Poker in the News — Weekly Round-up for December 15, 2017

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Dec 15, 2017

Million Dollar Win For Van Fleet In Partypoker Millions Online Contest

$1,027,000 pay day for professional player

PartyPoker‘s $5,300 buy-in Millions Online poker tournament has been won by professional player Jonathan Van Fleet, who boosted his already impressive career earnings of almost $10 million with the main prize of $1,027,000.

The event attracted a field of 1,047 entries, easily overtaking the guaranteed prize pool by boosting it to $5,135,000 – the biggest yet in PartyPoker history.

The format saw entrants starting out with a million in chips, with blinds increasing every 30 minutes throughout the tournament.

On the third and final day just 25 players remained, with the chip lead securely in the hands of Ludovic Geilich, whilst Van Fleet was down among the low stacks.

The action was fast and furious, and within a couple of hours the final table was reached after Viktor Blom and James Lee busted out at tenth and ninth places respectively.

The action continued at pace until player SandwichBacon busted at third for $435,448, leaving the heads up to Van Fleet and player N0-IPTRI4I2I, with Van Fleet holding a 3 to 2 chip advantage which the professional skilfully leveraged into a 12 to 1 lead and victory.

N0-IPTRI4I2I left with the second placing $651,118 as consolation, whilst Van Fleet banked over a million dollars for his efforts.

Local Player Takes Down The World Series Of Poker Circuit Sydney Challenge Event

Brendon Rubie bests a field of 229 to win main prize of A$271,952

Aussie professional poker player Brendon Rubie has triumphed in the A$5,000 buy-in World Series of Poker Circuit Sydney Challenge, besting a field of 228 that included some of Australia’s best players.

Rubie was rewarded with the main prize of A$271,952, the lion’s share of a prize pool worth almost A$1.1 million.

The final table action was largely dominated by fellow Aussie Sam Higgs, but he was unable to turn that into final victory after he was vanquished in the heads up against Rubie.

The heads up was a short affair and took just two hands to complete after the departure of third place finisher Jordan Westmoreland (A$122,328).

Higgs took home a well-deserved A$166,079

Five Diamonds Poker Main Event Victory For Last Year’s Runner Up

Ryan Tosoc bests record field to win his second million dollar take-home

Las Vegas professional poker player Ryan Tosoc (27), who finished second in the World Poker Tour Five Diamonds main event last year for a cool $1.12 million, had another crack at the contest this year and made sure he took home the top prize and the respect that goes with this prestigious title.

Tosoc bested a record field of 812 top players to claim the 2017 main prize of $1.96 million in the $10,000 buy-in event, along with a $15,000 seat in the upcoming WPT Tournament of Champions.

It took five days of action to form Sunday’s final table of six; Tosoc had the second largest chip stack when the final table formed, and survived some tough and competitive poker to last through to the heads up, holding a 3 to 2 advantage against 26-year-old Alex Foxen.

The heads up stage lasted for almost 50 hotly contested hands, with Foxen taking the lead in the early stages, only to lose it back to a determined Tosoc. In the end Foxen was unable to overcome Tosoc’s skill, cards and chip advantage and had to be content with the runner up prize of $1.13 million.

Other final table cashes included:

Mike Del Vecchio $752,196
Sean Perry $504,090
Ajay Chabra $350,500
Richard Kirsch $271,736

2018 World Series Of Poker Schedule Released

Larger online component in next year’s WSOP

InfoPowa readers may want to diarise May 29 to July 17 next year following Tuesday’s release of the 2018 World Series of Poker schedule advising that the prestigious event will again take place at the Rio in Las Vegas.

The online poker component in the series has been boosted, and there will now be four bracelet events taking place on the WSOP.com website. Players will have to be located within Nevada state borders to compete in the events, which include:

Event 9 (Sunday, June 3): $365 NLHE with unlimited reentries
Event 47 (Friday, June 22): $565 PLO 6-Handed with unlimited reentries
Event 61 (Friday, June 29): $1,000 NLHE Championship with unlimited reentries
Event 63 (Saturday, June 30): $3,200 NLHE High Roller with unlimited reentries

Looked at more generally, next year’s schedule promises plenty of variety and opportunity, with more bracelet events than ever before at 78 and major events culminating in the $10,000 buy-in Main Event between July 2 and July 14, which is again expected to attracts thousands of entries.

Other featured events include the $1,111 Little One for One Drop, $1 million Big One for One Drop, and a $50,000 buy-in NLHE High Roller.

There are also a slew of events designed to keep players interested and in Las Vegas while the main event is running, including a $10,000 buy-in NLHE 6-Handed Championship competition.

There are nine new events on the schedule, several of these attractive to Pot Limit Omaha fans, along with a $10,000 buy-in Super Turbo Bounty NLHE.

Full details can be accessed on the World Series of Poker website.

Prague Victory For Canadian Poker Pro

Tim Adams collects Euro 555,000 for Super High Roller triumph

For the second time this year Canadian poker pro Tim Adams has achieved victory in a major international tournament, taking down the Euro 50,000 buy-in Super High Roller at the PokerStars Championships in Prague, Czech Republic.

The event attracted 34 entries – many of them top names in the game – and generated a prize pool of Euro 1.63 million.

On the third and final day of the competition just three players were still standing – Adams (chipleader), Adrian Mateos and Mikita Badziakouski.

Spanish poker ace Mateos was eliminated at third for Euro 244,900, clearing the way for a heads up between Adams and Belarus pro Badziakouski, with Adams in charge.

Given Adams’ large advantage it was a relatively quick contest which saw Badziakouski ousted at third for Euro 383,600.

The big international win is the fourth in Adams’ impressive online and live tournament career, which has seen the Canadian amass overall earnings of almost $8 million. It’s the nineteenth occasion on which he has taken home over $100,000 in winnings, with his overall earnings this year alone reaching $3.7 million.

Other final table earnings included:

Orpen Kisacikoglu Euro 187,710
Sam Greenwood Euro 147,000
Koray Aldemir Euro 114,300

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