After failing to win his quote to go back to the European Parliament, Tony G is back on the really felt. As well as he’s ready to deal with the GTO super stars at the upcoming WSOP Europe series. Or, so he believes.

The loudmouth, now former Lithuanian politician, called his shot on social media. He plans to dominate the young poker greats next month.

Tony G Ready to Win a Bracelet

Antanas Guoga, known in the poker streets as Tony G, has never been short on confidence. He once proudly proclaimed, “I am the best,” on a televised poker show.

Guoga was one of the most polarizing figures in the game during the poker boom era. He often berated and taunted his opponents, and always loved to needle Phil Hellmuth.

But he’s been more focused on cryptocurrency, and in representing Lithuania in the European Parliament, in recent years. Now, Tony G ready to get back to crushing opponents on the felt on a more regular basis, starting with WSOP Europe in October.

“Today, I start my own new campaign,” he wrote on Facebook. “It is time for us old boys of poker to fight back against the GTO and tanking cyborgs. It is the poker version of Avengers Assemble and I am armed with special powers.”

Tony G certainly does have special powers, such as forcing Russian poker player Ralph Perry to get “on your bike.” But he’ll have his work cut out from him in Rozvadov, Czech Republic if he expects to do the same to the GTO poker stars. And, we mean no disrespect to Perry, whom we’re certain is a competent player. He’s no Stephen Chidwick, however.

“Stage One” of Tony G’s mission to take the game back from the GTO crushers begins at King’s Casino next month. He hasn’t announced “Stage Two” yet, or if he’ll start back over at Stage One in the event the GTO bots do the crushing.

He Can Still Play

Tony G certainly isn’t rusty. The Lithuanian politician won a high roller at the Partypoker Millions in Rozvadov last month for $265,859. And he’s competed in quite a few live-streamed cash game shows in recent months. So, he should be good and ready to prove the GTO pros still haven’t found a way to defeat an old-school legend.

Guoga is one of the most polarizing pros of all-time, due to his aggressive behavior at the poker table. He isn’t afraid to verbally attack opponents or taunt a player after winning a big pot. But, oddly enough, he tends to be gracious in defeat.

Will he be gracious if the GTO superstars spoil his plan at WSOP Europe? That seems highly unlikely, but we shall see.

World Poker Tour Tournament Director, Matt Savage, asked poker players on Twitter if they think the WPT should facilitate chops. We found mixed reactions from the poker community in what was an interesting debate.

Allen Kessler is taking credit for the WPT’s new-found interest in deal making following a questionable conclusion to a recent event. Donald Maloney beat a field of 1,156 players to win the WPT Borgata Poker Open earlier this month, and $616,186.

On the final hand, the three remaining players decided they were tired and ready to go home. So, they agreed to a chop and just went all-in to finish off the tournament, or so Kessler claims.

Savage Responds

A week later, Savage asked his Twitter followers if they think chops should be allowed in WPT events. It’s unclear if Kessler’s critical comments led to the following post.

It’s not uncommon for chops to occur in poker tournaments at all stakes. They happen in the high rollers, at low buy-in, daily tournaments, and even at the World Series of Poker.

On the major tours, such as the WPT and WSOP, the organizations refuse to facilitate chops. However, it’s tough to stop players from making deals away from the felt. We saw that happen at the 2018 WSOP when Elio Fox and Nick Petrangelo agreed to a chop prior to the start of heads-up play in a $100,000, super-high roller.

In that event, Fox and Petrangelo didn’t put on their best performances during heads-up play. And, why would they? After all, they had already determined how much money each player would take home. So, the only motivation left was to play for the gold bracelet, which clearly isn’t important to some.

For some fans, deal-making takes away from the excitement of the tournament. Viewers want to see a legitimate winner. But if the players agree to a chop and either quit before the tournament has a last person standing, or the players just move all-in the dark, as was the case at the WPT Borgata Poker Open, many feel there wasn’t a true champion. It’s sort of like just handing a team the NBA title when they’re up three games to one in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.

Poker Community Debates

After Savage shared his tweet, poker players sounded off. And, the responses were interesting. Clearly, there’s no consensus within the poker community on deal-making in WPT events.

Bryan Swarberg (@BryanSwarberg) argues that, “televised events need to be played down for something.” Others agreed with his take that, when a WPT event is televised on Fox Sports, it’s bad for TV if the tournament doesn’t have a true champion.

Not all WPT events are televised, however. In fact, most are only available on live stream. Just five of the 18 Main Tour events during the 2018-2019 will air on Fox Sports.

Ari Engel, a Las Vegas pro who often plays in WPT events, wants the WPT to “allow deals.” He says that “deal talk is actually fascinating, and often makes for great tv/entertainment.”

Sean Yu isn’t a fan of chops. He wants the WPT to “leave it alone.” He also argues the players at the final table should receive additional compensation for “being part of the TV production or live stream.”

Brandon Temple (@BrandonPokers) is fine with chops, but says “10%” of the money should be set aside to give the remaining players some incentive to care following the chop.

All solid points from the poker community.

A bad beat by Paul Newey cost Sam Soverel a title in British Poker Open Event #2 – £10,000 No Limit Hold’em, earlier in the week — his second runner-up finish already this series. But, he finally got over the hump on Saturday to win the £25,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament for £322,000.

With six events remaining, Soverel has a commanding series lead at 480 points. Sam Greenwood is his nearest competitor, 220 points behind.

Greenwood and his brother, Luc, have each won a British Poker Open title this week. Luc took down the first event of the series, a £10,000 no-limit hold’em tournament, for £119,600. His brother then shipped Event #3 – £10,000 Short-Deck No-Limit Hold’em, for £110,400.

A Bit of Luck Never Hurt Soverel (Or Anyone)

Soverel can win poker tournaments without the benefit of exceptional fortune. But, it sure didn’t hurt when he eliminated Vincent Bosca on the bubble to cut the tournament down to its final four players – all among the best in the world.

Bosca put his money all-in with pocket jacks against Soverel’s Ace-2 but, was unlucky to see an ace hit. He was sent home in fifth place out of 28 entries, one off the money.

Stephen Chidwick, arguably the top NLH tournament grinder around, busted in fourth place (£70,000). Ali Imsirovic, perhaps the best young player in poker, was then eliminated in third place (£112,000). That set up a heads-up match between Rainer Kempe, a German, and Soverel, an American.

Soverel held a slim lead when the match began, but Kempe, the 2016 Super High Roller Bowl champion, moved out in front quickly. Then, Kempe picked the wrong time to shove with J-9 against Soverel’s pocket queens, and the best hand held up when the board ran out 7-4-K-Q-8.

That gave Soverel his first British Poker Open title after a pair of runner-up finishes. Kempe earned £196,000 for his efforts, moving his career totals to just under $21 million, second on Germany’s all-time list, behind Fedor Holz ($32.55 million).

Soverel, on the other hand, is now over the $11 million lifetime mark. That puts him at 40th all-time in US history. He’s also a British Poker Open champion. And, who knows, maybe he’ll win the entire series. He’s certainly on the right track.

A day after Luc Greenwood ended up being the very first British Poker Open champion, George Wolff took down the ₤ 10,000 PLO event for ₤ 122,000. He defeated an area of 30 players including runner-up Sam Soverel.

Wolff, an American, definitely isn’t a regular on the high roller scene. So, it’s fairly a success for a gamer with his restricted high-stakes tournament experience to take down an event such as this. He now has just $850,000 in career live tournament cashes.  That’s just a fraction of many of his last table challengers’ money.

George Wolff Beats Top Pros

George Wolff isn’t a household name among those who follow the high roller poker circuit. But name recognition doesn’t win titles. He proved that on Wednesday at Aspers Casino in London, England.

Wolff went into Wednesday’s last table of 6 with a sizable chip lead over Sam Soverel, one of the leading high stakes players in the video game. Stephen Chidwick, probably the best event mill in the world, likewise had a suitable pile in third area. So, Wolff definitely had his work suitable his as he had to resist some hard rivals.

Strangely enough, the last table played out practically the exact same setting as it began. Jens Kyllonen started the session with the smallest stack as well as was the very first to go, busting on the bubble in 6th area.

Joni Jouhkimainen was felted in fifth place for ₤ 24,000 and then Gavin Cochrane busted in fourth location for ₤ 30,000. Jouhkimainen and Cochrane revolved placements from the beginning of the day. The leading three finishers, nevertheless, finished in the very same spot as they began the session. Chidwick, a native from the United Kingdom, was eliminated in third place for £48,000. That left Wolff and Soverel to battle it out for the title.

Soverel held a slim chip advantage when heads-up play began. But with the average stack at around 30 big blinds, Wolff regained the lead right off the bat. The two pros went back and forth before Wolff finished his opponent off by winning what was essentially a race – hitting two-pair on a board that read 7-A-6-4-Q with 9-8-7-4 to beat A-J-9-5.

Final Table Paid Results

Simon Brandstrom rallied from an enormous head-up deficiency during heads-up play against Marton Czuczor to win the EPT Barcelona Main Event for EUR1.29 million. The Swede, that defeated 1,988 entrances, won the largest European Poker Tour Main Event in history.

Brandstrom absolutely had not been a family name before this event.But he is no slouch on the felt, having cashed for approximately €800,000 in live tournaments in the past. Now, however, he’s a “major” poker champion, which is something you can’t ever take away from him.

Simon Brandstrom Wins Extra €77K in Chop

When heads-up play began, Marton Czuczor held a slim lead over Brandstrom. The two millionaire hopefuls agreed to chop just about the EUR77,000 of the continuing to be EUR2.54 million pot.

Czuczor obtained the most significant cut– barely– at EUR1,253,234, via a chip-chop. And his opponent was after that assured at least EUR1,212,706. However there was still a bit of cash money up for grabs along with an EPT prize. So, there was incentive to proceed trying to win.

Heads-up play began horrendously for Simon Brandstrom. He went from a mild chip downside to hardly treading water. Czuczor promptly transformed his slim introduce an 4-1 advantage.

“Marton played very good. I probably didn’t play my A-Game but the cards came my way,” Brandstrom added.

However in tournament poker, whether you’re playing low-stakes or an EPT Main Event, it’s never over till one player has each and every single contribute play. Simply ask Marton Czuczor.

Brandstrom swiftly fought back and, eventually, reclaimed the lead. And after that he started to retreat, turning his lead into a 5-1 benefit. He after that finished off his challenger with pocket sixes in a pre-flop all-in race versus K-Q when the board ran out tidy for him (7-2-9-A-5).

Final Result 2019 EPT Barcelona €5,300 Main Event