Poker in the News — Weekly Round-up for December 07, 2018

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Dec 7, 2018

Dutch Journalist Takes Down Master Classics Of Poker Main Event

Euro 240,183 main prize banked by Alberto Stegeman

Dutch journalist, TV host and poker fan Alberto Stegeman showcased his considerable talent for competitive tournament poker Friday by taking down the 27th edition of the Euro 4,300 buy-in Master Classics of Poker Main Event in Amsterdam for Euro 240,183

After some intense three-handed action resulted in the elimination of online cash game expert Teuns Mulder at third for Euro 111,418, Stegeman faced Austrian ace Kilian Kramer in the heads up holding a 7 to 2 chip lead over the Austrian.

Kramer staged a major fightback on at least two occasions but it was not enough to reverse Stegeman’s strong and sustained lead, and the Austrian was eventually dismissed at second for Euro 160,432.

An international field of 75 players entered the event.

French Victory In Pokerstars Korea Competition

$668,000 main prize won by Romain Arnaud

The PokerStars Live Asia Jeju Red Dragon kicked off in Korea this week with French pro Romain Arnaud (33) winning the $54,000 buy-in Super High Roller competition after besting a field of 44 entries that created a prize pool worth $2.25 million…the largest such pool yet for a PokerStars event in Korea.

Arnaud’s $668.000 pay day was his largest live tournament career earning yet, and was achieved despite the quality field of 30 players and 14 re-entries. The French pro is primarily a high stakes cash game player frequently seen at poker tables in Macau.

The heads up between Arnaud and fellow French player Rui Cao started when third placed Malaysian ace Michael Soyza busted out for $335,723, but there was minimal heads up activity as the duo immediately negotiated a chop that gave each $600,000 following a blind all-in shootout that left the title and the trophy for the winner.

The cards were with Arnaud, enabling him to claim the main prize whilst leaving Cao with a consolatory $619,000 second placing reward.

Multi-Million Dollar Win For Poker Champ

Manuel Ruivo wins 2018 partypoker MILLIONS Online after two-way chop with Pim “ForMatherRussia” de Goede

Portugal’s Manuel “Sheparentao” Ruivo, living in the Netherlands, is the 2018 partypoker MILLIONS Online champion, an accolade that came with a $2,329,943 first-place prize following a heads-up deal with Pim “ForMatherRussia” de Goede.

Twenty-nine players returned to the partypoker tables on 5 December, each guaranteed $65,505 for their efforts.

Once the eight-handed final table was set, De Goede held a massive 1,588,165,265 chips with COL_MOutarde being his nearest rival, in terms of chips, with a 626,714,202 stack.

This put de Goede in a prime spot to bully his opponents, and bully he did, moving all in regularly and putting his foes to the test for their entire stacks.

De Goede continued his one-man wrecking spree by sending Marques to the rail, followed by Slovenia’s “Scarmak3r” who headed to the exit at third for $1,364,687 – a stunning ROI on his $5.50 satellite investment that earned him his seat.

His departure left Ruivo and de Goede heads up with evenly balanced stacks, presenting an oportunity for a chop. The two quickly reached agreement, and play was concluded a hand later with De Goede taking home a second placing $2,309,994 and crowning Ruivo the 2018 MILLIONS Online champion with a prize of $2,329,943.

After the fourth starting flight on Dec. 4, there was a total of 4,367 entries – 2,190 unique; the rest from re-entries for this competition. At a $5,300 buy-in, the prize pool added up to a record-breaking $21,835,000.

PokerStars set the previous record in 2011, when the 10th anniversary Sunday Million set a $10 million guaranteed prize. 62,000 players signed up and created a $12.4 million prize pool.

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