen is the current Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1, and then you have Ali Imsirovic.
Imsirovic was one of the stars of 2018, and the poker community recognised him as such in awarding him the Breakout Player of the Year at the Global Poker Awards (GPA) in Las Vegas a fortnight ago. Imsirovic has started 2019 brightly by winning a $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller at the Bellagio, beating 21-entrants to claim the $105,000 first prize.
$10,000 ITM Results
Ali Imsirovic – $105,000
Kristen Bicknell – $63,000
Seth Davies – $42,000
There were two $10,000 events on the schedule, and Davies won the other one.
$10,000 ITM Results
Seth Davies – $105,800
Aram Zobian – $64,400
Rodger Johnson – $36,800
Alex Foxen – $23,000
When the GPA Jury pondered the Breakout Player of the Year award, it couldn’t have been a massacre with Michael Soyza also in the shortlist. The Malaysian star didn’t allow the snub to affect his performance on the felt, after winning the KRW 10,000,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super High Roller at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) in Paradise City, Incheon, South Korea.
Soyza conquered a field of 65-entrants to win the $157,164 first prize and tweeted: “Ran like God, shipped a tournament. May the heater never end.”
It’s a sweet spot for Soyza after winning the KRW 1,800,000 buy-in Main Event at the same APPT last year for $148,628.
APPT Super High Roller ITM Finishes
Michael Soyza – $157,164
Jiang Chen – $112,834
Huahuan Feng – $73,341
Irshat Shaykhov – $55,342
Wayne Heung – $42,983
Yake Wu – $33,315
Wai Chan – $26,330
Jun Obara – $20,418
Hideki Izutsu – $15,582
Sticking with the Asia-Pacific region and Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi is becoming a frequent feature down under. In 2018, the 3-time WSOP Poker Player’s Championship winner joined forces with the former WSOP Main Event Champion, Joe Hachem, to add some spice to the Australian Poker Tour (APT), and this year he returns May 23 – 26 to compete in the APT Sydney series.
Finally, partypoker is the Official Live Tour Partner of the Triton Poker Series, and the first event where these two titans will join forces is Triton Poker Series Montenegro – a massive ten-day festival of poker featuring two €110,000 buy-in Main Events in both No-Limit and Short-Deck formats.
High Stakes Insights: Negreanu’s Diet; Smith’s Love for Chess; Hellmuth’s Business Deals & Fedor Flabbergasted
Most of us drop the fishing line and come up with a tiddler or two. These guys and gals have an uncanny knack of pulling in more whales than the nasty lot that were caught on hidden cameras filming The Cove.
How do they do it?
When you and I are squeezing blackheads, what are the princes and princesses of poker up to?
The last time we caught up with Dan Smith, he was snowboarding in Japan before spending time in Jeju at the Triton Poker Series. Today, you can find him in Rejkavik, Iceland, where he is competing in the Rejkjavík Open chess competition, an event that predates the WSOP (it began in 1964).
Phil Hellmuth Jr’s brief alliance with partypoker is on the back burner after his first visit to South America where he appeared in the MILLIONS South America event, and that’s given him time to delve into his business dealings. This week the 15-time WSOP bracelet winner joined the advisory boards of Lasso Compression Socks and a gaming company called Shake It Up Dice.
Fans of Fedor Holz got a treat this week when the German star appeared as a guest on Jonathan Little’s Primed Mind spot to answer a series of questions about poker and life. Check it out.
And Holz also got the opportunity to turn into a fanboy after posing for a picture with his idol, the Paris Saint-German (PSG) coach, Thomas Tuchel.
High Stakes Battles: Negreanu v Chip Race; Johnnie Vibes v The World
In between eating, ‘big hearty salads’, and drinking ‘magic mushroom lattes,’ Negreanu found the time to get involved in two high profiles spats last week.
The first occurred during the GPA a fortnight ago and rolled into this week when allegations emerged that Negreanu said “Ewww” when the Chip Race won the Podcast of the Year award.
There is no love lost between The Chip Race founders Dara O’Kearney and Dave Lappin and the PokerStars Ambassador, and their feud recently came to boiling point after the Irishmen lambasted Kid Poker for his comments on what type of players are good and bad for poker.
Well, it seems this one is never going to end after allegations surfaced that Negreanu hinted that there might have been some subterfuge within the GPA Jury that may have helped the Chip Race get over the finishing line.
Of course, this resulted in an angry exchange on Twitter between Lappin and Negreanu (I believe Negreanu blocked O’Kearney during the last battle), where Negreanu declared that he didn’t like Lappin, thought he was a sanctimonious wanker, and even went as far as to call him a liar, liar, pants on fire!
Lappin responded in print, penning a blog post called ‘Who is The Real Troll?’ critiquing Negreanu for bashing a show he has never listened to (http://rocshot.com/lappin/269-who-is-the-real-troll/), and Negreanu reacted by posting a soundbite of the DAT Podcast episode defending himself against the allegations that he suggested the award was rigged.
“I am pretty sure what happened with this one – and I don’t want to ‘reveal’ because I have an inside source – I don’t think the panel listens to all the podcasts, and some voices may have been louder than others and convinced others to vote,” said Negreanu.
The second time Negreanu surfaces this week is in the role of protector after Doug Polk and Shaun Deeb publicly shamed GPA Poker Personality of the Year nominee Johnnie “JohnnieVibes” Moreno for selling a WSOP package to his fans at 1.38 markup despite only winning $66,844 in live tournament earnings.
Deeb began the fight by telling Moreno that in selling a package for almost 1.4 markup means ‘you’re scamming people,’ and Polk added a dose of sarcasm by pointing out his $66,844 in Hendon Mob cashes stating, “Not cool Deeb, Johnnie is an excellent tournament player (He talks about it in his vlog all the time). If he wants to sell at 1.38 on 43k worth of buyins, investors are getting a deal!”
As the debate raged on with most of the voices seemingly siding with Deeb and Polk, Negreanu ran to his aid pointing out that it’s ‘IMPOSSIBLE to get a totally accurate ROI for any tournament. You can ballpark, but no one knows. It’s not scamming at all IMO.”
And that leads us nicely to the Tweet of the Week.
We considered Sorel Mizzi’s recent fascination with the duck on duck violence that is plaguing our planet (think twice before letting your kids throw bread to them unless you want to explain duck rape to a two-year-old).Another day another duck fight. #SunsetParkpic.twitter.com/r3zUQ3mTJf— Sorel Mizzi (@sorelmizzi) April 9, 2019
We also thought long and hard about giving the award to Bill Perkins for his thoughts on shorting the sperm bank to egg bank spread, and his subsequent reversal of thought after seeing this dandy little machine.
Perhaps I won't short the Sperm Bank to Egg Bank spread after all, after seeing this technology 😳😳 https://t.co/Ybfc6RqZl7
As dentists around the globe begin rubbing their hands over the prospect of an influx of chocolate stained toothy customers, April also includes three opportunities for our high rollers to win some Fabergés.
We begin in Europe.
Patrik Antonius
The Estonian capital of Tallinn and the Olympic Park Casino is the venue of choice for Patrik Antonius as the Finnish megastar breaks new ground in creating a tournament series carrying his name.
The purpose of the Patrick Antonius Poker Challenge is for Antonius to gain maximum exposure for his new app: First Land of Poker (FLOP). Antonius has been mute on the finer details of FLOP, but all that will change once the event kicks off 31 March – 7 April.
Antonius has buy-ins across the full breadth of pay scales, and the reason we are talking about it is that on Wednesday 3rd April there is a €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em PAPC High Roller. Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates is one of a plethora of high rollers coming out to support Antonius. If you want to swing along then there is also a €10,300 No-Limit Hold’em PAPC Championship Event spread over two days Sat 6 – Sun 7 April, and plenty of opportunities to compete in high stakes cash games.
The World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Heading over to North America, and the Season XVII of the World Poker Tour (WPT) rumbles on with the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hollywood, Florida 4 – 16 April.
The hosts are going bold in this one hosting a $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super High Roller for the first time Wed 10 – Thu 11 April, in addition to their customary $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller Mon 15 – Tue 16 April. Last season, Brandon Adams, defeated 40-entrants to win the $370,000 first prize in the $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller.
There is also the opportunity to win some big money for a relatively small outlay when the $3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main Event begins 4 – 16 April.
High Rollers that tend to do well at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood include Daniel Colman ($2,510,966), Justin Bonomo ($2,480,463), Jake Schindler ($1,924,015), Jason Koon ($1,529,524) and Jason Mercier ($1,453,247).
ARIA High Rollers
The ARIA is the home of high rolling live events in North America, and they have two games of note pencilled in for April.
Here they are:
Fri 19 April – $26,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller. Sat 20 April – $26,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller.
Here is the current ARIA Top 10 All-Time Money and ITM Cashes Lists.
ARIA Top 10 All-Time Money List
Jake Schindler – $12,387,839
Brian Rast – $12,196,295
Justin Bonomo – $10,725,572
David Peters – $10,204,958
Christoph Vogelsang – $8,465,616
Cary Katz – $8,206,742
Rainer Kempe – $7,989,375
Fedor Holz – $7,480,374
Isaac Haxton – $7,024,170
Thomas Marchese – $6,995,132
ARIA Top 10 Number of Cashes
Cary Katz – 56
Jake Schindler – 51
David Peters – 32
Sam Soverel – 30
Stephen Chidwick – 29
Thomas Marchese – 28
Bryn Kenney – 25
Sean Winter – 24
Justin Bonomo – 23
Jason Koon – 21
Image by PartyPoker
It’s not easy to pin the tail on the Nebuchadnezzar of the poker industry. Is the king of poker a cash game player; tournament player; online; live; or the perfect blend of both. And who casts a vote? Should we shrink the crowd to the droplet of the poker community, or should we broaden it across the ocean of hundreds of thousands of people around the world who have the game running through their veins?
If we did the latter, then one name would surface as the king. A name that the poker industry insiders would scoff at when naming him as the top man, but the poker industry is like Hogwarts. The muggles don’t get to see what’s going on beyond the train station wall.
Phil Hellmuth Jr. spent the last week in Rio de Janeiro as partypoker’s guest during their inaugural MILLIONS South American adventure. As is standard with the man who seems to dwarf any tournament that he rocks up to, his performance off the felt seemed to attract more attention than on it.
On this occasion, Hellmuth Jr’s PR team thought it would be a cracking idea if he entered the $10,300 MILLIONS Main Event accompanied by a samba band resplendent with thong-wearing women, and drummer boys. Only Hellmuth decided to jig into the tournament arena late, drawing precious attention away from the action, and onto him (although I suspect most observers were looking at her, her and her).
Chance Kornuth wasn’t a fan of the grand entrance, posting on Twitter that it ‘shouldn’t be allowed unless ur early/on time. Not fair to distract other players who are making big poker decisions for 15+mins imo.’
Andrew Teng was one of those people making a ‘big poker decision’ while Hellmuth danced his way around the tournament room like the pied piper. Posting on Twitter, Teng wrote, ‘Had to make decision for whole stack while some guy is in the corner dancing with a flag and some kind of carnival band.’
What are your thoughts on Hellmuth’s grand entrances – are they good or bad for the game, and should time be built in for them to avoid bugging the rest of the field?
Hellmuth didn’t have a great run on the felt. The 15-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner only cashed in one event, finishing 3/67 in the $550 No-Limit Hold’em – Win The Button.
MILLIONS South America held two $25,000 buy-in events.
In the first event, 41-entrants created a prize pool of $994,250, in the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Enjoy Punta del Este Super High Roller. partypoker’s decision to use the South American casino as a sponsor provided $500,000 in casino chips distributed between the final five players.
The winner was Jonathan Depa, who defeated Alex Keating, heads-up, to win his first live tournament, after losing heads-up on four separate occasions in the past eight months. Depa picked up $400,000 for his win plus $150,000 in Enjoy casino chips.
By the time the second $25,000 event came around the corner, those who could afford such a sum seemed to have left fearing the plague with Joaquin Melogno topping a field of 14-entrants to win the $180,000 first prize. It was a cracking MILLIONS series for the Uruguayan who also finished 3/97 in the $10,300 High Roller.
The next partypoker MILLIONS event takes place 13-26 May at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal, and there is a two-day CAD 25,000 Super High Roller on the schedule for Sat-Sun 25-26 May.
partypoker Ink Deal With No-Limit Gaming
During the Triton Poker Series in Jeju, we sat down with the Dusk till Dawn (DTD) owner, and partypoker insider, Rob Yong, and learned more on his strategy to make partypoker the #1 live streaming powerhouse in the world.
The revolution began when partypoker became the sponsor for Bill Perkins’ The Thirst Lounge and then continued when the likes of Jeff Gross and Matt and Jamie Staples joining the team.
And this week, more news hit the grapevine.
partypoker is now the primary sponsor of No-Limit Gaming (NLG), the Esports and poker outfit spawned by high stakes poker players Fedor Holz, Stefan Schillhabel and Stefan Sontheimer.
The news means that NLG streamers will play on partypoker’s software, and the team will be present at as many MILLIONS events as they can muster. High rollers live streaming for NLG include the Triple Crown winner Niall Farrell, one of the best players in the world right now, Rainer Kempe, and former Triton Poker Series winner, Manig Loeser.
Fedor Holz on Goals, Bryn Kenney on Magic, Sam Trickett on Football
As a partypoker ambassador, Fedor Holz would have been instrumental in carving out the NLG deal, and this week, the former Triton Poker Series winner, wrote a blog post on his 2019 goals.
Holz wasn’t the only partypoker ambassador ‘sharing’ this week. PokerNews caught up with Sam Trickett to talk his life before poker, specifically, his experience as a semi-professional footballer.
And Trickett wasn’t the only high stakes poker player talking about his life before the game. The Aussie Millions Main Event winner, Bryn Kenney, also joined the fray to talk about the importance that Magic the Gathering had on his life.
Finally, it’s not often that you see Alex Foxen sitting down for an interview, but SoMuchPoker got the scope recently. Learn more about the Global Poker Index (GPI) #1 right here.
Foxen and his partner Kristen Bicknell will be in Las Vegas on April 5 to pick up their awards for the 2018 GPI Player and Female Player of the Year at the inaugural Global Poker Awards (GPA).
The GPA is the amalgamation of the European and American Poker Awards, operated by the GPI, and the industry widely criticised the nomination process, particularly in the Live Streaming and Vlogging Categories.
A 130-person nomination panel nominated Jason Somerville as Streamer of the Year despite the PokerStars ambassador hardly putting out any content, and noises of discontent clanged over Doug Polk’s nomination in the Vlogger of the Year Category, with Polk himself calling the awards a joke.
The GPI reacted by posting a statement on social media reassuring the community that they had taken the feedback on board and would make the necessary changes in 2020.
In the meantime, here are the High Rollers up for nomination.
Justin Bonomo and John Cynn fight it out with Maria Lampropulos and Dylan Linde for the Tournament Performance of the Year.
Ali Imsirovic and Michael Soyza feature in the Breakout Player of the Year Category alongside Ping Liu and Maria Konnikova.
Doug Polk and Daniel Negreanu feature in the Vlogger of the Year Category alongside Marle Cordeiro, Joe Ingram and Andrew Neeme.
Maria Ho and Nick Schulman are in the running for the Broadcaster of the Year award. Cary Katz and Rob Yong could win the Industry Person of the Year prize. ARIA’s Paul Campbell is a favourite to win the Tournament Director of the Year award, and Triton Poker Series livestream broadcaster, Lex Veldhuis, features in the Streamer of the Year and Broadcaster of the Year Categories.
Tournament Dates Live and Online
PokerStars announced the dates ( May 12 to May 27) for the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), but have so far left the meat out of that particular sandwich.
The Triton Poker Series returns to the Maestral Resort & Casino in Montenegro May 5 to May 17. It’s going to be the biggest Triton event ever, with ten events spread over 13-days, including new formats such as Short-Deck and No-Limit Hold’em Turbo, and Pot Limit Omaha.
