The 2019 World Series of Poker Europe is running full bore at the King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. While the early action has been dominated by the European pros, the event that many wanted to see – the €250,000 Super High Roller – did not fail to bring the star power. In fact, that table will crown a champion tomorrow as other events award bracelets.
Event #4 – €250,000 Super High Roller (Day 2)
There were plenty of familiar faces on the Super High Roller felt, but not many of them made the move to Day 2 on Thursday. There were 30 entries into the event (that’s right – the tournament was an unlimited reentry tournament) and, at the start of competition on Thursday, 15 players were still alive in the event. Once they were joined by five reentries from the previous days action and one very dangerous player in the form of Phil Ivey, the 21 men went to battle to determine who would be at the final table.
Early knockouts in the event were former European Poker Tour champion Adrian Mateos and high roller specialist Kahle Burns, who were each in for three buy-ins before calling it a tournament. Ivey, who has been having some legal issues in the U. S. and is probably enjoying the chance to play in the WSOP Europe, was able to stick around for a bit but would depart the tournament in 13th place in a particularly tough fashion.
After Chin Wei Lim limped in from under
the gun, Ivey would make his stand in the UTG+1. Once everyone got out of the
way, Lim immediately made the call and the duo turned up their cards:
Lim: pocket tens
Ivey: pocket sixes
Beset by a cooler, Ivey was looking for a six that never came. The board ran out K-Q-8-A-4, sending Ivey’s chips into Lim’s stack and ushering the 10-time WSOP champion out the doors of the King’s Casino in 13th place (€0). Ivey may stick around for the Main Event, but he will not be the champion of the Super High Roller.
Once the final table of nine players was determined, it seemed as if every player left held the lead at least once. James Chen would hold the lead at the start and added to it by knocking out Richard Yong, but he then turned around and doubled up Cary Katz to fall back to the pack. He would then double up Dominik Nitsche, who knew what to do with those chips. Nitsche would knock off Paul Phua in eighth place and ride that chip stack to the lead when action resumes on Friday.
1. Dominik Nitsche, 42.5 million
2. Chin Wei Lim, 23.9 million
3. Cary Katz, 20 million
4. Antanas ‘Tony G’ Guoga, 18.6 million
5. Christoph Vogelsang, 16.3 million
6. Ryan Riess, 15.6 million
7. James Chen, 13.1 million
These seven men are probably not sleeping well tonight. Only five of them will be earning any cash from the €250,000 Super High Roller, with the fifth-place min-cash taking down €538,722. The eventual champion will earn the WSOP Europe bracelet and the €2,844,215 first place prize that goes with it.
Two Bracelets Already Awarded
In action from the start of the WSOP Europe earlier this week, two bracelets were handed out.
In the €350 “Opener,” Ukrainian Renat Bohdanov was able to outlast 1011 entries and a final table that included Australia’s Jeff Lisandro to take home the gold. The final table featured a strong contingent of Eastern European players vying with Lisandro, Rafi Elharar and Eyal Bensimhon for supremacy on the felt. It would come down to Bohdanov and Hungary’s Norbert Mosonyi for the title, with Bohdanov riding an A-9 to victory over Monsonyi’s suited K-5. Bohdanov took home €53,654 and the WSOP Europe gold for his efforts, while Mosonyi picked up €33,112 for his time on the felt (both men also earned entry into the WSOP Europe Main Event for their finishes).
In what has normally been the domain of the Europeans, Michigan’s Dash Dudley earned the WSOP Europe bracelet in the €550 Pot Limit Omaha tournament, Event #2 on the schedule. The win was his second bracelet victory, but it hardly came as a surprise after his win in the 2018 $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha championship at the WSOP Las Vegas. The 476-entry field generated a €226,100 prize pool, of which Dudley garnered the greatest share of €51,600 and the WSOP Europe bracelet.
Action will continue on Friday with the final table of the Super High Roller and Day 1C of the Mini-Main, the €1350 tournament that is still open for action. 388 entries have already entered that event and it is expected that the field could double in the final Day One of Event #3. The final day of Event #5, the €2500 Eight-Game Mix, will also take place, making for a busy Friday around the King’s Casino in Rozvadov as the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe storms onward.
