Sam Soverel has followed up his win at the British Poker Open (BPO) by winning the 2019 Poker Masters, inching him closer to locking up the Poker Central Player of the Year for a second successive stint.
Soverel underlined his ability to compete against the best in the business across all formats of poker by cashing in seven of ten Poker Masters events, winning two, and cashing for $1.4m (gross).
“A lot of the guys I thought were really good I saw make mistakes online recently, and I actually think now that the playing field is a lot more level than I originally thought.”
The BPO Champ flew through this thing like a gunshot after winning Event #7: £25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha. He overtook Chance Kornuth at the top of the charts, and never relinquished the lead, taking fourth in Events #8 & 9 (both $25k No-Limit Hold’em), before winning the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event.
Soverel has now made $12.9m playing live tournaments, with 17 of his 21 wins coming in the past two-years – not bad for a cash game reg.
The Nutshell Action
Vertebrae belonging to 34-entrants stiffened in chairs, safe in the knowledge that it would only be a single shift.
Six players would take a seat at the final table, with only five pulling out a profit. Stephen Chidwick faced the reigning champion, Ali Imsirovic, in the chaotic bubble hand. Chidwick was all-in on the turn holding QcJc on Tc6h9d5c, and Imsirovic called with AhTh for top pair. The Bosnian had to dodge an incredible 21-outs. He didn’t. Chidwick hit his river, and Imsirovic’s only job was to hang around so he could drape the purple jacket over someone else’s shoulders.
Seth Davies was next to twirl into the rail after running pocket queens into the kings of Soverel, and Chidwick went on a magic carpet ride to the cash desk a little earlier than he would have liked when he played out the same hand combo with Chris Hunichen.
The table dirt stopped gathering beneath Elio Fox’s fingertips when he exited in third place. Soverel crippled him when the pair rivered boats, only for Soverel’s to turn out to be a warship. Fox would lose his chip dust not long after.
Fox’s elimination gave Soverel a 4:1 chip advantage over Hunichen, and there was no valiant comeback. Soverel set Hunichen into the deliberation tank when moving all-in with QT, and Hunichen called it off with pocket deuces. The lowest pair in the deck didn’t rise to prominence, and Soverel stepped into the crosshairs of the photographer.
ITM Finishes
- Sam Soverel – $680,000
- Chris Hunichen – $442,000
- Elio Fox – $272,000
- Stephen Chidwick – $170,000
- Seth Davies – $136,000
Poker Masters Championship Results
- Sam Soverel – 1160 points ($1,396,800)
- Kahle Burns – 630 ($585,950
- Chance Kornuth – 630 ($556,400)
- Sean Winter – 480 ($495,350)
- Ali Imsirovic – 450 ($497,600)
- George Wolff – 420 ($404,500)
- Alex Foxen – 330 ($169,450)
- Kristen Bicknell – 300 ($408,000)
- Sergi Reixach – 300 ($369,000)
- Isaac Baron – 300 ($223,100)