The name hasn’t changed.
The venue has.
Yet, the deck still has its favourites.
Two of the stars of 2019 partypoker MILLIONS South America stepped from the wings to feature on the centre stage of the $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) Super High Roller.
The richest buy-in of the Enjoy Punta del Este Resort & Casino hosted series saw 35-entrants create the first prize of $350,000, with James Romero and Marty Mathis trying to avoid the crypt-cold feel of bridesmaid linen.
Romero finished 9th in the $10,300 High Roller at the MILLIONS South America in Brazil last year and recently finished third in the MILLIONS UK Main Event at Dusk till Dawn (DTD) for $420,000.
Mathis is the reigning MILLIONS South America Champion having been the shampoo that doused 439 lice on his way to an $837,700 first prize in Brazil.
Let’s see how the pair made it to the endgame.
The Nutshell Action
Only five from 35 people would leave the final table without enmity, and the person who ended in position six was Niall Farrel. The Triple Crown winner, opened to 1,925,000 from the cutoff holding pocket eights (leaving only 25,000 behind), Jacob Daniels made the call from the small blind, holding QdTd, and Francisco Benitez made the call from the big blind holding pocket jacks. To say that Farrell was in a tannery minus a set of nose plugs was an understatement. The Ah6d4h flop maintained Benitez’s hold on the hand. Everyone checked. The Qc on the turn gave Daniels the lead with one card remaining. He locked the gate and threw away the key by moving all-in, Benitez found the fold button, but Farrell flicked his final 25,000 into the pot before leaving with nothing but a stale onion ring once the 5d had hit the river.
Benitez may have dodged that hand, but he didn’t evade the next one.
When the action folded to Daniels in the small blind, he moved all-in holding AhTh, and Benitez called for his tournament life with Td8c from the next pew. The board whiffed for Benitez, and the ace-high of Daniels sent him to the rail in the sixth place.
Marty Mathis sent seeds of resentment into the soul of Daniels, twice doubling through the MILLIONS Champion when aces beat jacks, and when jacks beat treys. And then we lost Ivan Luca.
The action folded to Luca in the small blind holding As6s, and he moved the last of his chips into the middle. James Romero called from the big blind holding Kd9h, flopped a king, and ended Luca’s hopes of a title in his continent.
Romero continued his ascent when he doubled through Daniels. The hand was an aberration for the latter, when Romero set a trap, limping with pocket aces. Daniels moved all-in holding Qs9d, and Romero was already locked and loaded.
After that hand, Daniels moved all-in for 6,775,000, holding pocket threes on the button, and Romero finished the job with pocket eights from the big blind.
The heads-up encounter saw both players take the chip lead before Romero opened to 1,600,000 from the button holding AdTh, and then called when Mathis moved all-in for 7,875,000 holding QdJh. An ace on the flop settling affairs.
Here are the final ITM finishes.
ITM results
- James Romero – $350,000
- Marty Mathis – $213,750
- Jacob Daniels – $150,000
- Ivan Luca – $100,000
- Francisco Benitez – $60,000