After two starting flights and four more days of tournament action in the €5,300 no-limit hold’em main event 2022 European Poker Tour Monte Carlo, it was 55-year-old Marcelo Simoes Mesqueu who ended up striking a deal heads-up with Morten Hvam for €564,640 and the title. Morten Hvam took second place for €564,640.

This was Marcelo Simoes Mesqueu’s seventh recorded career title. His largest latest victory being a win in a Brazilian Series of Poker event for $109,350. He now has more than $1.4 million in earnings to his name. This was his first POY-qualified final-table finish of the year, but it alone was enough to catapult him into 17th place in the 2022 POY race, which is sponsored by Global Poker.

The 2022 European Poker Tour Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event attracted 1,073 entries and offered up a €939,840 ($986,832 USD) prize pool.

The final day of this event began with just six players remaining, with 2019 PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em Players Championship (PSPC) champion Ramon Colillas eliminated in seventh place ($131,691 USD) at the end of the previous night’s action. Morten Hvam came into the final day with the lead, while Mesqueu sat in second chip position.

2022 European Poker Tour Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event Final Table Results:

Six-handed play lasted for several hours, with the first elimination of the day not taking place until after four levels had been completed. During that time, Mesqueu had overtaken the lead and pulled away from the pack. He added to his total when his 5-3 outran the A-2 of short stack Erkan Soenmez (6th – $175,402 USD) to finally send a player to the rail.

The knockouts came fast and furious after that. Mesqueu open-shoved with K-9 and received a call from Hugo Pingray, who held A-K. Both players flopped a king, but a nine on the turn gave Mesqueu two pair and a big lead. The river changed nothing and Pingray was eliminated in fifth place ($239,883 USD).

Jaime Cervantes’ run in this event concluded when his A-J failed to win a preflop race against the pocket nines of Hvam. He was down to needing an ace or jack on the river by the turn, and when a blank rolled off the deck he settled for $313,645 USD as the fourth-place finisher.

Dragos Trofimov got the last of his short stack in with A-4 facing the J-8 of Mesqueue and the J-6 pf Hvam. The flop gave Hvam jacks and sixes, which remained best through the turn and river. Trofimov secured $417,469 USD for his third-place showing.

Heads-up play began with Mesqueu holding 25,250,000 to Hvam’s 6,950,000. The two discussed a deal, but ultimately played on without having come to an agreement. In the final hand, Hvam min-raised on the button with KClub Suit10Diamond Suit and Mesqueu three-bet with KHeart SuitKDiamond Suit. Hvam called and the flop came down 9Diamond Suit7Diamond Suit6Spade Suit. Mesqueu made a continuation bet of 1 million, only to have Hvam move all-in for 3.4 million. Mesqueu made the call with his overpair. The turn brought the 5Spade Suit and the river the JDiamond Suit, locking up the pot for Mesqueu and his pocket kings. Hvam earned $592,872 USD as the runner-up finisher.

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The PokerGO Tour has returned to Venetian Las Vegas this week for a trio of high roller no-limit hold’em events spread from May 5-7. The kickoff tournament featured a $10,000 buy-in, with a total of 34 entries made before registration was officially closed. The $340,000 prize pool was divvied up among the top five finishers, with the lion’s share going to eventual champion Vikenty Shegal.

Shegal is on an impressive run so far this year. This was his first title and eighth final-table finish of 2022, with $772,721 in earnings secured along the way. With 1,355 Card Player Player of the Year points, he is now ranked 57th in the 2022 POY race, which is sponsored by Global Poker. He also earned 136 PokerGO Tour points for the win, enough to see him move within reach of the top 30 in that points race.

Shegal knocked out Sam Soverl in seventh place, then eliminated Elvis Toomas on the money bubble to take extend his chip lead heading into five-handed action. His rampage continued when his flush beat the two pair of Daniel Colpys (5th – $23,800) to narrow the field to four.

Dylan Linde was the only other player besides Shegal to score a knockout inside the money. His pocket nines held against the J-9 of Alex Foxen, who flopped a straight draw and turned a flush draw. Linde flopped bottom set, and improved to a full house on the river to send Foxen home with $37,400. This was Foxen’s 12th final-table finish of the year, with more than $1.6 million in POY earnings accrued thus far. As a result of his impressive consistency, he now sits in sixth place in the POY standings and fifth on the PGT leaderboard.

Isaac Kempton was the next to fall. The Wynn Millions main event runner-up and recent PGT Heads-Up Showdown semi-finalist four-bet shoved with A-3 suited, only to run into the pocket jacks of Shegal. The big pair held up to see Kempton finish third for $54,500 and 150 POY points. He is now ranked fifth on the leaderboard and is fourth in the PGT race.

A preflop cooler brought this tournament to an end. Shegal limped in with 10Heart Suit10Club Suit and called Linde’s shove. Linde revealed pocket 9Diamond Suit9Club Suit. The board ran JDiamond Suit3Heart Suit2Heart Suit9Heart SuitQHeart Suit. Linde overtook the lead with a set on the turn, but Shegal backed into a flush to take down the pot and the title. Linde, a bracelet winner and World Poker Tour champion, earned $88,4000 as the runner-up.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded in this event:

Photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

The Spanish professional player Adrian Mateos defeated Marius Gierse in the 2022 EPT Monte Carlo €100,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em super high roller event, earning €1,385,430 ($1,454,702 USD) and his 20th live tournament title. Mateos now has more than $27.8 million in lifetime earnings, enough to put him in 18th place on poker’s all-time money list. He is the runaway leader on the Spanish money list, with more than twice the earnings of his nearest competitor in Sergio Aido ($12.9 million).

The third and final day of this high-stakes event began with six players remaining, all of whom were in the money after Orpen Kisacikoglu was knocked out on the bubble to bring day 2 to a close. Mateos picked up pocket tens against Kisacikoglu’s A-10 and held to extend the Spaniard’s chip lead going into the final table.

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Kent Staahle was the first to fall inside the money, with his pocket nines running into the pocket aces of Marius Gierse. The Norwegian was unable to come from behind and was eliminated in sixth place ($299,502 USD).

Not long after Staahle hit the rail, Hungarian poker pro Laszlo Bujtas found himself all-in with A-5 leading the J-10 of Belarus’ Mikalai Vaskaboinikau. Bujtas paired his ace on the turn, but the card also gave Vaskaboinikau an ace-high straight to leave Bujtas drawing dead. He earned $385,077 USD for his third live high roller cash of the year. He now has more than $4.5 million in live earnings to his name.

Four-handed play continued for roughly two hours. Despite having scored the most recent knockout, Vaskaboinikau was the player who fell to the bottom of the chip counts. he ended up calling all-in for just shy of nine big blinds out of the big blind with KSpade Suit7Club Suit. Mateos had shoved with JHeart Suit10Diamond Suit from the small blind. A jack-high flop gave Mateos the lead, which he maintained through the river to send Vaskaboinikau home in fourth place ($492,041 USD).

Mateos took a healthy lead into three-handed play, with his 5,410,000 representing more than half of the chips in play. His lead went from sizable to gigantic thanks to picking off two big bluffs, one from each of his remaining opponents. In both instances, he flopped top pair and called his way to victory, leaving his opponents on fumes.

Bracelet winner and high-stakes tournament crusher Mikita Badziakouski was the first to succumb. He shoved his last handful of big blinds with ADiamond Suit2Diamond Suit from the button. Mateos called with AClub Suit10Diamond Suit from the big blind and the board ran out KSpade SuitKHeart Suit10Club Suit7Club Suit7Heart Suit to eliminate Badziakouski in third place ($641,792 USD). The score increased the Belarusian’s lifetime earnings to more than $35.2 million, which is good for ninth place on poker’s all-time money list. He also scored 400 POY points, which saw him climb into 71st place in the rankings.

With that Mateos grew his stack to over 10 million, while Gierse sat with less than 400,000. Gierse managed to score one double up, but he was unable to win the second time he found himself all-in and at risk. With blinds of 40,000-80,000 and an 80,000 big blind ante, he shoved 690,000 from the button holding JClub Suit4Spade Suit, Mateos called with KSpade Suit3Club Suit and the ADiamond SuitQHeart Suit6Club Suit9Heart Suit9Diamond Suit saw him lock up both the pot and the title. Gierse, who recently won a $25,000 event at the Super High Roller Series Europe, earned $1,005,470 as the runner-up in this event. With three final-table finishes and more than $1.6 million in year-to-date earnings, the German poker pro now sits in 64th place in the overall POY standings.

Final Table of EPT Monte Carlo €100,000 Super High Roller:

The first major event of the 2022 EPT Monte Carlo is now in the books. The €10,200 buy-in no-limit hold’em mystery bounty event attracted 83 high rollers, building a main prize pool of €390,100 while another €415,000 was set aside for the ‘mystery bounty’ payouts. There were two €100,000 bounties up fro grabs, that ultimately went to fourth-place finisher Imad Derwiche and runner-up Sergi Reixach, who was the player to ultimately cash for the most money in this event when totaling cash payouts and bounty earnings.

In the end, the ultimate victor of the tournament was French entrepreneur Jean-Noel Thorel. He took home €107,290 from the main prize pool and another €77,500 in bounties after defeating Reixach heads-up. Thorel is no stranger to high-stakes tournament action, with nearly $7.2 million in prior cashes under his belt before winning this title. This was just his third recorded live tournament victory, though. His top five largest scores have all come from runner-up and third-place finishes.

While Thorel didn’t draw one of the two six-figure bounty envelopes, he did secure a €50,000 bounty to make up the majority of his earnings from that segment of the prize money.

The top 11 finishers made the money in this event, with 2021 World Series of Poker Europe main event runner-up finisher Johan Guilbert eliminated on the money bubble. Other big names hit the rail inside the money, including WSOP bracelet winner Boris Kolev (10th – €9,750), bracelet winner and two-time Super High Roller Bowl ring winner Timothy Adams (9th – €11,120), and another high-stakes regular and bracelet winner in Sam Greenwood (6th – €23,800). Greenwood joined Thorel as one of the winners of the €50,000 bounties.

Recent Irish Poker Open main event winner Steve O’Dwyer placed fifth for €30,430 and €10,000 in bounties when his J-4 suited was unable to win a four-way all-in against Thorel, Reixach and Belarmino De Souza.

Imad Derwiche got all-in with 10-8 suited and found himself at risk against A-K for both Thorel and Reixach. The board double paired and Derwiche with the rail with €38,420 and the six-figure bounty payout he earned for busting Adams earlier in the day.

Reixach took a sizable lead into three-handed action. He further added to his stack when his 5Spade Suit4Spade Suit suited, which he shoved preflop, was able to outrun the ADiamond SuitAClub Suit of short stack De Souza. A flush on the turn left De Souza drawing dead. He took home €49,930 as the third-place finisher.

Reixach held a healthy lead going into heads-up, but the tables were soon switched thanks to a chop that wasn’t. All the chips went in preflop with both players holding A-Q. Four hearts rolled off the deck to give Thorel a flush and the double into the lead. Reixach eventually got the last of his stack in on a 7Spade Suit4Diamond Suit2Diamond Suit flop with JDiamond Suit9Diamond Suit. Thorel held 5Diamond Suit4Heart Suit for middle pair. The AHeart Suit turn and 2Heart Suit river changed nothing and Reixach was knocked out in second place (€76,260 and €177,500 in bounties).

Here’s a take a look at the outcomes from the ultimate desk:

Photograph credit score: Danny Maxwell / Rational Mental Holdings Ltd.

Poker Hall of Fame member Phil Hellmuth has won eight of his nine matches played so far on PokerGO’s High Stakes Duel, including seven consecutive victories to start his run. Tom Dwan was the player to snap that streak when he met Hellmuth last August, beating Hellmuth in a $100,000 buy-in match when his pocket tens cracked the 16-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner’s pocket aces.

Hellmuth got back to his winning ways in January of 2022, besting Dwan in a $200,000 buy-in heads-up rematch. According to the rules of this show, Dwan had the option to challenge Hellmuth to a rematch for double the stakes. The high stakes cash game regular did so shortly after his loss, setting up a $400,000 buy-in round 4 clash between the pair. On Tuesday, Apr. 26 PokerGO announced that the match has officially been scheduled for May 12. The showdown will be broadcast in its entirety exclusively on PokerGO.com starting at 8:00 PM Eastern (5:00 PM Pacific).

“The next match is for $800,000. If I lose, I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to pony up $800,000 to play again, but I bet he will,” said Hellmuth at the time.

The rules of the show stipulate that the buy-in for the match will always double, with a victorious player only able to walk away if they win three straight matches prior to round 4, or two straight matches after round 4. With Dwan scoring a win in round 2, there will be a round 5 regardless of who comes out on top in the upcoming match. The loser will have the first shot at accepting a rematch, but if they decide to pass, a new player will be invited to step in against the winner at the $800,000 buy-in price point. Hellmuth and Dwan would both need to win two consecutive matches, starting with their May 12 showdown, in order to be eligible to walk away victorious.

Hellmuth won the first edition of this heads-up clash by beating three-time bracelet winner and two-time World Poker Tour champion Antonio Esfandiari in a clean three-match sweep. He then went on to beat six-time bracelet winner and two-time WPT champion Daniel Negreanu in another three-match shutout. He then beat sports commentator Nick Wright in round 1 of High Stakes Duel III before Dwan stepped in to end his winning spree.

Ali Nejad is set to lead the commentary team for the upcoming broadcast, with a High Stakes Duel Hype Show planned for May 11. There will also be a High Stakes Duel Weigh-In directly ahead of the match on May 12.

Photo provided by PokerGO.

The inaugural PokerGO Tour Heads-Up Showdown saw high-stakes one-on-one no-limit hold’em action return to poker fans’ screens around the globe. The $25,000 buy-in invitational shootout event ran from Apr. 21-23 at the PokerGO Studio at the ARIA Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Three-time World Poker Tour main event champion Chino Rheem battled his way through the 32-entry field to capture the title and the top prize of $400,000.

The win saw the 42-year-old poker pro increase his lifetime live tournament earnings to more than $12 million. He has accumulated five separate seven-figure scores in his career, including a nearly $1.8 million payday as the seventh-place finisher in the 2008 World Series of Poker main event. He also won the 2019 European Poker Tour PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event for more than $1.5 million.

“I’m feeling good,” Rheem told PGT reporters after coming out on top. “It’s a really good feeling. Honestly, it’s just a privilege and an honor to play in these events, especially given where I was at less than a year ago. I’m really grateful. It just feels good to be able to come and play and actually win.”

While Rheem’s prowess on the felt is undeniable, he has been at the center of controversies over the years. He was put on probation by the short-lived Epic Poker League after taking down one of their few events for a million-dollar payday due to his alleged failure to pay down debts he owed to other professional players.

“It’s no secret in the poker world that I’ve had my ups and downs,” Rheem continued. “At one point in my life, I was in a really dark place. I’m just really, really grateful to have been shown the light and find god and the people that he’s put in my life to help me sustain a much more healthy, sober life. I owe it all to that, really.”

Rheem won five consecutive heads-up matches in order to secure the title coming from the ‘Diamonds’ corner of the bracket. He started his journey off by defeating three-time bracelet winner and WPT champion Nick Schulman in the round of 32. He then squared off against another three-time bracelet winner in Jeremy Ausmus. Rheem defeated the current Card Player Player of the Year race second-ranked contender to move into the quarterfinals.

Rheem overcame successful businessman and frequent high-stakes tournament contender Bill Klein to set up a semi-final showdown with WPT champion Justin Young. This would not be the first time the pair squared off, as they battled heads-up back in 2008 with the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic title on the line. Rheem came out on top then, earning more than $1.5 million and his first of three victories on that tour. he also was the winner this time around, sending Young to the rail with $100,000 for his deep run in this event. The score put his lifetime live earnings at just shy of $6 million.

With that, Rheem punched his ticket to the finals. All-time WPT main tour titles leader Darren Elias was the last player between Rheem and the title. The two played for roughly 100 minutes. Elias had taken the lead early, but Rheem surged back into the chip lead thanks to a double up at roughly the one hour mark. He shoved the river for 63,500 into a pot of 220,000 on a AClub SuitKClub Suit6Heart Suit3Spade Suit8Club Suit board with ADiamond SuitJClub Suit. Elias called after plenty of consideration with KSpade Suit10Heart Suit to see Rheem take more than a 2:1 lead of his own.

Rheem extended that advantage even further by the time the final hand was dealt. Elias open-shoved for just shy of 12 big blinds with Q-5 offsuit and Rheem called with A-8. A jack-high runout kept ace high in the lead and Elias was eliminated as the runner-up ($200,000). He now has more than $10.1 million in lifetime earnings. Elias is well situated to add to that total in a major way next month as the chip leader of the delayed final table of this year’s WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. The final six were set on Apr. 12, but the champion in that event will be decided on May 25. Elias will be playing for his record-extending fifth WPT title and the top prize of $1,000,300.

Here is a look at the payouts awarded in this event:

Winner photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

Poker Stories is a long-form audio podcast series that features casual interviews with some of the game’s best players and personalities. Each episode highlights a well-known member of the poker world and dives deep into their favorite tales both on and off the felt.

Kane Kalas grew up near Philadelphia where his father and baseball hall of famer Harry Kalas worked as the play by play commentator for the Phillies for nearly 40 years. He could have joined the family business like his brother Todd, who broadcasts for the Houston Astros, but while he was in college he got bit by the poker bug.

Kalas was particularly aggressive building his bankroll online, and only took a few months before he was playing at Rail Heaven on Full Tilt for stakes as high as $500-$1,000 no-limit. The baritone opera singer ventured into the live arena after Black Friday and found success on the tournament trail, including a runner-up finish at the WPT Borgata Poker Open for more than $500,000. Then in 2018, Kalas won the biggest cash game pot in televised poker history, banking $2.18 million in a hand against Jason Koon at the Triton Montenegro series.

Over the years the hedge fund manager has also done broadcasting work for a number of poker shows and tours including the WSOP, Triton, WPT Deepstacks, HPT, Hard Rock Poker Open, Poker Night In America, Hustler Casino Live, Live at the Bike, and PokerGO. Although he doesn’t work in baseball, the 32-year-old still lends his voice to the Phillies every season on opening day to sing the Star Spangled Banner.

Highlights from this interview include performing for stadiums, an operatic voice, his movie role, battling Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey, a strategically chosen online name, winning a record-breaking pot, poker broadcasting, launching a hedge fund, comparing poker greats, saying no to dancing in Footloose, High Hopes, losing a $60,000 tennis prop bet, the noticeable absence of Nate Dogg, Rick Rolling, and challenging everyone to Final Fantasy Tactics.

Catch up on past episodes featuring notables such as Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, Patrik Antonius, Justin Bonomo, Antonio Esfandiari, Nick Schulman, Fedor Holz, Barry Greenstein, Dan Smith, Scotty Nguyen, Mike Sexton, Maria Ho, Bryn Kenney, and many more. If you like what you hear, be sure to subscribe to get the latest episodes automatically when they are released.

Daniel Dvoress became just the 35th player in poker history to accumulate more than $20 million in recorded tournament earnings. The 33-year-old Canadian poker pro surpassed this huge milestone thanks to a win in the 2022 Super High Roller Series Europe $50,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event. He outlasted a field of 43 total entries to earn $731,000, which brought his lifetime total to $20,185,994

This was the seventh-largest score of Dvoress’ career, with his biggest payday being the $4,080,000 he earned as the champion of the 2019 Super High Roller Bahamas $250,000 buy-in event. He is also a World Series of Poker bracelet winner, having taken down the 2020 WSOP Online $1,500 buy-in ‘Millionaire Maker’ event for nearly $1.5 million.

Dvoress also earned a bounty of rankings points for this latest victory. This was his fifth final-table showing of the year, with more than $1.7 million in earnings accrued along the way. The 510 Card Player Player of the Year points he secured as the champion saw him move into 44th place in the 2022 POY race, which is sponsored by Global Poker. He also took home 439 PokerGO Tour points, enough to move him into 12th place on that high-roller-focused leaderboard.

The final day of this event began with seven players remaining. The money bubble had burst at the conclusion of day 1, with Cry Katz being the last player eliminated outside of the money. He ran pocket eights into the pocket queens of Timothy Adams, who bagged up the chip lead into day 2.

Tom Vogelsang, who won event no. 1 of this series, was the first to fall at the final table. He got all-in with pocket sixes facing the A-K suited of Dvores, which made an ace-high straight on the turn. Vogelsang earned $86,000 as the seventh-place finisher.

European Poker Tour Sochi champion Artur Martirosian’s run in this event came to an end when his pocket eights lost a race to the A-Q suited of Dvoress, who made the nut flush on the turn to leave Martirosian drawing dead. He was awarded $129,000 for his sixth-place showing.

Viacheslav Buldygin got the last of his short stack in ahead, with pocket queens leading the pocket tens of Jason Koon. A ten in the window gave Koon a set and a big lead. Buldygin picked up a club draw on the turn, but a board pair on the river gave Koon a winning full house to narrow the field to four. Buldygin took home $172,000 for his latest deep run in a high-stakes event.

Timothy Adams, who won the EPT Prague €50,000 buy-in high roller just over a month prior to this event, was the next to be eliminated. He four-bet shoved with KDiamond SuitQDiamond Suit and received a quick call from Dvoress, who had picked up ASpade SuitADiamond Suit. Dvoress flopped a set, while Adams picked up a gutshot draw. He failed to improve on the turn or river and was knocked out in fourth place ($236,500). This was Adams’ fourth final-table finish of the year, with two wins along the way, including a victory in a $25,000 turbo event just a day prior to this tournament for $310,000. He now sits in 58th place in the POY race.

Jason Koon was at his sixth final table of the month, with two fifth-place showings and three consecutive third-place finishes prior to making the top three in this event. The bracelet winner got the last of his stack in on a 7Spade Suit3Diamond Suit2Spade Suit flop with QDiamond Suit3Spade Suit trailing the KHeart Suit7Heart Suit of fellow bracelet winner Sam Greenwood. Koon was awarded $322,500 as the third-place finisher when Greenwood improved to kings up on the river. Koon has now cashed for more than $1.7 million this month, climbing into 14th place in the POY standings and 10th place on the PGT leaderboard.

Heads-up play began with Dvoress holding 3,890,000 to Greenwood’s 2,560,000. The pair of Canadian high-stakes stars went on to battle for roughly three hours. The decisive hand saw Dvoress flop trip sevens in a limped pot with AClub Suit7Diamond Suit on a KDiamond Suit7Heart Suit7Club Suit board. Greenwood checked with QSpade SuitJDiamond Suit and Dvoress bet small. Greenwood came along and the QHeart Suit on the turn gave him queens and sevens. He checked again and Dvoress sized up, firing 625,000 into the pot of 750,000. Greenwood called and the 5Club Suit completed the board. Greenwood checked a third time and Dvoress mode all-in for just over the size of the pot. Greenwood, who had him covered by 300,000 to start the hand, went into the tank before ultimately making the call. The very next hand, Greenwood shoved from the button with 4-3 offsuit and Dvoress called with 7-4. Dvoress made sevens and fours on the turn to leave Greenwood drawing dead. Greenwood earned $473,000 as the runner-up finisher.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

The 2022 Super High Roller Series Europe festival kicked off at Merit Royal Hotel Casino & Spa in North Cyprus with a $25,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha event. Tom Vogelsang defeated Laszlo Bujtas in heads-up play to win Event #1: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha and claim the $360,000 top prize as well as the first title of the 2022 Super High Roller Series Europe (SHRS).

The tournament attracted a field of 40 entries, but there could be only one champion. The Dutch player has now cashed for more than $1.75 million this week, having just finished second in the Triton Poker Cyprus $100,000 no-limit hold’em event for nearly $1.4 million a few days earlier. He now has more than $2.3 million in lifetime live earnings to his name.

Vogelsang now has two big results from this trip to North Cyprus. He finished second in Event #2 of Triton Poker Cyprus for $1,390,000. The two scores now have Vogelsang 18th on the 2022 PokerGO Tour (PGT) leaderboard with 616 points.

The final day of this event began with just six players remaining, all of whom were in the money after Chris Brewer was knocked out on the bubble at the conclusion of day 1. World Series of Poker bracelet winner Eelis Parssinen was the first to fall on day 2, with his double suited A-A-K-9 falling to the single-suited A-A-5-4 of Ali Imsirovic, who rivered a six-high straight to take down the pot. Parssinen earned $50,000 as the sixth-place finisher.

Imsirovic was ultimately the next player out despite winning that clash of pocket aces. He got the last of his stack in on a JSpade Suit6Heart Suit4Spade Suit flop after three-betting prefelop with AClub SuitKHeart Suit7Club Suit5Spade Suit. Vogelsang quickly called with ADiamond SuitJDiamond SuitJClub Suit3Club Suit for top set. Imsirovic picked up a second straight draw after the 10Heart Suit turn, but the board paired on the river to give Vogelsang a full house. Imsirovic (5th – $80,000), who is the reigning Card Player and PGT Player of the Year, had already overtaken the PGT top spot earlier this week thanks to a final-table finish in a Triton CPoker Cyprus event. With four titles, 14 final-table finishes and more than $2.3 million in year-to-date POY earnings, Imsirovic now once again sits atop the leaderboard in both points races as he looks to go back-to-back.

Raphael Schreiner’s run in this event came to an end when his pocket kings with 7-5 suited on the side lost an all-in against the double-suited A-Q-9-4 of Laszlo Bujtas, who made trip aces to secure the pot. Schreiner earned $110,000 as the fourth-place finisher.

Rok Gostisa got the last of his short stack in with QHeart SuitQClub Suit8Spade Suit3Heart Suit up against the ASpade SuitAHeart Suit5Club Suit4Club Suit of Bujtas. The pocket aces held up and Gostisa was sent home with $160,000 for his third-place showing. The World Poker Tour main event winner now has more than $3.2 million in recorded tournament earnings.

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With that heads-up play began with Vogelsang holding roughly a 2:1 chip advantage over Bujtas, who had just finished runner-up in a $50,000 buy-in six-max event at the Triton Cyprus series days earlier for $770,000. Vogelsang was able to further extend his lead by the time the final hand was dealt. All of the chips got in preflop with Vogelsang four-bet shoving ADiamond SuitKSpade SuitJClub Suit3Diamond Suit. Bujtas called with KHeart SuitKDiamond Suit7Club Suit2Spade Suit after committing nearly halfof his stack with a three-bet. The board ran out AClub SuitQClub Suit5Diamond Suit6Club Suit3Club Suit to lock up the pot and the title for Vogelsang. Bujtas earned $240,000 for his second runner-up finish in a week’s time. He now has nearly $4.2 million in career live cashes under his belt, including his second-place finish in the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe main event.

2022 SUPER HIGH ROLLER SERIES EUROPE EVENT #1 RESULTS

Triton Poker had established itself as one of the premier tours for high-stakes poker tournament action prior to the live poker shutdown of 2020 that resulted from the COVID-19 outbreak. As a result of the pandemic, it has been more than 2.5 years since the last time a Triton series took place, with the most recent being the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Europe Triton festival held in August of 2019. Finally, in April of 2022, the high roller staple has returned for another nosebleed-stakes tournament festival.

The first event of the 2022 Triton Poker Cyprus series was the $50,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em six-max tournament. A total of 82 entries were made by the time that registration officially closed, building a massive prize pool of $3,936,000 that was paid out among the top 11 finishers. After two long days of action, Hungarian poker pro Andras Nemeth emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of $1,082,000.

This was Nemeth’s first recorded seven-figure live tournament payday. Nemeth now has more than $6.1 million in live earnings to his name, with a sizable amount of online success also under his belt. Nemeth also became the first Hungarian to ever win a Triton event, defeating his friend and fellow countryman Laszlo Bujtas heads-up for the title.

“It was surreal to play for the first time and to then get heads-up against one of my best friends in poker. I had to pinch myself,” he told Triton Poker staff after coming out on top.

In addition to the title and the money, Nemeth also secured 816 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion of this event. This was his fourth final-table finish and third title of the year, having come out on top in two events at the European Poker Tour Prague festival in March. Nemeth now sits in 35th place in the 2022 POY race standings, which are sponsored by Global Poker.

The second and final day of this event began with 33 players remaining, with eight late registrants joining before cards got in the air. The money bubble burst with the elimination of Mikita Badziakouski running A-5 into the A-8 of Michael Soyza. Badziakouski hit the rail empty-handed in this event, while the remaining 11 players all locked up at least $99,000.

Four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Michael Addamo (11th -$ 99,000), Eng Siang Ewe (10th – $99,000), Michael Soyza (9th – $113,000), bracelet winner Sam Greenwood (8th – $140,000), and 2019 Card Player POY award winner Stephen Chidwick (7th – $188,000) all made deep runs to the money while falling short of the official final table.

Even without the likes of Chidwick in the mix, the final six sported plenty of highly accomplished players, including 10-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey, bracelet winner and three-time Triton event winner Jason Koon, and 2016 One Drop Invitational €1,000,000 buy-in winner Elton Tsang.

Tsang was the first to fall at the final table, with his A-9 suited running into the A-Q of Nemeth. Neither player improved and Tsang settled for $240,100 as the sixth-pale finisher. Just a handful of minutes later, a short-stacked Koon got all-in with his K-Q trailing the pocket queens of Bujtas. The pocket pair held up and Koon was eliminated in fifth place ($307,000). With $35.5 million in lifetime cashes, Koon is now ranked eighth on poker’s all-time money list.

The knockouts continued at a brisk pace, with two more eliminations in the next 10 minutes. Phil Ivey’s run in this event came to an end when he called a small blind shove from Bujtas holding A-J in the big blind. Bujtas made a flush with his 7Heart Suit5Heart Suit, which found three hearts on the board to secure the pot. Ivey earned $387,100 for his first live tournament score of 2022. He now has more than $32.1 million in career tournament earnings, good for 12th on the leaderboard.

Just moments after Ivey was sent home, Dong Hyun Kim got all-in with his pocket sevens leading the pocket fours of Nemeth. The 5Spade Suit3Spade Suit2Club Suit6Heart Suit10Heart Suit runout gave Nemeth a six-high straight on the turn for the win. Kim was awarded $503,800, the largest payday of the Korean’s career.

Nemeth took roughly a 3:1 chip lead into heads-up play with Bujtas. In the final hand, Nemeth shoved from the button with ADiamond Suit3Heart Suit and Bujtas called with KHeart SuitQHeart Suit for his last 20 or so big blinds. The board came down AClub Suit9Spade Suit4Club Suit2Diamond Suit7Heart Suit to lock up the pot and the title for Nemeth. Bujtas earned $770,000 as the runner-up, the second-largest score of his career behind his runner-up finish in the 2018 WSOP Europe main event for $797,609. He now has more than $3.9 million in recorded tournament earnings.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table: