Sunday Briefing: Steve O��Dwyer Bags Two GGPoker Titles

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Steve O'Dwyer

Online poker��s elite players were out in force on July 12 as they warm up for the upcoming WSOP at GGPoker and the $100 million guaranteed WPT World Online Championships at partypoker. It was at the former where Steve O��Dwyer, a familiar face in tournament poker��s biggest buy-in events, excelled and took down two massive events.

O��Dwyer��s first impressive victory came in the High Rollers Blade Prime, a $5,000 buy-in tournament that saw 133 players buy in and create a $631,750 prize pool. A whole host of stellar names navigated their way to the nine-handed final table, including Isaac Haxton (9th - $15,523), Sean Winter (7th - $26,828) and Michael Addamo (5th - $46,364).

Both heads-up players, O��Dwyer and ��DanBiz��, were each guaranteed a six-figure prize. O��Dwyer secured the largest of the two scores, namely $138,470, leaving the runner-up to scoop $105,332.

Victory number two came in the High Rollers Blade Mulligan, another $5,000 buy-in affair. This one attracted 111 entrants who created a $527,250 prize pool shared among the top 15 finishers.

This event was even more shark-infested than the previous $5,000 event with the final table reading like a who��s who of poker. Again, it was O��Dwyer who shone the brightest and locked up the lion��s share of the prize money. He defeated Kristen Bicknell heads-up to pad his bankroll with another $120,755.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Steve O��DwyerCroatia$120,755
2Kristen BicknellCanada$90,925
3Joao VieriaNetherlands$68,463
4Stephen ChidwickCanada$51,551
5Pascal HartmannAustria$38,816
6Timothy AdamsCanada$29,227
7FuTimReillyLuxembourg$22,007
8Mikita BadziakouskiCroatia$16,571
9Mustapha KanitAlbania$14,616

Several other stars triumphed in GGPoker tournaments on July 12, these included:

  • ��GT0EXPERT�� �C first-place in the High Roller MILLION$ for $248,887
  • Simon Higgins �C first-place in the Global MILLION$ for $132,092
  • Mikita Badziakouski �C first-place in the High Rollers Blade Closer $5K for $86,269
  • Joao Vieira �C first-place in the High Rollers Blade PLO $5K for $85,316
  • Yuri Dzivielevski �C first-place in the High Rollers Big Game Hunter $1,050 for $82,129*
  • ��NoodleMuncha�� �C first-place in the GGMasters $150, $500K Gtd for $71,974
  • ��Gr4vyB04t�� �C first-place in the High Rollers Main Event $1K for $64,669
  • ��TheProdigalSen�� �C first-place in the Bounty Hunters Main Event $210 for $56,526*

Want to win a WSOP bracelet at GGPoker? Start here.


Michael Addamo enjoyed a super Sunday a couple of weeks ago, excelling in the partypoker High Roller Club. It was these high stakes tournaments where Addamo once again showed his class, taking down the $25,500 buy-in Main Event.

This latest victory netted Addamo a cool $376,937 after he topped a field of 37-entrants. Only the top five finishers won a slice of the $925,000 pie, Sergi Reixach banking the first slice, one worth $57,812, after falling in fifth.

Christoph Vogelsang (4th - $92,500) and Vyacheslav Buldygin (3rd - $152,625) busted before Addamo sent Rok Gostisa to the rail in second-place, which banked the Slovenia-based grinder $241,125.

The Big Game ended in a heads-up deal between two Goliath��s of tournament poker. After such luminaries as Sam Greenwood, Jake Schindler, Samuel Vousden, Pavel Plesuv, and Ramiro Petrone busted, only Fedor Holz and Laszlo Bujtas remained.

This pair struck a deal that meant Holz collected $146,115 when he fell in second-place and Bujtas scooped $165,894.

Some of the other partypoker highlights included:

  • Pascal Lefrancois �C first-place in the High Roller Club: Mix-Max 2nd Chance for $148,500
  • ��Vanessa23�� �C first-place in the Big Gladiator: $150K Gtd for $27,455*
  • ��S1ckB4stard�� �C first-place in the Sunday Grind: $75K for $15,760
  • ��Hit-and-run�� �C first-place in the Big Bounty Hunter $215: $75K Gtd for $13,740*
  • Teun Mulder �C first-place in the High Roller Club: 6-Max Turbo Knockout for $13,595*

Play in $300K worth of freerolls at partypoker


There was a massive six-figure prize awarded to Christian ��WATnlos�� Rudolph thanks to the Austrian taking down the $5,200 NLHE High Roller Single Event at PokerStars. Rudolph came out on top of a 92-strong field to get his hands on $119,483.

Victory in this event is never an easy task, but this week��s was extremely difficult because of the superstars that reached the final table. Just look at them:

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Christian ��WATnlos�� RudolphAustria$119,483
2��Passiveaggro��Netherlands$92,337
3Joao ��Naza114�� VieiraNetherlands$71,359
4Mikita ��fish2013�� BadziakouskiLatvia$55,147
5Diego ��Die Ventura�� VenturaPeru$42,618
6Jans ��Graftekkel�� ArendsAustria$32,936
7Dmitry ��yurasov1990�� YurasovBelarus$25,453
8Pascal ��Pass_72�� LefrancoisCanada$19,670
9Timothy ��Tim0thee�� AdamsCanada$15,755

Rudolph also took down the $2,100 Sunday High Roller for $28,630 after a heads-up deal with Simon ��C. Darwin2�� Mattsson.

While the Stadium Tour Weekly Finals reached Day 2, some of the heats paid out big bucks. The Stadium Series Heat 09-H: $1,050 NLHE ended in a four-handed chop that saw the final quartet of players share almost $250,000.

Players such as Marty ��TheLipoFund�� Mathis and Team PokerStars Pro Lex ��L. Veldhuis�� Veldhuis missed out on the deal but still won $12,233 and $21,712 respectively. Those four deal makers, and their finishing positions, were:

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1BC1989RFBulgaria$61,295
2NoTilitLithuania$60,600
3needdollarzRussia$72,572
4Francisco ��Tomatee�� BenitezUruguay$54,919

Check out some of these other big PokerStars results:

  • ��AkulaGame�� �C first-place in the Stadium Series Heat 09-M: $109 NLHE for $64,803
  • ��Leqenden�� �C first-place in the $109 Bounty Builder for $37,483*
  • ��duffman_742�� �C first-place in the $109 Sunday Cooldown for $27,515*
  • ��Hodart�� �C first-place in the $215 Bounty Builder for $27,222*
  • ��Ti0373�� �C first-place in the $215 Sunday Warm-Up for $22,105
  • ��t8ofDiamonds�� �C first-place in the $215 Sunday Supersonic for $19,565
  • Simon ��C. Darwin2�� Mattsson �C first-place in the $1,050 Sunday Warm-Up for $19,433
  • ��DavyJones922�� �C first-place in the Bigger $109 for $12,950

*includes bounty payments

Follow the Stadium Series events here at PokerNews


Finally, a trio of big events from 888poker, including the $100,000 Sunday Sale Mega Deep. A field of 2,126 created a $106,300 prize pool, smashing through the guarantee despite having its buy-in halved to $55.

��Bofix18�� fired four bullets at this event and that fourth attempt resulted in them taking down the tournament for a $17,954 prize.

The $20,000 Sunday Sale Whale attracted a crowd of 261 players and ��catpg�� outlasted them all to turn their $160 into $8,417.

Shout-out also to Brazil��s Vitor ��WHATaDREAM�� Dzivielevski who won the $25,000 Sunday Challenge for a $5,375 addition to their bankroll.


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