It’s been a busy couple of days at the 2015 World Series of Poker Europe at the Spielbank Berlin Casino in Germany. Two bracelets have been handed out, including a U. S. expatriate earning one and a European taking his first for his country.
Event #4 – €1500 Monster Stack No Limit Hold’em
22 players returned on Wednesday to take on the challenge of the €1500 Monster Stack No Limit Hold’em tournament. Jerry Oedeen was in the lead with his 873K in chips when the cards went in the air, a lead that seemed pretty secure when looking down the leaderboard. Oedeen’s nearest competitor, Diego Ventura (632K), was almost 250K in chips behind him while Richard Shiels (619K), Ryan Hefter (598K) and Henrik Hecklen (554K) rounded out the Top Five.
On the very first hand of the day one of the more notable names alive for final day play, Simon Deadman, was able to get a double up through Oedeen to get back into the fray. Another top pro, Stefan Jedlicka, earned a double through Ventura to get healthy himself, while Yorane Kerignard went in the opposite direction in getting eliminated by Gilbert Diaz. After Diaz took down Erick Scheidt in 18th place, Diaz took over the lead with his 900K in chips.
One of the biggest clashes of the early action was between Deadman and Jedlicka. Moving all in from the button with pocket fives, Deadman had to at least figure to be in a race – if not way behind – when Jedlicka made the call out of the big blind. It turned out he was way behind Jedlicka’s pocket Queens, but the K-J-5 flop pushed Deadman into the lead with a set. Just as fast as he got it, however, Deadman saw his edge disappear when a Queen came on the turn to give Jedlicka a bigger set. After the case five didn’t show on the river, Deadman’s stack was devastated to only 60K; the very next hand, Deadman was out in 16th place.
Oedeen could never get anything going on the day, departing the tournament in eleventh place to bring the 10 survivors to the unofficial final table. Diaz was still the ruler of the roost at this point, but he would give that lead up after doubling David Peters’ stack. Jedlicka was the unfortunate “bubble boy,” eventually leaving in tenth place when Armin Eckl’s pocket eights outlasted Jedlicka’s Big Slick.
While Eckl, Hecklen and Carlos Chang ruled with more than a million chips each, Hefter began to slowly make a charge up the ladder. He doubled up through Eckl to crack the two million chip mark, but he would find himself on the bottom of the final three with Chang and Diaz. Hefter would grind his stack up to the point that, after he took down Chang in third place, he held a million chip lead over Diaz.
Hefter wouldn’t let Diaz back into the game. Hefter would take most of Diaz’s stack on the second hand after calling with an 8-6 against Diaz’s A-K and miraculously finding an eight on the 3-4-4-10-8 board. Fifteen hands later, Hefter completed the deal when his 8-7 raced down Diaz’s A-J on a 9-7-2-3-2 board to take home the championship.
1. Ryan Hefter, €176,205
2. Gilbert Diaz, €109,625
3. Carlos Chang, €80,170
4. Henrik Hecklen, €59,495
5. Diego Ventura, €44,725
6. Armin Eckl, €34,180
7. Justin Frolian, €26,415
8. Richard Sheils, €20,675
9. David Peters, €16,455
Hefter was a staple of the online scene prior to “Black Friday,” playing online at Full Tilt Poker, but the shutdown of the online game in the U. S. forced him into a “real” job. That job, as an analyst with Credit Suisse, took him to Poland where he couldn’t play as much poker as he might have preferred. “I work, so I don’t have time to tour the circuits,” Hefter noted after his victory…now perhaps he’ll find time to play more often.
Event #5 – €2000 Eight Game Mixed Event
The pace was a rapid one for Event #5 at the Spielbank, rocketing through the final 22 players to the point where, after the final table was determined on Wednesday night, the six men left at the final table decided to keep playing. By the time they stopped, only three men – Alex Komaromi (549K), Noah Bronstein (194,500) and Scott Clements (387K) – remained, with the triumvirate coming back on Thursday afternoon (Berlin Time, six hours ahead of Eastern Time) to settle the score.
After 30 minutes of play, Bronstein would finally succumb to his short stack woes as Komaromi took his final chips in No Limit Hold’em. After a 10-3-2 flop, Komaromi checked-called a Bronstein bet and, after an eight on the turn, Komaromi check-called an all-in from Bronstein. As it would turn out, Komaromi pulled off an excellent trap; his pocket deuces flopped a set against Bronstein’s Q-10 (top pair) and, after that eight on the turn, had Bronstein drawing dead.
Going to heads up play against Clements, Komaromi held more than a 2:1 lead and kept the hammer down. On the final hand in Pot Limit Omaha, Clements’ final chips went into the pot after a 9♠ 7♣ 3♣ and the story didn’t read well for him:
Clements: Q♣ J♣ 7♦ 4♦
Komaromi: A♣ 9♣ Q♠ 5♠
Komaromi’s better pair and better flush draw left Clements looking for a Queen, a Jack, a seven or a four to emerge victorious, but it wasn’t to be. After another trey hit the turn and the board completed with a King on the river, Clements was out in second place and Komaromi captured Uruguay’s first-ever WSOP bracelet with the victory.
1. Alex Komaromi, €65,740
2. Scott Clements, €40,645
3. Noah Bronstein, €29,200
4. Jonathan Duhamel, €21,065*
5. Shaun Deeb, €15,235*
6. Jens Lakemeier, €11,025*
(* – eliminated on Wednesday)
