Tag: Michael Addamo

Michael Addamo

There are two types of declarative memories. The first is known as the semantic memory, or memory of knowledge, and this is where we store memories related to philosophy, and education, such as how to play poker. Then there are episodic memories – these hang out in the limbic brain and are highly emotional in such as your first kick-in, the first time you pull on your plonker, and that moment when you turn a $109 online satellite into $620,000.

It’s not often that an article on a tournament result focuses on the player who finished third, but that’s what’s going to happen because what did happen, doesn’t happen very often.

Charlie Godwin had earned $141,466 playing live tournaments before parlaying a $109 online satellite into an entry into the $100,000 Super High Roller during the WPT World Online Championships.

She must have been pinching herself after booking a place on the final table against the likes of Isaac Haxton, Linus Loeliger and Michael Addamo. And imagine how she felt when four-handed, she saw Sergi Reixach hit the rail hard in a hand against Haxton, netting her a $250,000 pay jump.

Incredible.

Godwin eventually departed in third, and after agreeing upon a heads-up deal, that netting both Addamo and Haxton $1.2m in earnings, Addamo netted the final $30,000 and the title.

But this one’s all about Godwin.

Final Table Results

  1. Michael Addamo – $1,284,114*
  2. Isaac Haxton – $1,216,286*
  3. Charlie Godwin – $620,000
  4. Sergi Reixach – $374,000
  5. Linus Loelieger – $276,000
  6. Christoph Vogelsang – $229,600
  7. Daniel Dvoress – Zip

*Indicates a heads-up deal

Artur Martirosian Wins The WPT World Online Championships Player of the Year Leaderboard

While Godwin was giant slaying in the $100,000, the title of WPT Online Championship Player of the Championship was being decided in the $10k Mini High Roller.

Going into that one, Scott Margereson and Artur Martirosian were the only people who could win the POY award, and both made the final table. Margereson finished in sixth, and the Russian went on to win the thing for $239,500, a victory that netted him an additional $50,000 for winning the leaderboard.

Wiktor Malinowski EPT Monte Carlo
Image by Danny Maxwell

With the World Series of Poker (WSOP) churning up the chum over at GGPoker, the sharks and whales have turned up en masse to take advantage of the carnage, with two of the best in the business setting a new online record. 

Wiktor ‘limitless’ Malinowski is mustard at No Limit Hold’em cash games, and he recently offered a heads-up challenge to anyone, playing while drunk, while guesting on the Joey Ingram podcast. Michael Addamo is one of the world’s top multi-table tournament (MTT) artists with more than $8.3m in live tournament earnings and two WSOP bracelets to his name. 

Both Addamo and Malinowski were competing alongside Chris Brewer, Tan Xuan and the anonymous Maltese falcon ‘UnderO’ in an invitation-only VIP cash game on GGPoker’s Natural8 skin, with blinds $500/$1000 with a $1000 Ante, when the pair locked horns, thumbs and fingers in the following hand.

Sitting behind 400+ big blind stacks, the action folded to Malinowski who looked down to see two black aces in the cutoff. The Pole opened to $2,000, folds followed until Addamo three-bet to $14,000 from the big blind holding two black kings. Malinowski four-bet to $43,500, Addamo five-bet to $108,000, and Malinowski made the call. 

With more than $216,000 in the pot, a 7h5d2c flop beckoned both to continue their love for this hand, with Addamo’s proving to be unrequited. Addamo bet $71,775, and Malinowski made the call.

You could hear the footfall of the 9c on the fourth street, and Malinowski called a $100,146.50 Addamo bet. The 5s finished the action on the river, and Malinowski called when Addamo moved all-in for his remaining $140,547.80. 

The final tally was a spacious looking $842,438.62, a new record, beating the $723,941 that went the way of ‘Urindanger’ in a mirror of a hand that saw his pocket aces out-flop, turn and river the pocket kings of Tom Dwan back in the halcyon days of Full Tilt.

When GGPoker and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) crossed distant shores to pull together the first-ever online WSOP bracelet series, the $10,000 Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em Championship became one of the premium events.

It didn’t disappoint, with two of the world’s smartest decipherers of the game of No Limit Hold’em, David Peters and Michael Addamo, battling it out for the sliver of gold and $360,480, and it was Peters who thwarted Addamo to collect his second bracelet.

Peters, who has more than $33.7m in live tournament earnings, won his first bracelet in 2016, defeating 1,860-entrants to win the $412,557 first prize in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event. To win this one he had to overcome the likes of Sami Kelopuro and Sergi Reixach before taking out the Canadian live streamer Alyssa McDonald in the semi-final.

Addamo overcame the formidable presence of Chi Zhang in a skitter of a mouse semi-final that lasted no more than 30-minutes. It’s been a tough few days for the Aussie, surrendering the lead to lose to Peters a few days shy of being the wrong end of the largest ever online cash game hand – $842k versus Wiktor Malinowski. Peters denied Addamo what would have been his third bracelet after winning two in 2018 taking down the $2,620 No Limit Hold’em Marathon in Las Vegas and the €25,500 No Limit Hold’em in Rozvadov for a combined haul of $1.5m

David Peters Route to the Title

Round of 128: Beats Johan Guilbert
Round of 64: Beats Sami Kelopuro
Round of 32: Scott Woods
Round of 16: Sergi Reixach
Quarter-Finals: Stefan Burakov
Semi-Finals: Alyssa McDonald
Final: Michael Addamo

Event #54: $10,000 Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em Championship

128-entrants

Results

  1. David Peters – $360,480
  2. Michael Addamo – $223,488
  3. Alyssa McDonald – $124,160
  4. Chi Zhang – $124,160
  5. Stefan Burakov – $49,664
  6. Chris Brewer – $49,664
  7. Belarmino De Souza – $49,664
  8. Pedro Waldburger – $49,664

As the world widens their aperture in post lockdown world, online poker players stay firmly seated with butts in chairs courtesy of some of the best high stakes action the industry has ever seen. Given the recent rise in coronavirus cases in Las Vegas casinos since the decision to reopen the pits, I guess that’s a good thing.

While weekend warriors dodged COVID bullets in nightclubs, churches and casinos alike, Michael Addamo took the High Roller Club apart like a seasoned plumber with a wrench and a leaky faucet.

The awesome Australian, hailing from Old Blighty, binked victories in Sunday’s two highest buy-ins in the High Roller Club collecting more than $600,000 in loot, and moving up to #11 in the leaderboard proper.

The man standing ten rungs of the ladder higher than Addamo is Rok Gostisa. The Slovenian finished in the money (ITM) in two of Sunday’s events to surpass Luke Reeves at the top. The British star managed to eke into one final table, finishing fifth in the Warm-Up, slipping into second place.

Timothy Adams, Juan Pardo Dominguez, and Pascal Lefrancois all replicating Gostisa with two final appearances on Sunday. Adams sits fourth in the overall leaderboard with Lefrancois, seventh.

Here are Sunday’s results.

$25,500 Main Event

39-entrants

Results

  1. Michael Addamo – $407,500
  2. Rok Gostisa – $265,000
  3. Juan Pardo Dominguez – $100,000
  4. Timothy Adams – $62,500

$10,300 Mix-Max 2nd Chance

51-entrants

Results

  1. Michael Addamo – $204,000
  2. Sergi Reixach – $130,531.95
  3. Vyacheslav Buldygin – $66,300
  4. Timothy Adams – $45,900
  5. Juan Pardo Dominguez – $35,700
  6. Pascal Lefrancois – $27,568.05

$5,200 The Big Game

221-entrants

Results

  1. Jon Van Fleet – $211,552.46
  2. Bujtas Laszlo – $153,554.44
  3. Kristen Bicknell – $109,459.41
  4. Jans Arends – $80,927.34
  5. Sami Kelopuro – $57,064.15
  6. Pascal Lefrancois – $43,576.26
  7. Mark Radoja – $32,163.43
  8. Eelis Parssinen – $23,863.19

$1,050 Knockout

101-entrants

  1. Istvan Habencius – $17,289.07+$12,372.50
  2. Alexandros Theologis – $5,867.19 + $8,837.50
  3. Iurii Pasiuk – $3,234.37+$6,312.50
  4. Claas Segebrecht – $1,375+$4,418.75
  5. Sergi Denisov – $500+$3,282.50
  6. Andras Nemeth – $2,171.87+$2,525
  7. Chris Hunt – $750+$2,020
  8. Niklas Astedt – $1,781.25+$1,641.25

$1,050 Warm-Up

99-entrants

Results

  1. Sergey Konovalov – $24,500
  2. Mikitak Badziakouski – $17,500
  3. Ioannis Angelou-Konstas – $12,500
  4. Aleksejs Ponakovs – $8,750
  5. Luke Reeves – $6,500
  6. Barry Hutter – $5,000
  7. Christian Rudolph – $4,000
  8. Rok Gostisa – $3,250

High Roller Leaderboard

  1. Rok Gostisa – 940
  2. Luke Reeves – 899
  3. Thomas Muehloecker – 725
  4. Timothy Adams – 715
  5. Teun Mulder – 684
  6. Matthias Eibinger – 660
  7. Pascal Lefrancois – 617
  8. Artur Martirosian – 613
  9. Wiktor Malinowski – 601
  10. Preben Stokkan – 555

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.

At the turn of the year, with the world watching China crumble under the weight of a treacherous virus we were glad would never reach our shores, the Australian Poker Hall of Fame thrust two players into the sunlight.

Kahle Burns made it into the Poker Hall of Fame, Michael Addamo, picked up the Young Achiever Award, and on Day 5 of the Poker Masters online this same concoction shone once again.

Burns posted his first in the money (ITM) finish taking the golden egg in Event #10: $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE). The event attracted another bumper field with 119-entrants vying for the $291,550 first prize that ended up in the Burns bank account.

It’s been an incredible start to 2020 for the man who ended 2019 with a record $4.3m earned playing live tournaments. Burns won the AUD 100,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions and finished runner-up to Timothy Adams in the Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) Australia for a combined haul of $2m.

Burns is also an ulcer to his online brethren.

In 2017, the Australian star won the Spring Championships of Online Poker (SCOOP) [M] Main Event on PokerStars for a whopping $787,312.19. Talking of SCOOP Main Event winners, Gianluca Speranza, the man who won back-to-back [H] Main Event titles in 2018 & 2019, featured in the results for the first time this series, as did Ben Heath.

Timothy Adams became the first player to rack up five ITM finishes, and surely, there’s a big score waiting around the corner for the double SHRB Champion.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Kahle Burns – $291,550
  2. Luuk Gieles – $208,250
  3. Eelis Parssinen – $148,750
  4. Gianluca Speranza – $104,125
  5. Joao Vieira – $77,350
  6. Wiktor Malinowski – $59,500
  7. Edwin Villalobo Amaya – $47,600
  8. Vicent Bosca Ramon – $38,675
  9. Ian Engel – $29,750
  10. Giueseppe Iadisernia – $29,750
  11. Ben Heath – $29,750
  12. Thomas Meuhloecker – $29,750
  13. Timothy Adams – $23,800
  14. Karim Khayat – $23,800
  15. Mike Watson – $23,800
  16. Chris Hunichen – $23,800

Michael Addamo Wins Event #11: $10,300 NLHE 6-Max

Michael Addamo moved into the second place on the Championship Leaderboard after taking down Event #11: $10,300 NLHE 6-Max. The former World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) Sunday Million High Roller winner, defeated Poker Masters Online Championship hopeful, Chris Hunichen, heads-up, to claim the $294,037 first prize.

Hunichen joined Adams as the only two players to record five cashes. Jorryt Van Hoof, Alexandros Kolonias and Wiktor Malinowski picked up their fourth ITM finish.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Michael Addamo – $294,037
  2. Chris Hunichen – $183,300
  3. Jorryt Van Hoof – $112,800
  4. Yahia Fahmy – $82,250
  5. Justin Bonomo – $58,750
  6. Aliaksandr Hirs – $39,950
  7. Jake Schindler – $30,550
  8. Lukas Matthias Nowakowski – $30,550
  9. Luuk Gieles – $30,550
  10. Wiktor Malinowski – $25,754
  11. Talal Shakerchi – $25,754
  12. Alexandros Kolonias – $25,754

Poker Masters Online Championship Standings

  1. Andras Nemeth – $515,879 (511pts)
  2. Michael Addamo – $444,037 (406)
  3. Pauli Ayras – $394,492 (393)
  4. Elias Talvitie – $572,250 (380)
  5. Alex Foxen – $351,277 (352 pts)
Stephen Chidwick

If he carries on like this, Stephen Chidwick will be getting cat-calls each time he walks into a poker room. I often wonder whether the people realise amid greatness that they are creating a legacy? I wonder what goes through Chidwick’s mind?

The man from Deal in the UK has won the inaugural Australian Poker Open (APO) just as he also won the first US Poker Open (USO). Only the defiance and resistance of Sam Soverel prevented him from a clean sweep, finishing second to the American in the British Poker Open (BPO).

When it comes to Poker Central’s Open action, everyone is on the periphery of this man’s talents, cashing in half of the 35 Open events played at this point, winning six of them.

It’s no wonder that his peers shortlisted Chidwick for the ‘Toughest Opponent’ award at the forthcoming Global Poker Awards (GPA).

Joining Chidwick on that shortlist are two players who also made the final table of Event #7: AUD 100,000 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) Challenge in Michael Addamo and Kahle Burns.

Burns has been a revelation of late, but his luck ran out at the most convenient time for Chidwick. Nursing the short-stack, and odds-on to hit the rail first, handing the APO Championship to Andras Nemeth, Chidwick dug his fingernails in, Burns picked up pocket kings, went for it, and felt crushed when Addamo called with Qs8s and flopped trips, sending Burns home on the bubble. After locking up the title, Chidwick then fell in the fourth-place, losing with AKo versus the QcJc of the in-form Aaron Van Blarcum.

The Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1 fell next when Alex Foxen got it in with KcQc, but lost to the As4s of Van Blarcum.

Van Blarcum had been on a tear of late, finishing third at the AUD 100,000 NLHE Challenge at the Aussie Millions, following a brilliant showing in December’s World Poker Tour (WPT) Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio winning a $25k and finishing runner-up in a $50k.

Van Blarcum’s ride in this one stopped in second place with his middle pair unable to stop the tide created by Addamo’s flush draw.

“It was a pretty smooth ride, I was pretty fortunate,” Addamo told Poker Central after his win.

The event attracted 28-entrants.

Addamo has now won more than $1.7m since the turn of the year.

AUD 100k Main Event ITM Finishes

  1. Michael Addamo – $861,952
  2. Aaron Van Blarcum – $527,667
  3. Alex Foxen – $299,810
  4. Stephen Chidwick – $187,381

On winning the APO, Chidwick said, “Hopefully these style of events continue because I think it’s a bit more of an achievable accolade to win a multiple of or, over time, determine who the best player is rather than looking at a single tournament. Obviously there’s a lot of luck involved in this too, but over the course of seven, eight, or ten events you’re going to see the better players win more often and it would be fun to see who can collect the most titles like this.”

APO Championship Standings

  1. Stephen Chidwick – 650 points (AUD 949,000)
  2. Andras Nemeth – 630 (AUD 534,100)
  3. Michael Addamo – 560 (AUD 1,685,500)
  4. Mike Watson – 450 (AUD 241,500)
  5. Luc Greenwood – 360 (AUD 717,700)

Before the poker bus pulls up to Day 2 of the Aussie Millions, it’s traditional to stop at the stop called ‘The Australian Poker Hall of Fame.’

2020, right on cue, that’s what happened.

The Australian Poker Hall of Fame, or APHoF for people who have to type it out ten times in a 758-word article, first bust out the lingerie and high heels in 2009.

The creators called the first two inductees’ Legends’, and one of them – the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion, Joe Hachem – took to the stage at the Crown Casino in Melbourne to induct a pair of beauties.

Joining Hachem were fellow APHoF members David Gorr, Billy’ The Croc’ Argyros, Tony G and Grant Levy. A quick pout and selfie later, and Lynn Gilmartin joined them as the first inductee.

“I’ve known this little girl since she started working here at the Crown,” Hachem told the crowd. “She never walks around without a smile on her face. She loves poker, she loves people, and she’s just an amazing human being and a credit to us all in poker.”

Gilmartin’s poker career began at the Crown Casino where she worked in the marketing department before going on to work for PokerNews. It was during her tenure at PokerNews that Adam Pliska hired her to host the World Poker Tour (WPT) Alpha8 Super High Roller series, and it turned into a full-time job. Gilmartin currently acts as the anchor for the WPT TV show and is the second female to be inducted into the APHoF after Marsha Waggoner.

“My commitment has been to shine a spotlight on this industry, this game and the players within it,” Gilmartin said after receiving her accolade. “It’s been a privilege. I have so much admiration for this game and for all of you who either play this for a living or just for fun. To receive this award means the world to me, and I’m just so very grateful.”

The second person to receive that Superbowl Sunday feeling was an Australian currently enjoying his role as an End Boss.

“I’ve been playing with this young man for many years, and I can honestly say I’ve given him more bad beats than he’s given me,” Hachem said. “He plays PLO, he plays hold ’em and he travels the world. He’s been on a tear for the last three years and won two bracelets in Europe this year. Give it up for Kahle Burns.”

Burns has had an incredible 12-months, earning $4.4m in 2019 alone, including wins in Melbourne, partypoker MILLIONS, The Poker Masters and two WSOP bracelets. Burns earned those slivers of gold in Rozvadov, during the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), winning the €2,500 Short-Deck and €25,500 No-Limit Hold ’em (NLHE) events.

“I start playing poker at 18 years old,” said Burns. “I was just out of high school, and this is the room where it all started. I dropped out {of school} at 20 years old to take it seriously, and it’s been a fun ride for 12 years. I spent the first half mostly in this room grinding cash, and it’s been cool to see the poker room grow since then.”

Burns needs a trip to Ikea to buy a trophy cabinet. Earlier this year, the Global Poker Index (GPI) anointed him with the title: 2019 GPI Australian PoY.

Michael Addamo Wins The Young Achiever Award

The APHoF also likes to recognise young talent, and this year, the two-time WSOP bracelet winner, Michael Addamo got the nod – and the timing was perfect.

Addamo’s decision to shun the path of least resistance for the poker life bore fruit when in 2018 he won the $2,620 buy-in, 1,637-entrant NLHE Marathon for $653,581, before travelling to Rozvadov for the WSOPE, taking down the €25,500 NLHE High Roller for a further $973,630.

A few days ago, Addamo defeated a record field of 82-entrants to earn his first Aussie Million gold ring in the AUD 50,000 NLHE Challenge for $741,752 and lies third in the All-Time Australian Money List behind Joe Hachem and Kahle Burns.

The Australian Poker Hall of Fame

Joe Hachem
Jeff Lisandro
Billy Argyros
Lee Nelson
Gary Benson
Mel Judah
Tony G
Maurie Pears
Marsha Waggoner
Leo Boxell
Danny McDonagh
David Gorr
Jason Gray
Graeme Putt
Van Marcus
Joe Cabret
Manny Stavropoulos
Grant Levy
Jonathan Karamalikis
Lynn Gilmartin
Kahle Burns

It’s been a long road to get there for the Melbourne man, but get there he did.

Michael Addamo began racking up live tournament scores in 2012, and he earned his first 17 in the money (ITM) finishes playing in the Crown Casino in Melbourne, including his first-ever win: a 36-entrant AUD 20 NLHE event for AUD 640 in 2013.

Two years later, and Addamo made a deep run in the Aussie Millions Main Event, finishing 21/648, securing a record AUD 40,000 score. Another two years passed, before Addamo made another impression at the Crown, finishing 3/15656 in the AUD 1,200 NLHE Opening Event for AUD 117,910, and winning a 31-entrant AUD 5,000 at the Crown Poker Championships for AUD 58,900.

A year later, and Addamo, went one step further in the Aussie Millions Opening Event finishing runner-up to Benedikt Eberle in the 1,538-entrant AUD 1,200 NLHE Opening Event for AUD 194,690.

And now this.

Addamo has just defeated Cary Katz in heads-up action to take the title and $741,752 first prize in the AUD 50,000 No-Limit Hold ’em (NLH) Challenge.

A ring, at last.

The Nutshell Action

Day 1

It was a record-breaking Day 1, with 67-entrants surpassing the previous record set in 2019 when Toby Lewis defeated 62-entrants. 39-players waded through a moat of treacle to make it to Day 2, and with late registration and unlimited re-entry available until the end of the first level on Day 2, the attendance figure would rise.

The 2019 Global Poker Index (GPI) Australian Player of the Year (PoY), Kahle Burns, led the field. Former AUD 50,000 winners Mikita Badziakouski and Sam Greenwood ended the day in the Top 10. Addamo settled for a berth in the middle of the pack

Day 2

The day began with three new entrants, as Sosia Jiang, Jorryt van Hoof, and Cary Katz hoped their new bullets weren’t rubber.

By the end of the first level, and a series of sugared-up re-entries, the final attendance was 82-entrants, with 44-players left to battle for the $738,000 first prize.

Addamo took the chip lead in Level 11, after eliminating Sam Grafton when pocket tens outstripped AK during a five-card sprint. Then we lost the starting day chip leader when Elio Fox’s AdJc beat Burns’ QhJh after an all-in and call in the same level.

The Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1 would fall in Level 12 when Alex Foxen’s AdKh faced Rainer Kempe’s pocket tens in a hip-hop dance-off, did a headspin and broke its neck.

Ten would earn a buck, and Michael Soyza was the last person not to. With blinds at 2,500k/5,000/5,000, Soyza limped into the action from the small blind, holding Ac7c, and called when Addamo raised to 20,000, holding Qh8h. The flop of AhKh8d contained a bit of something for both players, and Soyza check-called a 30,000 Addamo bet. The Js hit the turn, keeping Soyza in the lead, and he once again check-called, this time for an overbet of 105,000. Addamo hit his flush on the river when the 7h decided the myopic lifestyle of the deck was not for him. Soyza checked, Addamo moved all-in, and after using 3 of his 4-time extension chips, Soyza made the fatal call.

The first player to exit with a few AUD in her purse was Kristen Bicknell. The 2019 GPI Female Player of the Year lost a race versus Cary Katz when pocket fives failed to dodge the landmines that aided AhKc.

Yong Wang felt the sharp sting of the Poker Gods wrath when he got it in with pocket kings versus the pocket tens of Erik Seidel, only for the New Yorker to hit his two-outer on the flop to send Wang home with a bang.

The next time Seidel came up against pocket kings, the Poker Gods deserted him. Seidel got it in on 9s8s6h chasing a flush draw with As5s in a single raised pot against Katz, holding KsKd. The flush flirted with an appearance but decided against it, and Katz extended his chip lead, leaving Seidel feeling more styrofoam cup than China.

Sharpshooter, Sam Greenwood, took out two in a single shot to keep his hopes of a second AUD 50,000 NLHE Challenge win alive. Rainer Kempe moved all-in for 142,000 from midfield, Greenwood was all-in from the button, and Timothy Adams called all-in from the big blind. Adams had the lead with pocket jacks versus the pocket nines of Greenwood, and KcQc of Kempe, but a 9s hit the turn to give Greenwood trips and the triple up.

Addamo replaced Katz as the chip leader with four remaining after eliminating the short-stacked Ben Lamb. The cash game star made a move holding 8c2c for the flush draw on 7c5h4c, and Addamo called and won with pocket jacks.

Then Greenwood’s voyage hit the rocks in fourth-place.

With blinds at 5,000/10,000/10,000, Addamo opened to 22,000, holding pocket aces in the first position, Katz called on the button with an unknown hand and Greenwood three-bet to 105,000 from the big blind. Addamo four-bet to 230,000, Katz moved out of the way, Greenwood jammed for more than 800,000, and Addamo called. Greenwood did flop the nut flush draw, but the turn and river were as red as Greenwood’s jumper, and the Canadian was out.

Chip Counts

Michael Addamo – 2,450,000
Cary Katz – 1,250,000
Orpen Kisacikoglu – 375,000

Kisacikoglu had a mountain to climb, and he didn’t climb it.

With blinds at 6,000/12,000/12,000, Kisacikoglu bet 12,000 on a flop of 4s3d3c, and Addamo made the call. Kisacikoglu held Kd4d for two-pair, and Addamo held Qh3s for trips. The turn card was a cooler when the Kh improved Kisacikoglu’s hand even further. The London-based entrepreneur checked from his seat in the small blind, Addamo bet 45,000 from the big, and the call came. The final card was the 5s, and Addamo moved all-in prompting a call from Kisacikoglu, and heads-up play moved over the horizon.

Heads-Up

Michael Addamo – 2,815,000
Cary Katz – 1,285,000

In what turned out to be a bit of a battle, Katz would double-up once, but never take the lead from Addamo throughout the duration. The final hand came with blinds at 10,000/20,000/20,000, when Addamo limped into the action holding pocket sixes, and Katz made a sneaky check with AhJs. The Jh6d2d flop would have had all the poker TV junkies on the edge of their seats like trained monkeys watching a cocaine bottle refill. Of course, the money went in, and the set for Addamo held to deliver him his 10th title. Last years AUD 100,000 Challenge winner, had to settle for second place.

Previous AUD 50,000 NLHE Challenge Winners

2017 Mikita Badziakouski beat six entrants
2018 Sam Greenwood beat four entrants
2019 Toby Lewis beat 62-entrants

AUD 50,000 NLHE Challenge ITM Results

  1. Michael Addamo – $741,752
  2. Cary Katz – $494,501
  3. Orpen Kisacikoglu – $329,668
  4. Sam Greenwood – $274,723
  5. Ben Lamb – $219,778
  6. Timothy Adams – $192,306
  7. Rainer Kempe – $164,834
  8. Erik Seidel – $137,362
  9. Yong Wang – $109,889
  10. Kristen Bicknell – $82,417
Timofey Kuznetsov

The scent of pine needles has gone, workbenches remain idle, laces urge to be tied. It’s that time of the year when the grinders head to Platform 9 3/4 to begin their fortnightly trek to poker world – it’s the PokerStars World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP). 

By my reckoning, we’re nine days in, and that means the beef stew needs chucking, and the colostomy bags need changing. 

Let’s catch up. 

The quickest high roller off the mark was one of WCOOP’s finest. Shaun Deeb loves this competition so much, three-years ago he missed the birth of his son to play in it, and he’s taken down his seventh title. 

Deeb, playing out of Mexico, defeated none other than Denis “aDrENalin710” Strebkov, heads-up, to win Event #9 (H) $1,050 No-Limit 5-Card Draw PKO for $25,375. You may remember that Strebkov won an unprecedented four titles in little over a week last time out. The Russian also finished the series as the leaderboard winner and sits atop the WCOOP Most Wins League with nine.

Back to Deeb, and the American has won close to $7m playing online poker tournaments, with $4.5m coming on Stars. His biggest score to date remains $312,610 after winning the $1k Monday on Full Tilt back in 2011.

Trueteller Wins The $25k High Roller.

Timofey “trueteller” Kuznetsov is one of those talented players who seems to revel in all formats live and online. The feared cash game star has made three Triton final tables this year, winning one, and now he has won a WCOOP title.

Kuznetsov conquered a 90-entrant Event #25 (H) $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Eight-Max High Roller. The Russian star beat his fellow cash game crusher, Jordi “proto” Urlings, heads-up to claim the $527,458.43 first prize. 

A whole host of top bananas made it to the final table of this one including Justin Bonomo (3), Dominik Nitsche (5), Mustapha Kanit (6) and Timothy Adams (8).

Here are the results.

Final Table Results

1. Timofey “trueteller” Kuznetsov – $527,458.43

2. Jordi “proto” Urlings – $407,625.43

3. Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo – $315,017.17

4. Rachid Ben “SkaiWalkurrr: Cherif – $243,448.63

5. Dominik “Bounatirou” Nitsche – $188,139.58

6. Mustapha “lasagnaaammm” Kanit – $145,396.41

7. Zagazaur – $112,363.81

8. Timothy “Tim0thee” Adams – $86,835.86

The Best of the Rest

Australian, Michael “imluckbox” Addamo, has added a WCOOP title to the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) title he won in 2016. Addamo defeated a field of 272-entrants in Event #13 (H) $5,200 Sunday Million High Roller, beating the formidable Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden, heads-up, no less. 

The $258,952.34 score is Addamo’s most significant live or online since finishing fifth in a €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the European Poker Tour (EPT) in Monte Carlo for $270,078, back in May. 

Finally, two of Portugal’s finest, currently living in the Netherlands, earned WCOOP honours this week. Rui “RuiNF” Ferreira won his seventh COOP title after conquering a 97-entrant field in Event #21 (H) $1,050 Limit Hold’em 6-Max to secure the $23,896 first prize. Ferreira also made the final tables of the €50,000 and €100,000 at EPT Barcelona finishing 9th and 8th respectively. Joao “Naza114” Vieira is a regular on the EPT €25k buy-in circuit. Vieira also won a WCOOP title vanquishing 213-entrants to win the $88,846 first prize in Event #26 (H) $530+R Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) 6-Max. It’s been a cushy year for Vieira after winning his first bracelet and $758,011 at the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

WCOOP runs until September 25.