Martin Kabrhel Wins Event #9: �100,000 Super High Roller (�2,624,340)
If anyone was going to win back-to-back World Series of Poker Europe bracelets here at King's Casino, it was always going to be him.
368 days ago, Martin Kabrhel was crowned champion of the �1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Bounty at the 2017 WSOPE. Now, he's made it two bracelets in two years after winning Event #9: �100,000 Super High Roller for �2,624,340.
Unsurprisingly, the result is Kabrhel's largest cash to date, eclipsing the �366,762 he won for finishing eighth in this event last year.
Such were the payouts in this event - the biggest buy-in of the festival - that runner-up David Peters and Julian Thomas both walked away with seven-figure scores of their own.
Peters' runner-up finish moves him into the top ten all-time money list and it also looks likely that Peters will move into top spot in the GPI World Poker Rankings.
| Position | Player | Country | Prize in � | Prize in $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Kabrhel | Czech Republic | �2,624,340 | $2,993,112 |
| 2 | David Peters | United States | �1,621,960 | $1,849,878 |
| 3 | Julian Thomas | Germany | �1,116,308 | $1,273,172 |
| 4 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | �789,612 | $900,568 |
| 5 | Dominik Nitsche | Germany | �574,406 | $655,293 |
| 6 | Jan-Eric Schwippert | Germany | �430,218 | $490,672 |
| 7 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | �331,943 | $378,588 |
| 8 | Michael Addamo | Australia | �264,110 | $301,223 |
"The greatest victory, I'm very happy," said Kabrhel shortly after he won. "I'm only satisfied when I win it so I don't really care too much about the players that are in it."
Kabrhel is dominant in King's Casino. Not only has he now won two bracelets at the venue, but he has also won four WSOP Circuit rings here, his last coming earlier this month.
"You can be the best player in the world and run like shit," said Kabrhel. "But you can't do anything about that sometimes.
"Hopefully I can win two bracelets [this year]; If I'm unlucky in the Main Event I'll just have to win one! But that's poker. I hope I'm one of the favourites for the Main like every other tournament!"
Final Day Recap
The eight remaining players came into the day with a 47 big blind average to start the final, so the pace was expected to be a slow one.
The short stack at the table was Spaniard Adrian Mateos however, it was the second shortest stack and WSOPE �25,000 High Roller winner Michael Addamo who bust inside the first half hour of play. He three-bet all in with a suited ace only to run into the kings of overnight chip leader Dominik Nitsche. He flopped an ace but a king came with it, giving Nitsche a set, and he was eliminated.
After coming into the day as the shortest stack, and laddering one spot to sixth, Mateos was eliminated next. He got his chips in with king-ten against the ace-ten of Thomas and although Mateos flopped a flush draw, there was no further help and he was eliminated in sixth place.
Up until this point Nitsche still held onto the chip lead, but with the blinds ever-increasing, Peters picked up a hand to overtake the German. On an eight-high flop with two clubs, Nitsche held the nut-flush draw and check-raised Peters and then shoved when the board paired on the turn. Unluckily for Nitsche, Peters held pocket aces and called off the shove to move over 60 million, with 190 million in play.
Jan-Eric Schwippert had had a very quiet day up until this point and hadn��t really involved himself in any capacity. As a result, his stack dwindled and he open-shoved for just under 11 big blinds with ace-eight and Kabrhel �C fresh from a double of his own through Peters �C moved all in from the next position with aces. Nitsche was in the big blind with queens and also shoved, and Kabrhel��s aces held to send two players to the rail.
Kabrhel moved up to second in chips with that hand, but he would add yet more chips to his stack with the elimination of dangerman at the table Badziakouski, whose suited ace was smaller than that of Kabrhel, and Badziakouski was eliminated in fourth.
Thomas had taken a big pot from Kabrhel before the dinner break to sit second in chips at the dinner break, but when play resumed, things went south for Thomas. In multiple spots against Kabrhel and Peters, he was forced into river folds, and then got sixes in against the eights of Peters to bust in third.
Peters took almost a 4:1 chip lead into heads-up play, but it was Kabrhel who drew first blood after turning a straight and getting paid on both turn and river. Things went from bad to worse for Peters who then paid off a 26,000,000 river bet with top pair only for Kabrhel to turn up with a flush.
This evened the stacks, and when Peters check-shoved a six-high flip with ace-king, Kabrhel snap-called with top set. The board ran out clean and, after some counting, it was discovered that the players were dead even in chips. Kabrhel was declared the winner taking home the second-highest WSOPE first prize in history and his second WSOP gold bracelet.