Category: My news, views and fun facts

Wiktor Malinowski

partypoker drove down the online poker’s high roller street in their double-decker bus this weekend. The ‘High Roller Club’ is their latest revamped and rock n roll high stakes billboard, and in this little ditty, we will bring you the results.

partypoker’s ‘High Roller Club’ consists of 13 events (Mon-Sat) and 6 on Sunday. Buy-in constellations twinkle between $530 and $25,000, and that puts them right up there with the action on GGPoker.

Two of the events carry a $1m guarantee.

High Roller Club: $5,200 The Big Game

High Roller Club: $25,000 Main Event

Wiktor Malinowski overcame all impediments on his way to victory in the $25,000 Main Event. The polished Pole overcame a final table that housed the likes of Nick Schulman, Justin Bonomo and Matthias Eibinger, but it was Steve O’Dwyer who Malinowski beat heads-up for the title.

Here are the results.

  1. Wiktor Malinowski – $443,750
  2. Steve O’Dwyer – $296,875
  3. Giuseppe Iadisernia – $190,625
  4. Matthew Wood – $121,875
  5. Nick Schulman – $81,250
  6. Justin Bonomo – $62,500
  7. Matthias Eibinger – $53,125

The sharks also dove deep into the $1m GTD Big Game, including Malinowski, who finished eighth. Ali Imsirovic, Luke Reeves and Daniel Dvoress also made the final table. Muehloecker defeated Teun Mulder, heads-up, for the title and $203,900 in prize money.

Here are the results.

  1. Thomas Meuhloecker – $203,900
  2. Teun Mulder – $148,000
  3. Daniel Dvoress – $105,500
  4. Omar Alomar – $78,000
  5. Rok Gostica – $55,000
  6. Luke Reeves – $42,000
  7. Ali Imsirovic – $31,000
  8. Wiktor Malinowski – $23,000

Dario Sammartino is another high roller that made a mark on the high roller scene this weekend winning the $200k GTD Knockout contest for $54,286.

Schindler With a Showing at GGPoker

Only three people entered the Bryn High Rollers $5k on Monday, and Jake Schindler defeated Ali Imsirovic and AndyAtTheBike to claim the $14,250 first prize. Schindler also finished second in a second Bryn High Rollers $5k that attracted 16-entrants. AndyAtTheBike won that one for $49,400.

World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet bucket-list lovers will be in a state of reverie, this morning after the iconic institution announced plans to organise two online bracelet series.

The Coronavirus pandemic crushed poker’s soul like the wings of a butterfly between toddler’s thumbs as it surged through the universe, killing hundreds of thousands of people, and the summer WSOP.

The WSOP acted rapidly, agreeing upon a deal to host a World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Online Series with new partners GGPoker. You sensed at the beginning of that incredible 18 gold ring experiment that the WSOP had the receptivity to shift their entire gold bracelet schedule online (the series generated more than $130m in prize money).

Now, it’s official.

WSOP Online Bracelet Events

Grinders, go out and get yourself a comfy seat cushion because you’re going to be busy.

The plan is for WSOP.com to host a daily bracelet event throughout July (31, if you can’t be bothered to do that thing in your head that reminds you how many days there are in each month).

There are drawbacks.

Due to regulations, the variety of tournaments is limited to No Limit Hold ’em (NLHE) or Pot Limit Omaha (PLO), and the buy-in level is capped with the most extreme buy-in a $3,500 NLHE High Roller, but one doubts it will lead to a fragile state of mind.

Three of the WSOP’s marquee events have leapt to the online realm with The BIG 50, Monster Stack and Senior Event brands included in the schedule. The cilantro on this yellow split-pea soup is a $1,000 No Limit Hold ’em Championship on Fri, Jul 31 at 15:00 (PDT).

You can qualify for bracelet events through the online satellite system for less than a buck, and the WSOP is also putting on a $100,000 Online Bracelet Series Leaderboard (although there is no word on prizes). Competing players must have their butts firmly ensconced in either New Jersey or Nevada, meaning Delaware residents don’t get to taste that split-pea soup.

GGPoker Bracelet Events

GGPoker will host 54 bracelet events.

The good thing about the WSOP’s relationship with GGPoker is their ability to offer a broader range of event types, and a higher buy-in ceiling, with $25,000 buy-in events frequently running on the site.

There is no schedule presently, but we know the action starts July 19 and runs to Sep 6.

“It wouldn’t be Summer without WSOP,” said Ty Stewart, executive director of the WSOP. “While we are thrilled to be reopening our venues and optimistic about future offline events, we couldn’t be more excited about deepening our relationship with GGPoker and watching some history unfold online this summer.”

WSOP Sponsorship

As WSOP extends its relationship with GGPoker, it will be interesting to see what happens to their long-term sponsorship partnership with 888Poker. While it’s not out of the question for WSOP to have multiple online partners (including partypoker), one imagines online operators will push for exclusivity.

The Schedule

The WSOP’s Ty Stewart made the point that these events are not direct replacements for their live sister, but run as a separate concept, providing more value for their players at a unique time for civilisation. Still, should it turn out to be the resounding success one expects it to be, then it’s going to be challenging for the WSOP not to repeat the online experience annually. If you remember the furore that emerged from some quarters of the poker community during the creation of the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), it will be interesting to see what the poker world thinks of this move if it does become a permanent fixture in the poker calendar.

The WSOP harbours hopes of running a live WSOP in the winter, and that could be bad news for other live tour operators clamouring to fire their own last-ditch 2020 salvos.

Here is the schedule for the WSOP.com events.

WSOP.com Schedule*

Event #1: Jul 1, $500 NLHE Kick-Off
Event #2: Jul 2, $1,000 NLHE DeepStack
Event #3: Jul 3, $400 NLHE
Event #4, Jul 4, $500 NLHE Super-Turbo
Event #5: Jul 5, $1,000 NLHE Freezeout
Event #6: Jul 6, $600 PLO8 – 6-Handed
Event #7: Jul 7, $800 NLHE Knockout DeepStack
Event #8: Jul 8, $500 NLHE Freezeout
Event #9: Jul 9, $1,000 NLHE 6-Max
Event #10: Jul 10, $600 NLHE Monster Stack
Event #11: Jul 11, $500 NLHE Turbo DeepStack 6-Handed
Event #12: Jul 12, $500 The BIG 500 NLHE
Event #13: Jul 13, $1,500 NLHE High Roller Freezeout
Event #14: Jul 14: $3,200 NLHE High Roller
Event #15: Jul 15, $1,000 PLO High Roller
Event #16: Jul 16, $500 NLHE Turbo
Event #17: Jul 17, $777 NLHE
Event #18: Jul 18, $1,000 NLHE Turbo DeepStack
Event #19: Jul 19, $400 NLHE
Event #20: Jul 20, $500 PLO 6-Handed
Event #21: Jul 21, $777 NLHE 6-Handed
Event #22: Jul 22, $500 NLHE Turbo DeepStack
Event #23: Jul 23, $500 NLHE DeepStack
Event #24: Jul 24. $400 NLHE
Event #25: Jul 25, $500 NLHE Summer Saver
Event #26: Jul 26, $500 NLHE Grand Finale
Event #27: Jul 27, $400 NLHE Freezeout
Event #28: Jul 28, $1,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 6-Handed
Event #29: Jul 29, $600 NLHE Turbo DeepStack 6-Handed
Event #30: Jul 30, $500 NLHE Senior’s Event
Event #31: Jul 31, $1,000 NLHE Championship

*All events start at 15:00 (PDT), and it’s unknown if they will be 1 or 2 day events.

Mike Postle will not be spending a lifetime behind bars, nor repaying hundreds of thousands of dollars to the 80+ people who hired a lawyer and sued the man for cheating on the Stones Gambling Hall live stream.

Californian judge, William B. Shubb, dismissed all 14 charges levied at the shady disposition of Postle and Tournament Director, Justin Kuraitis, along with Stones Gambling Hall’s owners King’s Casino, leaving whistleblower Veronica Brill seething on Twitter.

To bring you up to speed, Brill alleged that Postle cheated players out of hundreds of thousands of dollars while playing on the Stones Gambling Hall’s live stream. The scientists within the poker community suggested that Postle’s win rate was blatantly absurd, and Postle maintained that he was a live poker sage in the same ilk of Michael Jordan is to basketball.

The Losses

The judge dismissed the five counts levied at Postle (fraud, negligences, misrepresentation, negligence per se and unjust enrichment), and the four aimed at Kuraitis. On the latter, the judge said that the Tournament Director was not responsible for ensuring that the ‘game was carried out in a manner reasonably free of cheating.’

The judge also dismissed the six complaints gathered against Stones Gambling Hall’s owners King’s Casino (negligent misrepresentation, negligence, constructive fraud, fraud, libel per se against Brill, and violation of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA)).

Judge Shubb didn’t completely shut the door in Ver Standig’s face, allowing him to gather further evidence, especially in the case against King’s.

The failure of the plaintiffs to disclose the identity of the alleged co-conspirator who provided Postle with hole card information worked against them, but the judge is giving them time to find a name. The judge also wants to know the dates that the plaintiffs competed in the alleged game so that the correct rake can be determined. 

The VerStandig View

In an op-ed showcased on PokerNews, VerStandig cited the main issue as being an 1851 law that disallows gamblers to bring civil cases to the beak due to the illegal nature of gambling at that time. 

Ver Standig doesn’t blame the judge; he blames the antiquated law.

“The discomforting aspect, rather, is that California – a major industrial state with a vibrant economy of legal card rooms up-and-down the Pacific shoreline – still adheres to an antebellum doctrine by which gamblers may not seek judicial recourse for their cheated losses.”

He goes on to say that he is disappointed that a ‘licensed and legal casino’ would rely on this doctrine and the message that speaks to their customers.

VerStandig also cited Mike Postle as a victim, albeit tongue in cheek.

“He {Postle} has, from the outset, insisted his play was pure and simply gifted in nature. His surrogates have plastered poker Twitter, various websites, and the industry’s message boards with protestations of his innocence. He is simply slowrolling us all, the narrative often goes; soon enough he’ll avenge his good name.

“Mr. Postle is now deprived of that opportunity. He did not secure dismissal of this lawsuit because the plaintiffs could not colorably allege he was cheating or even how he did it. He did not prevail by convincing others of his deep intellectual poker prowess. He was let out because he had the altogether perverse luck of living in a state that has not appreciably changed its views on the justiciability of gaming obligations since the Millard Fillmore administration.”

Here are the memorandum and order.

And a link to VerStandig’s op-ed.

Here is VerStandig to show us to the door.

“Our suit will go forward against at least Stones Gambling Hall; the court has afforded us leave to amend our complaint, and we will do so. This column is not a postmortem.”

The weekend is over, and we have a high stakes online poker round-up for you.

We begin at GGPoker and the costliest buy-in of the weekend. It ran under the “Bryn High Rollers” sigil and had a $25,000 price tag. The event attracted 28-entrants, and after the Spaniard, Sergi Reixach bubbled, four people finished in the money (ITM).

The former Global Poker Index (GPI) Player of the Year, David Peters, finished fourth, and the two-time Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) winner, Timothy Adams, finished third.

That left Wiktor Malinowski and George Wolff to entertain the digital rail in the main spectacle of the weekend with Wolff collecting the win. Here are the results in full.

Bryn High Rollers $25,000 No Limit Hold’em

28-entrants

Results

1. George Wolff – $308,385.76

2. Wiktor Malinowski – $189,533.17

3. Timothy Adams – $116,487.39

4. David Peters – $71,593.08

Adams made a second final table, finishing fifth in a $10,000 No Limit Hold’em event. 38-entrants went through the turmoil of this one, with Adrian Mateos and Alexandros Kolonias cutting a heads-up deal that saw Mateos collect $128,064.77 and the title. The Poker Masters Online winner from Greece received $122,078.85. 

Here are the full results.

Bryn High Rollers $10,000 No Limit Hold’em

38-entrants

Results

1. Adrian Mateos – $128,064.77*

2. Alexandros Kolonias – $122,078.85*

3. Allinbox905 – $58,478.39

4. AkrasiaA – $36,808.87

5. Timothy Adams – $23,169.12

*Indicates a heads-up deal.

A $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event finished the diet of high stakes events on GGPoker this weekend. The event attracted 36-entrants, and Laurynas Levinskas beat Ali Imsirovic, heads-up, for the title and $72,945.84 in prize money. The $25k winner, Wolff, finished fifth. 

Here are the results.

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em

36-entrants

Results

1. Laurynas Levinskas – $72,945.84

2. Ali Imsirovic – $43,100.17

3. BIGfcknNIT – $27,129.15

4. Tonythetiger – $17,076.28

5. George Wolff – $10,748.56

World Poker Tour Online News

The World Poker Tour’s (WPT) partnership with partypoker continues to roll. We don’t know the full details, but PokerNews UK Editor, Matthew Pitt, noticed two WPT branded events sitting in the partypoker lobby.

There is a $10,300 WPT World Championship Main Event and a Mini Main Event pencilled in for the future. The events will be #9 & #10, suggesting more vice to come.

The $10,300 event features two flights, and everyone begins with 100,000 chips with blinds increasing every 30-minutes. The $1,050 Mini Main Event mirrors its big sister.

SCOOP: The Numbers

After 33 days of play, the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) series squeezed 124-events, and 371 tournaments into its roster. There were 2,787,301 entrants, including 486,301 re-entries, producing an average field size of 7,513.

$185,112,333 went to the players, making it the biggest SCOOP in history, and the high stakes star Rui “RuiNF” Ferreira won the Player of the Year award. The Portuguese star fired 595 bullets during the series, finishing ITM 115 times, accruing $585,983.05 in prize money. Talal ‘raidalot’ Shakerchi made the second most gross profit competing in 618-events, finishing ITM 99 times and earning $519,276.25. Patrick ‘pads1161’ Leonard competed in 606 events, finishing ITM 97 times, and earning $258,584.90.

On the multiple event front:

Connor ‘blanconegro’ Drinan – 5 titles

Mike ‘SirWatts’ Watson – 3 titles

The UK edged out the Brazilian-based players with 46 wins versus 45 with Russia coming third with 37.

You won’t see a hot air balloon bearing the GGPoker brand name and the slogan “We Are The Home of High Stakes Poker.’ Still, a rooster is reminding high stakes players that frequent stormy games are ranging from $25/$50 to $200/$400 with No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha and Short Deck on the menu.

Things are simple circumventing the high stakes poker scene. You sit down at a table, and you see a face. Unfortunately, it’s not the same in the online world, and for this reason, many top pros feel unsafe competing in games, and a few believe certain forms of online poker will die out due to integrity concerns.

GGPoker is not indolent about these threats. 

In a bid to help foster a ‘live feel’ to their online product, GGPoker has reached out to their VIPs to advise them to change their pseudonyms to their real names, and provide proof in the shape of a passport or driving license or find somewhere else to play.

Here is the correspondence sent to VIP players from GGPoker.

“Thank you for being an active member of our VIP Games. We are contacting you to inform you of our new VIP Game policy. It has recently come to light that some players are creating multiple accounts to hide [sic] identity and target weaker players despite our effort to police it. This is affecting the safety of our VIPs and hurting the integrity of the game. As such, we plan on progressively converting players’ nicknames to their Real Names.

“Once we have received and verified the document, your Nickname will be converted to your Real Name. Subsequently, you will no longer be allowed to use any other multi-accounts on [sic] GGPoker Network, which includes all skins on the network.

“If you do not wish to comply, we regret to inform you that we can no longer accept your services. In this case, please cease playing and cash out your balance immediately.”

So far, the rules only cover high stakes cash games. GGPoker does have an extensive high stakes multi-table tournament (MTT) schedule, but currently, players can choose to use their real names or select an alias. 

The use of real names in high stakes games began at partypoker, with the Poker Masters Online, Super High Roller Bowl Online and World Poker Tour Online Championships all making actual name participation mandatory.

WSOPC Online Series: The Numbers

The first foray into international online waters for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) was a resounding success. The $100m GTD WSOP Circuit Online Series generated $134,706.274 in prize money, 30% higher than the promise.

The 516 tournament structure attracted 485,851 entrants, and close to $50m of the generated prize money came from the 18 gold ring events that acted as the main attraction.

Every single tournament nailed its guarantee.

The biggest single prize came in the $1,000, $5m GTD Main Event where ‘schimmelgodx’ earned $1.2m for conquering the 9,779 entrant field. 

Multi MILLION$

On the bread and butter front, GGPoker is rolling out a new initiative called Multi MILLION$. It’s a series of three weekly ‘Phased-Tournaments,’ with a combined $3,150,000 in guarantees. 

Global MILLION$ – $100 buy-in, $1m GTD

High Roller MILLION$ – $500 buy-in, $2m GTD

Zodiac MILLION$ – 500 Yuan buy-in, 1m Yuan GTD

Day 1’s will run daily and around the clock with the Day 2 starting every Sunday at 18:00 (GMT).

If you have spent the past month knocking back Kingfishers from the carcasses of coconuts while grinding the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Online Series at GGPoker, then there will be a funereal gloominess about you, today.

It’s over, for now.

While I am positive that this event will clone itself like a sea anemone, GGPoker continues to melt high roller hearts, WSOP or no WSOP.

The final event of the WSOPC created one of the most substantial prizes on the Internet this week. Of the 9,291-entrants who made the perilous journey through the misty mountains of Day 1 of the $1,000 buy-in, $5m GTD WSOPC Main Event, 1.494 made it through to Day 2, by which time the $9,291,000 prize pool dwarfed the $5m guarantee.

The winner hailed from Germany.

‘schimmelgodx’ collected $1,271,217.69 after beating ‘Biereux’ in heads-up action. Juan Pardo Dominguez went deeper than any other high roller, finishing fourth for $430,022.47, and these stars of the top strata followed him: Artur Martirosian (12th), Alexandros Kolonias (19th), Joao Vieira (31st), and Daniel Dvoress (32nd).

Here are the results

Results

  1. schimmelgodx – $1,271,217.69
  2. Biereux – $885,746.81
  3. Igutu – $617,164.03
  4. Juan Pardo Dominguez – $430,022.47
  5. TepuseenFD – $299,627.33
  6. CoRoNaTi – $208,771.57
  7. MaillouL – $145,466.38
  8. wy77 – $101,356.30

Before, during and after this magnificent moment, GGPoker kept churning out the high roller action like London horizons churn out cumulus.

Isaac Haxton took down the most significant chunk of change, topping a 60-entrant field in a $25,000 No Limit Hold’em event for $456,764.45, after beating Linus Loeliger, heads-up. There were also wins for Matthias Eibinger at the $10,000 level, and victories for Dario Sammartino, Laurynas Levinskas, Alex Foxen, Adrian Mateos, Jake Schindler, Mikita Badziakouski, and Kristen Bicknell at the $5,000 level. Andras Nemeth won the only high buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha event, taking down a $5,000.

Here are the Results:

$25,000 No Limit Hold’em

60-entrants

Results

  1. Isaac Haxton – $456,764.45
  2. Linus Loeliger – $287,450.12
  3. Deepdarkwood – $217,470.47
  4. Sub-Zero – $164,527.25
  5. Alexandros Kolonias – $124,473.13
  6. Ali Imsirovic – $94,170.11
  7. Artur Martirosian – $71,244.43
  8. George Wolff – $53,900.04

$10,000 No Limit Hold’em

84-entrants

Results

  1. Matthias Eibinger – $198,735.16
  2. Dario Sammartino – $151,387.06
  3. pDNA – $115,319.62
  4. Linus Loeliger – $87,845.13
  5. Jake Schindler – $66,916.34
  6. Nator – $50,973.72
  7. Isaac Baron – $38,829.45
  8. Timothy Adams – $29,578.46
  9. George Wolff – $26,767.56

$5,000 Pot Limit Omaha

38-entrants

Results

  1. Andras Nemeth – $76,998.40
  2. Andreas Torbergsen – $45,494.62
  3. coronita – $28,636.32
  4. Magicmaster69 – $18,024.96
  5. 20BigWhale20 – $11,345.70

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em

112-entrants

Results

  1. Dario Sammartino – $121,843.29
  2. Samuel Vousden – $91,774.30
  3. Alex Foxen – $69,080.73
  4. Pascal Hartmann – $52,015.71
  5. Matthias Eibinger – $39,166.26
  6. Alexnadros Kolonias – $29,490.99
  7. Timothy Adams – $22,205.83
  8. cliffbooth – $16,720.33
  9. Trashdawg – $14,748.26

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em

58-entrants

Results

  1. Laurynas Levinskas – $95,443.37
  2. Trashdawg – $58,329.65
  3. David Peters – $42,108.05
  4. Jake Schindler – $30,397.70
  5. Kristen Bicknell – $21,944.04
  6. Pascal Hartmann – $15,841.36
  7. Jonathan Van Fleet – $11,435.83

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em

22-entrants

Results

  1. Alex Foxen – $54,601.25
  2. Tonythetiger – $33,029.35
  3. Ali Imsirovic – $16,869.39

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em

67-entrants

Results

  1. Adrian Mateos – $68,710.30*
  2. Nick Petrangelo – $77,308.85*
  3. Luuk Gieles – $45,737.48
  4. Dan Smith – $35,761.27
  5. Sam Greenwood – $27,961.06
  6. HogFish333 – $21,862.21
  7. George Wolff – $17,093.65
  8. Artur Martirosian – $13,365.19
  9. David Peters – $10,449.99

*Indicates a heads-up deal

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em

65-entrants

Results

  1. Jake Schindler – $95,936.10
  2. Adrian Mateos – $60,374.30
  3. Ali Imsirovic – $45,676.19
  4. Dan Smith – $34,556.31
  5. Porsche911sp – $26,143.59
  6. Sergi Reixach – $19,778.92
  7. BigWhale20 – $14,963.75
  8. Sam Greenwood – $11,320.84

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em

66-entrants

Results

  1. Mikita Badziakouski – $97,412.04
  2. Rui Ferreira – $61,303.13
  3. Vamossuerte – $46,378.90
  4. Adrian Mateos – $35,087.95
  5. Alexandros Kolonias – $26,545.80
  6. TheProfessional – $20,083.21
  7. Jake Schindler – $15,193.96
  8. Pascal Hartmann – $11,495.01

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em

44-entrants

Results

  1. TheProfessional – $89,156.02
  2. Jake Schindler – $52,677.99
  3. AndyAtTheBike – $33,157.85
  4. Pascal Hartmann – $20,871.01
  5. Fedor Holz – $13,137.13

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em

122-entrants

Results

  1. Kristen Bicknell – $88,387.40*
  2. Alex Foxen – $99,929.86*
  3. Isaac Baron – $108,820.35*
  4. Ami Barer – $55,909.17
  5. Michael Addamo – $42,529.38
  6. DanBiz – $32,351.51
  7. Dnegking – $24,609.33
  8. Adiemeerci – $18,719.99
  9. Andras Nemeth – $14,240.05

*Indicates a threeway deal

PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker

The final day of the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) saw Steve ‘Mr. Tim Caum’ O’Dwyer come close to winning his third title of the series.

O’Dwyer finished runner-up to the partypoker pro Joao ‘IneedMassari’ Simão in Event #120: $2,100 No Limit Hold’em Sunday Warm-Up Special Edition.

The event attracted 418-entrants, and the former PocketFives World #1 earned $150,546.78 for his victory. O’Dwyer collected $112,819.20 for his second-place finish.

O’Dwyer won a $25,000 No Limit Hold’em event for $521,598, and a $10,300 event for $241,956 – the first time he has earned SCOOP honours a year after winning a World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) title for the first time.

Justin Bonomo

There is a pattern to Justin Bonomo’s behaviour at the poker table. The one-time leader of the All-Time Money List on The Hendon Mob tends to pick up the wins in the tournaments containing the most significant prize pools.

In 2018, Bonomo won $25.4m during a run that saw him win two Super High Roller Bowl titles and the Big One for One Drop. In 2019, during the aftermath of Bryn Kenney ripping his All-Time Money ranking from his grip, Bonomo reacted by winning the £100,000 No Limit Hold’em Short Deck at the Triton Million London for $3.2m (the largest score outside of the £1m buy-in event).

Then you have the Super High Roller Bowl Online (SHRBO).

Of the 27 preliminary events, Event #11: $25,500 No Limit Hold’em distributed the wealthiest first prize ($622,634), and who would go on to win it – yes you’ve guessed it: Justin Bonomo.

Not content with his five cashes and more than $800,000 in prize money, Bonomo became the first player in history to win three SHRB titles, after conquering the 50-entrant field in the $102,000 buy-in masterpiece.

The Final Table

The final day began with Ali Imsirovic holding the chip lead, but the former Poker Master fell in ninth leaving Pauli Ayras to enter the final table with the biggest stack.

The final began with eight, and the name missing from the picture is Orpen Kisacikoglu unceremoniously cut from the frame by Michael Addamo to send everyone else into the money. The London-based Turkish star left with nothing.

Addamo would continue to play a pivotal role in the final, eliminating both Ayras and David Peters in fourth and third to set up a heads-up clash with Bonomo, holding 65% of the chips in play.

Both Addamo and Bonomo had won events during the preliminary rounds. Bonomo collected the $622,634 purse in Event #11: $25,500 No Limit Hold’em, and Addamo won the $228,800 top prize in Event #27: $10,300 No Limit Hold’em a day before this event began. Two top pros, both in form, as the heads-up duel reflected.

The final fight took longer than the entirety of the final table action that preceded it. The lead moved from top brass to top brass until in the final hand, Addamo called from the button holding a pair of ladies, Bonomo jammed with the more towering stack and Kh5d, and Addamo made the call. Bonomo flopped a second king and turned the third king to win the title, and capture the biggest prize of the series.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Justin Bonomo – $1,775,000
  2. Michael Addamo – $1,187,500
  3. David Peters – $762,500
  4. Pauli Ayras – $487,500
  5. Dan Shak – $325,000
  6. Linus Loeliger – $250,000
  7. Sam Greenwood – $212,500

If you’ve tuned into the Super High Roller Bowl Online (SHRBO) coverage, there’s a hangover coming.

It’s over.

Well, nearly.

The preliminary rounds are over, and going into the final day, it came down to a battle between a Swede and Russian for the $102,000 SHRBO seat.

Going into the final triumvirate of tournaments, Viktor Blom led the way, with Artur Martirosian in second place. If Blom could put in a better performance than Martirosian, then nothing the Russian could do would prevent the online legend from finishing on top of the podium.

It didn’t happen.

Blom failed to cash in any of the last three events.

In contrast, Martirosian put in another sterling performance, finishing runner-up to Linus Loeliger in the $25,500 No Limit Hold ’em event, and third and tenth in the final $10,300 No Limit Hold ’em events to generate an additional 351-points, sailing to the top of the leaderboard.

The Russian is one of the newest high rollers on the block, and it’s been quite the entrance, adding the $1.8m earned in the SHRBO preliminaries to the $1.3m accumulated during the Poker Masters Online Series a few weeks ago.

Martirosian will be one of the favourites competing in the $102,000 SHRBO, but who will join him?

Samuel Vousden crushed the 103-entrant field in Event #25: $10,300 No Limit Hold ’em. Vousden toppled the two-time SHRB winner, Timothy Adams, heads-up, to earn $252,350 – will he invest it in an SHRBO seat?

Linus Loeliger was the biggest earner of the Poker Masters Online Series ($1.5m), and he hasn’t done too poorly in this one. The Swiss star ended the series with $833,532 in gross profit, with $520,000 earned after he defeated Martirosian in the heads-up phase of Event #26: $25,500 No Limit Hold ’em – will he invest it in an SHRBO seat?

Finally, Michael Addamo overcame the 88-entrant field in Event #27: $10,300 No Limit Hold ’em to secure the $228,800 first prize after beating Mikita Badziakouski in heads-up action – will he invest it in an SHRBO seat?

Here are the results in full.

Event #25: $10,300 No Limit Hold’em

103-entrants

Results

  1. Samuel Vousden – $252,350
  2. Timothy Adams – $180,250
  3. Thomas Muehloecker – $128,750
  4. Lucas Reeves – $90,125
  5. Nick Schulman – $66,950
  6. Christian Rudolph – $51,500
  7. Kahle Burns – $41,200
  8. Nick Petrangelo – $33,475

Event #26: $25,500 No Limit Hold’em

64-entrants

Results

  1. Linus Loeliger – $520,000
  2. Artur Martirosian – $352,000
  3. Kristen Bicknell – $236,000
  4. William Foxen – $148,000
  5. Timothy Adams – $116,000
  6. George Wolff – $92,000
  7. Christoph Vogelsang – $76,000
  8. Isaac Haxton – $60,000

Event #27: $10,300 No LImit Hold’em

88-entrants

Results

  1. Michael Addamo – $228,800
  2. Mikita Badziakouski – $162,800
  3. Artur Martirosian – $114,400
  4. Kahle Burns – $79,200
  5. Dan Smith – $61,600
  6. Luuk Gieles – $44,000
  7. Ilya Anatski – $35,200
  8. Sam Greenwood – $30,800

Leaderboard Results

  1. Artur Martirosian – 1,288 points*
  2. Viktor Blom – 1,114
  3. Dan Smith – 780
  4. Matthias Eibinger – 735
  5. Kristen Bicknell – 649

*Wins a $102,000 seat into the SHRBO

Money Won Leaderboard

  1. Artur Martirosian – $1,795,395
  2. Viktor Blom – $1,552,025
  3. Dan Smith – $1,037,019
  4. Linus Loeliger – $833,532
  5. Matthias Eibinger – $821,391

ITM Finishes

  1. Mikita Badziakouski – 10
  2. Dan Smith – 9
  3. Kristen Bicknell – 9
  4. Artur Martirosian – 8
  5. Timothy Adams – 8
  6. Nick Petrangelo – 8

The $102,000 SHRBO starts Tuesday 2 June, as does the final event Event #29: $10,300 No Limit Hold ’em.

Sam Greenwood

I know.

On the morning that a court handed Carole Baskin the keys to Joe Exotic’s former zoo, you’re wondering if there is any justice in the world?

Well, justice served on the virtual felt on Day 9 of the Super High Roller Bowl Online (SHRBO).

When Sam Greenwood enters a poker competition, he can extinguish people’s light like a great mass of cumulus clouds. The luck element helps keep his rampages from being too expansive, but he’s managed to swerve the deck’s shadow these past few days to earn a couple of titles.

Greenwood thwarted the hopes of 50-entrants to claim the top prize of $200,000 by winning Event #24: $10,300 No Limit Hold ’em. The Canadian also won Event #20: $25,000 No Limit Hold ’em for $399,000. Despite his two wins, Greenwood isn’t in the running for the free SHRBO seat, but once again underlines his brilliance in the Cadillac of Poker.

One man who is in with a shout of winning the preliminary leaderboard, and with it, a seat in the $102,000 SHRBO is Artur Martirosian. The Russian finished runner-up to Stephen Chidwick in Event #23: 25,500 No Limit Hold ’em for his sixth in the money (ITM) finish, most of which have been at the deeper end of the pool. The win is Chidwick’s first ITM finish of the series, and the name of the great man has been mysteriously absent in the animated online poker meanderings during the lockdown.

Alexandros Kolonias is the third winner of the day.

The Poker Masters Online Champion creamed a field of 77-entrants in Event #22: 10,300 No Limit Hold ’em, beating Matthias Eibinger, heads-up, for the $240,860.62 first prize.

Here are the results moving into the final day of preliminaries.

Event #22: $10,300 No Limit Hold’em

77-entrants

Results

  1. Alexandros Kolonias – $240,860.62
  2. Matthias Eibinger – $150,150
  3. Joao Vieira – $92,400
  4. Darrell Goh – $67,375
  5. Dan Shak – $48,125
  6. Mikita Badziakouski – $32,125

Event #23: $25,500 No Limit Hold’em

43-entrants

Results

  1. Stephen Chidwick – $430,000.01
  2. Artur Martirosian – $275,140.87
  3. Darrell Goh – $139,75
  4. Isaac Haxton – $96,750
  5. Mikita Badziakouski – $75,250
  6. Sergi Reixach – $58,109.12

Event #24: $10,300 No Limit Hold’em

50-entrants

Results

  1. Sam Greenwood – $200,000
  2. Dan Smith – $127,972.50
  3. Kristen Bicknell – $65,000
  4. Isaac Haxton – $45,000
  5. Ali Imsirovic – $35,000
  6. Kahle Burns – $27,027.50

Viktor Blom is currently hurtling across the Super High Roller Bowl Online (SHRBO) on partypoker like a scud missile.

The online cash game legend has now won three SHRBO titles, and finished second on two other occasions after pummeling the 55-entrant field into hyperspace in Event #21: $10,300 No Limit Hold’em.

Blom slapped his white glove across the face of Isaac Haxton during heads-up action, eventually emerging from the duel without a hole in his body. Blom also won Event #9: $10,300 for $213,750 and Event #14: $25,500 for $407,500, and is the overwhelming favourite to win the $102,000 seat into the SHRBO Main Event.

One man destined to be spilling vermilion in that Main Event is Matthias Eibinger. The Austrian star subjugated 70-entrants in Event #19: $10,300 No Limit Hold’em 48-hours after winning the $5,200 No Limit Hold’em, Midweek Freeze, Six Max at the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) for $111,703.80. Eibinger collected $217,000 for his SHRBO win.

The third title of the day went to Sam Greenwood. The exquisite Canadian crushed a field of 42-entrants to win Event #20: $25,500 Super High Roller. Christoph Vogelsang finished runner-up in that one, with Vyacheslav Buldygin, third.

Here are the results.

Event #19: $10,300 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max

70-entrants

Results

  1. Matthias Eibinger – $217,000
  2. Artur Martirosian – $150,500
  3. Kristen Bicknell – $98,000
  4. Joao Vieira – $63,000
  5. Mikita Badziakouski – $49,000
  6. Sergi Lloveras Reixach – $40,250
  7. Christopher Malcolm Fraser- $33,250
  8. Dan Smtih – $26,250

Event #20: $25,500 Super High Roller

42-entrants

Results

  1. Sam Greenwood – $399,000
  2. Christoph Vogelsang – $262,500
  3. Vyacheslav Buldygin – $168,000
  4. Nick Petrangelo – $94,500
  5. Timothy Adams – $73,500
  6. David Peters – $52,500

Event #21: $10,300 No Limit Hold’em

55-entrants

Results

  1. Viktor Blom – $195,250
  2. Isaac Haxton – $130,625
  3. Stephen O’Dwyer – $83,875
  4. Mikita Badziakouski – $52,625
  5. Timothy Adams – $35,750
  6. Jake Schindler – $27,500
  7. Ali Imsirovic – $23,375