Tag: European Poker Tour

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Level 18: 250000/50000/50000
The Final Table

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Final Table Results

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Final Table Chip Counts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Final Table Results 

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

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

Top Ten Chip Counts

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

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

Payouts

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

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

Top Five Chip Counts

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

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

Top Five Counts

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

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

Final Table Chip Counts
 

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

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

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

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

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

Final Table Results

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

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