The poker world is full of distant pinprick stars.
Mikita Badziakouski isn’t one of them.
With more than $28m in live tournament earnings to his name, a few million more playing online tournaments, and a seat in the type of cash games that burn silhouettes into your soul, the light inside ‘Badz’ is ablaze.
Poker record book writers etched another seven-figure score in Badziakouski’s impressive CV, after the partypoker sponsored pro made embers of the 199-entrant field in the $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em event at the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Online Championships on partypoker.
The three-day event ended after Badziakouski cleaned the clock of Jason Koon after the pair agreed upon a heads-up deal that satisfied both parties.
Badziakouski has never made money in a live WPT event.
Here are the final table results.
Final Table Results
Mikita Badziakouski – $1,062,730*
Jason Koon – $810,869*
Alexandros Kolonia – $$548,794
Mark Demirjian – $380,652
Daniel Rezaei – $259,979
Aleksei Barkov – $197,667
Ali Imsirovic – $155,061
*Indicates a heads-up deal
Steve O’Dwyer Wins The Heads-Up
Well before Badziakouski was busy taking down the $25k, Steve O’Dwyer had already locked up the $3,200 WPT Online Championship Heads-Up tournament. The American was the top dog in a field of 166 barking duelists, beating Artem Akhmetvaleyev in the final bracket, earning $135,000.
It’s not the first time that O’Dwyer has won a WPT title.
In 2012, the American won a 289-entrant WPT National in Denmark for €159,227, a few months shy of finishing runner-up to Edoardo Alescio in the Main Event at WPT Venice.
Here are the top eight payouts
Top 8 Payouts
Steve O’Dwyer – $135,000
Artem Akhmetvaleyev – $$75,000
Jorma Nuutinen – $40,000
Allan Berger – $40,000
Joao Vieira – $17,500
Arnaud Enselme – $17,500
Niko Koop – $17,500
Eugenio Peralta – $17,500
Not to sound too morbid, but once Jason Koon is ready to leave this earth he will want to bequeath a great many things for his children, and in a few days, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet may be amongst those many, many trinkets.
Koon ranked #9 in the All-Time Money List for live tournaments currently leads the final nine players in a misted window of a $25,000 No Limit Hold’em Poker Players Championship. The event attracted 407-entrants like robin nests attract cuckoos, and courtesy of the $10m GTD, Koon stands to collect $1.8m if he can put eight more players into their graves.
Koon is the most experienced WSOP practitioner at the final with double-digit final tables appearances. The closest the West Virginian has come to winning poker’s top prize came in 2012 when he finished runner-up to Leif Force in a $3,000 Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha Mix.
As you would expect, we have a final table testament to the price tag.
Shankar Pillai is attempting to win his third bracelet after winning a $3,000 No Limit Hold’em in 2007, and the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em reserved for bracelet winners in 2019.
Christian Rudolph is making his fourth final table and was runner-up to Michael Addamo in a €25,000 No Limit Hold’em in the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE)
Aram Zobian finished sixth in the 2018 WSOP Main Event, and Chris Hunichen makes his fourth WSOP final table, including a runner-up finish to Nadar Kakhmazov in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em at the 2017 WSOP.
Here are the final table chip counts.
Final Table Chip Counts
Jason Koon – 7,863,055
Shankar Pillai – 6,875,234
Christian Rudolph – 5,544,188
Aram Zobian – 4,405,440
Chris Hunichen – 4,175,274
Aleksejs Ponakovs – 3,883,951
Aliaksei Boika – 3,297,276
Paulius Plausinaitis – 2,905,555
Brunno Botteon – 1,750,027
And those payouts.
Payouts
$1,800,290
$1,332,097
$979,138
$719,700
$529,005
$388,837
$285,808
$210,079
$154,416
Nick Maimone Wins Event #69: $1,500 Marathon No Limit Hold’em
Former high stakes star, Nick Maimone, is a WSOP bracelet winner.
Maimone conquered a field of 1,438 entrants after more than 13 hours of play. The philanthropist poker pro had earned $2.2m playing live, with close to half of that coming in 2016 when he won the $25,000 High Roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in 2016 for a million bucks, beating Sean Winter and Dario Sammartino, three-handed.
Maimone has two previous cashes in the GGPoker Series, finishing 446/12757 in the $400 COLOSSUS and 24/3247 in the $8,000 No Limit Hold’em Asia Championships. In 2009, Maimone got down to the final three tables of the WSOP Main Event finishing 15th.
Here are the final table results.
Final Table Results
Nick Maimone – $302,4722*
Diego Bittar – $228,212
Giovani Torre – $165,613
Nikolay Motsenko – $120,186
Sebastian Sikorski – $87,219
Ermo Kosk – $63,295
Murilo Nascimento – $45,933
Erik Lemarquand – $33,334
Bert Stevens – $24,190
Also receives a $15,00 WSOPE package
With church pews empty due to the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) for some, the poker table became the place to say their prayers, three of whom received answers.
The Poker Masters Online Series had a bumper Sunday on partypoker with three events falling like dominos, and the first to tumble in this omnibus is Event #16: $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE).
Heading into the weekend, the names ‘Jason Koon’ hadn’t graced the headlines during the Poker Masters Online Series, but he burst into song taking down the most substantial single payout of the series so far.
The charm and challenge of a $25,000 event attracted 72-entrants like hatboxes on Derby Day, and it was the partypoker ambassador who lasted longer than anyone to bank the $549,000 first prize.
Koon defeated Justin Bonomo, heads-up, and although the former All-Time Money List leader will be disappointed to finish as the bridesmaid for the second time during the series, he has now earned more de Niro’s than anyone in the tournament ($606,974), so he won’t be threading a needle through his eyeball just yet.
Other notables names in the money (ITM) included the first score for Dan Smith and a sixth score for Juan Pardo Dominguez.
Eelis Parssinen moved into the highest seam of the Championship Leaderboard after winning Event #17: $10,300 PLO 6-Max. The Finnish star has now finished in the Top 3 spots, on three separate occasions, suitable for a fourth-place berth overall.
Jorryt Van Hoof continued his impressive series with his seventh ITM finish, good for a sixth-place standing in the Championship Leaderboard.
Linus Loeliger joined Koon in the ‘one-time’ club after taking down Event #18: $10,300 NLHE Six-Max. The prodigious talents of the Swiss star overcame the in-form Artur Martirosian, heads-up, to claim the $202,800 first prize.
The Russian moves into third place overall after finishing in the Top 3 spots three times in four ITM finishes. A hat tip to Chris Hunichen who recorded his sixth ITM finish, although he’s yet to find the luck needed to place higher than he has been.
Here are the results.
Results
Linus Loeliger – $325,318
Artur Martirosian – $202,800
Darrell Goh – $124,800
Niklas Astedt – $91,000
Ole Schemion – $65,000
Edwin Villalobo Amaya – $44,200
Adrian Mateos – $33,800
Chris Hunichen – $33,800
Sergi Reixach – $33,800
Aliaksandr Hirs – $28,493
Luc Greenwood – $28,493
Nick Petrangelo – $28,493
Poker Masters Online Championship Standings
Alexandros Kolonias $591,034 (592 pts)
Timothy Adams $583,575 (584)
Artur Martirosian $566,090 (562)
Eelis Parssinen $536,131 (537)
Andras Nemeth $539,715 (535)
If you’ve been following the coverage of the partypoker MILLIONS Super High Roller Series in Sochi, Russia, you may have noticed the name of ‘Jason Koon’ has been sorely lacking in the headlines.
Knowing Koon’s love for the game, one doubts he’s flown to Sochi to spend most of his time on the piste. So, the other alternative is that, so far, Koon’s Sochi experience has been as pleasant as sepsis.
All that can change if Lady Luck walks you through the minefields of an $8.5m (and rising) prizepool.
Nobody knows that more than Koon – the big man, for the big occasion.
The $250,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) Russia, the cherry on top of the partypoker MILLIONS Super High Roller Series in Sochi, attracted 34 entrants on Day 1.
Even without late registration remaining open for another full level on Day 2, SHRB Russia has dwarfed the field sizes of SHRB London (12) and SHRB Australia (16), held in 2019 & 2020 respectively. Of the other non-American SHRB events, SHRB Bahamas (51) in 2019 and SHRB China (75) in 2018 remain out of reach unless the crazy get a whole lot crazier.
Three former SHRB winners remain in the field, and two of them amongst the brands most recent Cheshire cats. Cary Katz took down the 2019 SHRB London for $2.6m, and Timothy Adams won SHRB Australia for $1.4m in February. Christoph Vogelsang is the third former winner. The German star won the 2017 SHRB in Aria for $6m.
Here are the main highlights.
The Main Highlights
Nick Petrangelo fell into a $500,000 hole when his pocket kings failed to hold when all-in versus the AK of Timothy Adams. An ace on the river making an exit, even more, excruciating for Petrangelo.
Adrian Mateos joined Petrangelo in the cash desk’s ‘re-entry’ column when his AhJh felt like a mussel against the oyster-like pocket aces of Alexey Rybin.
Kahle Burns became the third player to lose his stack. Artur Martirosyan played the role of vanquisher holding pocket sevens on 6h5s4c9d, with Burns holding Kd6s. The Russian put the Australian all-in on the turn, and the call came. The Qd on the river confirmed Burns’ fate. If he wanted to win this thing, it would cost him another $250,000.
Then a cooler sent the leader of the All-Time Money list to his hotel room knowing he would have to dip back into his bank account to find another $250,000. Bryn Kenney got it all-in pre-flop with pocket aces versus the pocket queens of Paul Phua. The board ran out Jh8d7d9cTd to hand Phua a straight – good enough for second in chips.
Chip Counts
Jason Koon – 745,000
Paul Phua – 690,000
Adrian Mateos – 550,000
Stephen Chidwick – 550,000
Ben Heath – 545,000
Mikita Badziakouski – 465,000
Timothy Adams – 420,000
Phil Ivey – 390,000
Artur Martirosyan – 386,000
Ivan Leow – 380,000
The teachers in Los Angeles have been striking for better working conditions; astronauts have been learning that a trip to Mars is likely to increase their risk of cancer – so what’s been going on in the world of the high stakes professional poker player?
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Pinnacle.
We begin our ride on the rainbow of risk with the most famous face in poker: Daniel Negreanu.
What a tough week it’s been for the outspoken hero/anti-hero/villain (delete as you feel fit) as his willingness to share his thoughts with the world came back to bite him in the arse this week.
Three streams of tweets seemed to annoy a large contingent of the poker community.
There were a series of tweets focusing on ‘loaning money’ and taking ‘100% responsibility for your life.’
I’ve loaned money and been stiffed. It’s unfortunate, but I don’t hate those people. I don’t whine about how “unfair” it is, because I know who made the decision to loan the money: me.
No one put a gun to my head.
I’m not at “fault”, but I am responsible.
You are 100% responsible for every decision you make
Sometimes people will lie to you, and YOU will make a bad decision as a result
Sometimes you will make a bad decision under stress.
However it happens, it’s always YOU making the decision. Always. 100%
Negreanu aired his views on what constitutes a ‘good’ and ‘bad’ poker player, amending his ‘bad’ tweet after a tsunami of pain rained down on him.
5 things that make you good for a poker game:
– Lose Money
– Act Quickly
– Friendly/Engaging
– Generous/Give Action
– Positive Attitude
If you are 4 of these things but also win money, you are likely to be a pleasant addition to any poker game.
Here are Negreanu’s views on what traits constitutes a ‘bad’ poker player.
– Winner
– Slow
– Quiet (Also miserable)
– Nit (Cheap/Selfish)
– Hater (Complainer/Negative)
If you match all of these categories then you are probably a real treat t have at parties. 2 out for 5 is still bad.”
And he continued.
“This type of player is a cancer to poker. The Nits are like a disease. Some just don’t know any better, they aren’t bad people, but they do way more damage than good by playing poker.”
In response, Unibet Ambassadors, and Chip Race co-hosts, Dave Lappin & Dara O’Kearney both wrote blog posts airing their disappointment, and criticism of Negreanu’s actions, who in turn wrote a blog post apologising for the tweet, but pointing out that he felt some of the accusatory feedback felt too personal, and likely a smear campaign against him.
And then came the old chestnut courtesy of Sam Greenwood.
“How much damage does receiving a salary to promote a site that stole millions of dollars from its players do?”
Shaun Deeb was more personal than most in his vitriol predicting that Negreanu’s marriage to Amanda Leatherman will only last two years.
“I am a flawed human being as we all are to a certain extent, but I am always striving to be a better version of myself, and digesting feedback both positive and negative to look for areas where I can be better,” Negreanu wrote in his apologetic blog post. “I’d love to see a return to “I hate your ideas” rather than “I hate you.” Would do us all some good.”
You can read Dave Lappin’s thoughts right here (http://rocshot.com/lappin/265-yesterdays-faith/), similarly Dara O’Kearney’s view (http://dokearney.blogspot.com/2019/01/oh-danny-boy.html), Daniel’s reactionary blog post (https://fullcontactpoker.com/the-state-of-poker-2019/), and and my opinion on the debacle (https://calvinayre.com/2019/01/30/poker/negreanu-stars-enemies-musings-bad-faith-things/).
In stark contrast to the abuse Negreanu experienced, a terminally-ill man, Zachary Butler, suffering from the genetic disease Friedreich’s Ataxia, had his wish come true when the Dream Foundation (a non-profit that helps the terminally ill’s dreams come true), organised for him to visit Daniel Negreanu at his home to play poker with him.
To Butler, Negreanu is a star, who makes him laugh.
Pure.
Simple.
Negreanu will also be the emcee at the next Charity Series of Poker (CSOP) event scheduled to take place March 2 at Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa with proceeds going towards St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Jason Koon Joins Triton Poker, Andrew Robl Interview Airs, Badziakouski Joins partypoker; Leonard Wins Triple Crown
Jason Koon agreed to join Triton Poker in an ambassadorial capacity this week. Koon will promote the Triton Super High Roller Series to his buddies in the west, and will personally attend each tour stop throughout 2019.
The first of these stops are in Jeju, South Korea, and this week the Triton crew announced a schedule that includes six events including for the first time a No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck Ante-Only Bounty tournament.
Although unconfirmed, one person you would imagine will be in Jeju, taking his daily pew in the biggest cash games in the world, will be Andrew Robl, and this week we released our interview with the man during his time at the 2018 Triton Super High Roller Series in Montenegro.
Check it out.
The current Triton SHR Series Main Event champion of the Montenegro and Jeju series is Mikita Badziakouski, and this week, the Belarusian joined partypoker as an ambassador. And finally, partypoker Ambassador, and high stakes star, Patrick Leonard, won an online Triple Crown (he thinks) by taking down the $500 buy-in Blade on the GG Network for $19,663.10, the $1,050 Thursday Thrill on PokerStars for $19,342.01, and the partypoker Sunday High Roller Bounty Hunter for $40,100.15.
Phil Hellmuth Wins a Title; Gets His Hair Done; Plans for Brazil.
Phil Hellmuth was in the news this week for a variety of different reasons. The World Poker Tour (WPT) Raw Deal host took down his first title since winning his 15th World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in the summer.
Hellmuth defeated 64-entrants to win the $37,248 first prize in the $1,590 No-Limit Heads-up side event at the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open. Hellmuth beat Joseph Cappello in his final heads-up match.
If you ever wondered what was underneath that ARIA cap, now you know.
Nothing.
Well, I went for a hair replacement procedure w these guys, Dr Lieberman and Dr Parikh, at @ForTheFaceBay In four months my hair will be everywhere, and one year from now, should be at its best #NoMoreBaldSpotpic.twitter.com/228G1z0qDM
Finally, Hellmuth set himself a new bucket list goal of winning “at least four WPT’s”, told himself to “man up”, “attend more WPT’s”, and then declared an intention to do that by “ramping up my poker schedule.” Although it may not be a WPT event, Hellmuth is sticking to his word by appearing in South America for the first time as a guest of partypoker in the MILLIONS South America event scheduled for Rio.
Take ten!
The legendary @phil_hellmuth proved he is human after making a few bloopers while filming his recent #MILLIONS South America Main Event videos we’ve been publishing on Twitter! Check out some of the best of them: https://t.co/7koH8OxUS7 18+. Play responsibly. begambleaware pic.twitter.com/qifPhI6tGI
Live Tournament News: Kempe and Lewis Pick Up Wins in Melbourne; Elias Likewise in California
Three high stakes live tournaments to get you up to speed on, and we will start in Melbourne at the Aussie Millions. There seems to have been a resurgence in High Stakes Action at the Crown Casino, after a dismal showing last year.
The AUD 25,000 Challenge attracted 151-entrants, and Rainer Kempe agreed on a heads-up deal with Toby Lewis before winning the flip for the title. Lewis would go on to win the deciding flip in the AUD 50,000 Challenge after overcoming 62-entrants, including Manig Loeser in heads-up action to round off a fantastic few days for the man from the UK.
Here are the podium places. $25k Final Table Results
1. Rainer Kempe – $595,055*
2. Toby Lewis – $566,074*
3. Chino Rheem – $300,067
4. Guillaume Nolet – $221,789
5. Gautam Dhingra – $156,557
6. Luke Marsh – $110,894
7. Jack Salter – $84,802
*Denotes a heads-up deal 50K Final Table Results
1. Toby Lewis – $588,999*
2. Manig Loeser – $556,017*
3. Thomas Muehloecker – $296,856
4. Dominik Nitsche – $233,244
5. Bjorn Li – $169,632
6. Tobias Ziegler – $148,428
7. Michael Zhang – $127,224
*Denotes a heads-up deal
The WPT Gardens Poker Championships also held a $25,000 event, but with people jetting between the Bahamas and Melbourne it didn’t pull in the numbers the organisers hoped. Darren Elias defeated 11-entrants, including Chance Kornuth, heads-up, to win the $192,500 first prize.
Finally, Dan Smith beat the seven-time US Chess Champion, Alex Shabalov, in a PRO Chess League match, showing he has many arrows in that quiver of his.
And that’s this week’s Pinnacle.
‘Leicester’.
‘Definitely’.
‘Vacuum’.
‘Rhythm’.
Words that for the life of me I cannot spell correctly.
I have a new one to add to the collection.
‘Imsirovic’.
It doesn’t matter how my brain soaks it up; my fingers still want to type ‘Ismirovic.’
It’s a problem I need to fix pronto because something tells me I am going to be banging his name out on my keyboard more frequently in the next 18-months.
Five down.
Two to go.
Ali Imsirovic is in with a shout of winning a Purple Jacket after taking down Event #5: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em at the 2018 Poker Masters.
The event pulled in 66 entrants.
After the end of Day 1, here was the final table.
Final Table
Seat 1: Brian Rast – 1,200,000
Seat 2: Jake Schindler – 2,725,000
Seat 3: Ali Imsirovic – 1,615,000
Seat 4: Daniel Negreanu – 215,000
Seat 5: Jason Koon – 905,000
Seat 6: Ben Yu – 1,695,000
Jake Schindler, Jason Koon and Daniel Negreanu are together again after the trio made the final table of Event #3: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em. Ben Yu was also making his second final table after finishing third in Event #4: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha.
The Run-In
Daniel Negreanu Eliminated in 6th Place.
He began things with a few grains of rice in his bowl, so it was no surprise when Daniel Negreanu registered as the first elimination.
Ben Yu opened to 100,000 from late position holding pocket eights, and Negreanu called from the big blind holding 52cc, leaving 10,000 chips behind (the rest went in on the flop), and despite flopping a five, there was no bad beat in the jukebox, and Negreanu was out for $99,000.
Jason Koon Eliminated in 5th Place.
Only Justin Bonomo ($24.9m) and Mikita Badziakouski ($12.4m) have won more money than Jason Koon this year ($11.5m), but his name would not end up engraved in this trophy.
Ali Imsirovic put in a raise with AKo in late position, and Koon moved all-in from the small blind holding ATo, and you all know that these little struggles don’t end up well for ATo. This hand was no exception. Imsirovic flopped the top two pairs, and Koon never recovered. His consolation prize was $132,000.
Brian Rast Doubles Through Ben Yu
Brian Rast opened to 115,000 from the first position holding A2cc, and Ben Yu looked him up from the big blind holding 7d5s. The flop of Ah6d2s handed Rast a two-pair hand, but Yu must have had a plan because he check-called a 110,000 Rast c-bet holding a bag of bones.
The dealer burned and turned the 4c on the Fourth Street, and now Yu had something to chew. Rast fired 250,000, Yu check-raised all-in with his straight draw, and Rast made the call. An uncontroversial river card later, the man had doubled into the chip lead.
Chip Counts
Brian Rast – 3,815,000
Ali Imsirovic – 2,120,000
Ben Yu – 1,310,000
Jake Schindler – 1,010,000
Jake Schindler Eliminated in 4th Place.
The action folded around to Schindler in the small blind. He peeked at his cards and saw the unremarkable looking 8c6d staring back at him. Schindler moved all-in for 440,000, and Imsirovic called in the big blind with Ac9s. The flop missed both, and a much-needed Ad arrived on the turn for Imsirovic, because Schindler did find a pair of eights on the river.
Schindler walked away with $165,000.
Imsirovic Doubles Through Rast
And then we had a pivotal moment in the competition.
Imsirovic limped on the button holding pocket jacks, Yu called in the small blind holding K8hh, and Rast moved all-in from the big blind, holding Ac5s. Imsirovic called, and Yu folded. The board ran out KsQc4s2h7h and Imsirovic was the new chip leader.
Brian Rast Eliminated in 3rd Place.
Nobody has won more money playing live tournaments in the ARIA than Brian Rast, and he added to that significant lump by banking another $214,500 after hitting the rail in third.
Ben Yu moved all-in with Ah2s, and Rast took him on with pocket sevens. An ace on the river sent new hope into the lungs of Yu, and Rast became the short-stack.
Then Imsirovic moved his big stack into the middle on the button holding pocket sixes, and Rast called in the big blind with Ac3d. The aces and wheel combos stayed in the deck, and Rast was out, giving Imsirovic a big chip lead going into his heads-up encounter with Yu.
Heads-Up
Ali Imsirovic – 5,895,000
Ben Yu – 2,360,000
The finale lasted as long as a plastic bag containing half-opened tins of fish left too close to Bagpuss and his buddies.
Imsirovic limped on the button holding pocket fives, and then called when Yu moved all-in holding Ac6d. The flop of Kh8d5d handed Imsirovic a set, and the 2h turn card left Yu drawing dead.
It was all over.
Imsirovic had won his third title of the year. Final Table Results
Ali Imsirovic – $462,000 (300)
Ben Yu – $330,000 (210)
Brian Rast – $214,500 (150)
Jake Schindler – $165,000 (120)
Jason Koon – $132,000 (90)
Daniel Negreanu – $99,000 (60)
Poker Masters Leaderboard
– Brandon Adams – 510 points
– Isaac Haxton – 480
– Ben Yu – 360
– Ali Imsirovic – 360
– David Peters – 300
– Keith Lehr – 300
– Jake Schindler – 270
– Jonathan Depa – 270
– Jason Koon – 240
Results to Date
Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em – David Peters ($193,200)
Event #2: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em – Brandon Adams ($400,000)
Event #3: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha – Keith Lehr ($333,000)
Event #4: $10,000 Short-Deck – Isaac Haxton ($176,000)
I could be 20-miles away, stealing apples, and I would hear my mother calling me from our doorstep.
There were no mobile phones.
The spectre of Peter Sutcliffe still hung in the Northern air, and although he didn’t kill children, you would have thought we would have been closer to the bosom.
Nope.
Off we went, gallivanting around town playing kiss-chase, spin the bottle, and stealing fruit from an angry man’s backyard.
One place I loved was the library. I fell in love with Asterisk and Obelisk, and later Herge’s Adventures of Tintin. Then one day, I found a book called Deathtrap Dungeon by Ian Livingstone.
It was one of the earliest choose your own adventure books. Become a wizard, dwarf or elf; roll dice to determine your magical powers, and then battle with all manner of mythical creatures with the aim of ending as the hero.
I went through the lot – The Citadel of Chaos, The Forest of Doom and The Firetop Mountain Series.
Mundane life had me on a leash, and I was tugging like a maniac. I was desperate to avoid the clocking in and out life. I wanted to be a millionaire like Del Boy. I wanted any experience, other than the one I was stuck inside.
I wonder if Ben Yu believes he is the hero of his choose your own adventure. Yu is not a name usually associated with the high roller community, but all that may change after what has been a quite stunning World Series of Poker (WSOP).
Yu plays Magic The Gathering competitively, so I am sure had he been as old as me, he too would have found the allure of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone to compelling to ignore.
And here he is, creating a page-turner.
And a few pages ago, Yu was faced with this question:
“Should I play in the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller? If you decide to turn the opportunity down, turn to page 68. If you invest your well-earned gold, then turn to page 69.”
The young wizard turned to Page 69.
Let’s see what happened next?
The Young Wizard Takes on the Bad Asses of the High Roller NLHE Scene
When Yu sat down to play in the highest stakes No-Limit Hold’em competition of his career, the poker universe’s top Warlocks, Elves and the occasional greedy Dwarf surrounded him.
128 of them, to be precise.
The narrative allowed for 14 levels.
31 players survived.
Ten of them owned at least one gold bracelet.
The Austrian pro, Matthias Eibinger, led the way with 2,120,000 chips. Jake Schindler joined him above the two million mark.
The $100k High Roller winner Nick Petrangelo finished with 1,500,000. Elio Fox, the man who finished runner-up to Petrangelo in that event, bagged up 1,875,000. The man who dominated the recent Triton Poker Series in Montenegro, Jason Koon, ended with 1,450,000 chips, and Yu managed to stuff 1,500,000 into a clear plastic bag.
Top Ten Chip Counts
Matthias Eibinger – 2,120,000
Jake Schindler – 2,050,000
Isaac Haxton – 1,955,000
Elio Fox – 1,875,000
Daniel Merrilees – 1,865,000
Juan Pardo Dominguez – 1,650,000
Stefan Schillhabel – 1,570,000
Nick Petrangelo – 1,500,000
Ben Yu – 1,500,000
Jason Koon – 1,450,000
Day 2: Winter’s Coming; Yu Meets it Head-On
With blinds at 20k/40k, the action fell to Ben Yu in the small blind. He looked across at the dangerous, but short-stacked, Nick Petrangelo in the big blind, before moving all-in holding J2o. Petrangelo looked down at 88, called, and doubled to 2m. Yu stumbled to 1.6m.
One level later, and an important moment for Yu.
John Andress moved all-in from midfield, Daniel Merrilees moved all-in from late position, and Yu, who had both beasts covered, made the call from the big blind.
Yu: KK
Merrilees: AQ
Andress: 55
Andress flopped a gut-shot, but Yu faded any potential turn or river booby trap to move up to 2,950,000.
With blinds at 30k/60k, Yu cast a spell on the in-form Chris Hunichen to send him to the rail drawing three streets of value on QT468 holding KQ with Big Huni holding AT. Yu moved up to 5.5m, good enough for the chip lead.
It’s always nice to peer down and see the rockets, and that’s what happened with blinds at 40k/80k. Yu had them. The former champion Ryan Riess had pocket eights, and the pair went for it. Yu rivered the third ace for good measure and moved up to 6.2m; Riess’s tournament was left in pieces.
Yu’s next victim was Jason Koon.
Yu put Koon all-in on a board of 6d6h7d3dKd after rivering a flush holding Qd9h, and Koon reluctantly called with As6c for a flopped set of sixes. And then we had the final table after Yu eliminated Ben Pollak in a blind on blind battle holding J5o v 88. Another flush hit on the river to hand Yu another scalp. The Poker Gods were treating Yu like Zeus and co once treated Perseus.
Final Table
Ben Yu – 7,700,000
Nick Petrangelo – 5,100,000
Manig Loeser – 3,650,000
Igor Kurganov – 3,400,000
Jake Schindler – 3,400,000
Elio Fox – 3,025,000
Sean Winter – 2,850,000
John Racener – 2,340,000
Isaac Haxton – 1,200,000
Elio Fox was the first player to hit the rail when his pocket sixes bumped into the electrified fence of Sean Winter’s pocket jacks. Jake Schindler followed Fox to the door marked ‘exit’ when his A5o failed to beat the lowly looking 43c after Haxton flopped a pair.
And Haxton hadn’t finished swinging his fists.
The next player to feel his wrath was John Racener after he moved all-in holding KJo, and Haxton called with A3s, and once again turned a killer trey. We were down to six.
If there were a High Roller Breakout Award, it would surely go to Manig Loeser, and the German had another phenomenal run finishing sixth after his AK failed to beat the pocket treys of Winter in another sprint to the finishing line.
Winter then emerged as Yu’s primary threat when he eliminated Igor Kurganov. It was another race, this time pocket sixes dodging every ace and queen in the deck to send the Raising For Effective Giving (REG) founder to the rail.
Nick Petrangelo came into a league of his own, winning pot after pot to create a substantial chip lead. The $100k champ was running away with it, and then Yu eliminated Haxton AQ>A7 to bring him neck and neck with Petrangelo, with Winter looking up at them from the bottom of the cliff face,
Petrangelo – 13,100,000
Yu – 12,100,000
Winter – 6,900,000
Winter doubled through Petrangelo A5>T7s before putting in a string of consecutive winning hands to take a substantial lead. Yu slowed him down, doubling-up 99>A8, and then made the chip lead going into heads-up after sending Petrangelo home in third 44>ATo. Heads-Up: Short and Sweet
Yu – 18,275,000
Winter – 13,725,000
And to the final battle.`
Yu v Winter.
Inexperienced high stakes No-Limit Hold’em combatant versus one of the most experienced.
Yu didn’t want this to turn into a battle.
It didn’t.
It was all over before you could type YU.
Winter limped into the pot from the small blind holding A9o. Yu moved all-in holding KQo; Winter called. The J73r flop was clean for Winter, but the Kh on the turn put Yu one card away from victory. The 6d finished the action and Yu was the only wizard left with chips.
So what would Yu’s next choose your own adventure be?
The One Drop? “I think that’s too much for me,” Yu told PokerNews after his win. “I don’t think I’m one of the top 10 or maybe even 20 players in this hundred person field.”
It seems Yu also has a high humility score.
Yu first registered a live tournament ITM finish back in 2008 when he placed 69th in a $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout at the WSOP. It wasn’t until 2014 that Yu began competing in the $10k Championship events with increasing regularity, but 2018 has been a breakout year for the rising star.
In January, Yu finished 10/75 in the $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Lucky Hearts Poker Open for $56,250. Then, during the WSOP, Yu finished runner-up to Shaun Deeb in the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller for $866,924 – a career high until his $50,000 performance.
Yu has won $5,250,029 playing live tournaments, with close to $3m of that bounty earned this year.
He has cashed 15 times at the WSOP, made four final tables, won a bracelet, and has earned more than $2.8m, thrusting him into the business end of the WSOP Player of the Year race, where he is on the trail of his old nemesis, Shaun Deeb.
Here is that up to date leaderboard.
