The ending may have been more Game of Thrones than Breaking Bad, but Sam Greenwood doesn’t care how he wins his titles as long as he wins them.
Greenwood’s incredible year ($8.1m and rising) continues to cartwheel after the Canadian was the last man seated at the end of a 67 entrant (23 re-entries) €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) at the European Poker Tour (EPT) in Prague. Greenwood beat his good buddy, Steve O’Dwyer, in heads-up play, after a final table that never seemed to end.
O’Dwyer was making his second final table of the series after finishing fourth in the €50,000. Matthias Eibinger was also making his second final table after finishing third in an earlier €25,000, Danny Tang was making his fourth final table after finishing third in the first €25,000 event, and catching a second and s sixth in €10k games.
Let’s see how Greenwood mowed people of that ilk down.
Final Table Seat Draw
Seat 1: Steve O’Dwyer – 1,950,000
Seat 2: George Wolff – 245,000
Seat 3: Sam Greenwood – 410,000
Seat 4: Matthias Eibinger – 260,000
Seat 5: Jans Arends – 640,000
Seat 6: Sam Grafton – 1,780,000
Seat 7: Mustafa jukovic – 530,000
Seat 8: Danny Tang – 400,000
The blinds were at 10k/20k/20k when most people watching from the rail assumed that Sam Greenwood’s long day at come to an end. Steve O’Dwyer opened the hijack with a 40,000 bet, and then called after Greenwood had three-bet to 200,000 from the button. The dealer placed Kd6d6s onto the felt as gently as a father places a sliver of gold onto his daughter’s tiny ankle, and O’Dwyer check-called a 60,000 Greenwood c-bet. The 7d hit the turn, and O’Dwyer put Greenwood all-in. The Canadian folded, leaving him behind a stack of six big blinds.
A spot of Dutch on Dutch action saw Joris Ruijs exit in the ninth place. Ruijs got it in holding AcKd against the pocket queens of Jans Arends, and the queens held. The queens then made their way to the whorls of Greenwood who shoved for 142,000 on the hijack seat, and Arends called and lost with AcJd.
Matthias Eibinger then doubled through Sam Grafton when pocket aces operated on AsKs removing all of the vital organs with typical precision. Danny Tang joined the double-up fun when AdQd beat the KcTs of Mustafa Jukovic. And Jukovic got some back when he doubled through O’Dwyer when AhJs rivered Broadway to beat pocket aces.
George Wolff then doubled through O’Dwyer Kc7c>As8d, and Eibinger did likewise when AcQh cracked the kings of Tang, and kings were useless for Grafton as they doubled up Jukovic who hit a wheel with AsKc.
Wolff doubled when Qd8d beat Eibinger’s Ad7s.
“The short stack always wins,” came a cry from the final table.
You can call it a hoodoo.
Grafton got it in holding 7s5s, and Jukovic called and lost with KsQc after Grafton flopped a two-pair hand.
Arends then took the chip lead when his pocket aces doubled through the pocket kings of O’Dwyer, and the Dutchman gave some of those chips to Tang when Jd4d failed to beat pocket eights when all-in, pre.
Wolff continued to double-up, this time KhQh beating Grafton’s AsKs, and Greenwood followed suit when QhJh hammered the pocket sixes of Arends.
Then after more double-ups than massage workshops in Bali, we had an elimination when Tang’s pocket sevens dismantled the Ad5d of Eibinger. The Austrian flopped a second ace to take the lead, but Tang turned a set to send Eibinger packing.
Grafton doubled through O’Dwyer when pocket jacks beat QsJs, and so did Wolff when AdTc slapped pocket fives – but O’Dwyer still held onto the chip lead with six remaining after enacting revenge on Wolff when 9d8d out flopped AhKc to send his compatriot to the rail in the sixth place.
Tang went next, and when he did, it was a humdinger.
With blinds at 40k/80k/80k, Tang opened to 500,000 from the hijack, O’Dwyer moved all-in, Greenwood followed, and Tang made it three to the flop.
Tang: KdQd
Greenwood: AcJc
O’Dwyer: AhTd
Tang flopped a king to potentially triple up, but Greenwood rivered a flush, to actually triple up, eliminate Tang, and bring him neck-and-neck with O’Dwyer.
Greenwood was on fire, and the next player turned to ash was Jans Arends. It was a flip with Greenwood’s pocket tens beat AhKh.
Grafton pissed on Greenwood’s flames when Qc2s doubled through Ac6s before Grafton hit the bottom of the chip stack leaderboard when O’Dwyer doubled with Kc9d versus Qh7c.
Grafton doubled back when JsTh beat the Ks3s of O’Dwyer but ran sixes into aces, leaving O’Dwyer with the chip lead going into heads-up with Greenwood.
Heads-Up Tale of the Tape
Steve O’Dwyer – 3,965,000
Sam Greenwood – 2,635,000
O’Dwyer was by far the most experienced heads-up player of the two in this format with 24 wins and 16 losses but had lost his last three battles including most recently the Master Classic of Poker in Amsterdam.
Greenwood had won ten of his eighteen previous heads-up encounters, winning his last bout against Robert Flink during the British Poker Open (BPO). That win followed two bitter pills in Triton events this year, losing to Mikita Badziakouski in an HKD 750,000 Short-Deck No-Limit Hold’em event in Montenegro, and to Michael Soyza in an HKD 500,000 No-Limit Hold’em event in Jeju.
All of which is irrelevant, after the pair agreed to an ICM chop. O’Dwyer took the most money, and Greenwood flipped his way to the title.
Amen to that.
Final Table Results
- Sam Greenwood – €384,968*
- Steve O’Dwyer – €411,311*
- Sam Grafton – €216,310
- Jans Arends – €163,220
- Danny Tang – €126,770
- George Wolff – €98,250
- Matthias Eibinger – €77,650
- Mustafa Jukovic – €60,220
- Joris Ruijs – €45,960
*Indicates a heads-up ICM deal for all the marbles.