The high stakes action headed to North Cyprus over the last couple weeks for PokerGO’s Super High Roller Series (SHR) Europe. Some big names came through with dominating performances.
That included Phil Ivey taking the player of the series title and Jake Schindler winning the championship event. The entire poker festival included 11 events with buy-ins ranging from €25,000 to €250,000. Here’s a recap of the action.
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Ivey continues to shine
After already winning a title in the Triton Poker Cyprus Special Edition, which preceded the action, Ivey continued his stellar play in the SHR. He won two titles between the two series and cashed a total of five times for $2.8 million.
Triton and SHR events both counted toward the series leaderboard. Ivey added another $25,000 for his player of the series title.
“It’s still nice,” Ivey said. “It’s always nice to win a tournament.”
Schindler takes main event
The $250,000 Super High Roller main event attracted a top-notch field of high rollers. The event brought in 32 players for an $8 million prize pool.
In the end, Jake Schindler found the winner’s circle for a massive $3.2 million score. After returning as chip leader with seven players remaining on Day 3, he continued to cruise.
Eventually heads-up with Paul Phua, Schindler held more than a 2-to-1 chip advantage over his opponent. He hit the gas and dominated Phua on his way to the title.
Phua took $2.1 million for runner-up. Schindler now has more than $30 million in live tournament winnings.
“It’s sweet to get a title in one of these,” Schindler said. He added about his tournament record: “This has to be the biggest win.”
Event 10: $25,000 NLHE Turbo
This was a late addition to the series and saw Canada’s Timothy Adams top the field of 31 for the title. The tournament attracted a prize pool of $775,000 with Adams grabbing $310,000 of that.
Germany’s Marius Gierse took the runner-up spot for $201,500. Daniel Dvoress continued to shine in the series, finishing third for $124,000.
Event 9: $50,000 NLHE
This event saw 19 entries for a $950,000 prize pool. Malaysia’s Lee Wai Kiat took the win for $513,000.
Three players cashed in the event with Seth Davies taking runner-up for $285,000 and Jason Koon scoring third for $152,000.
Event 8: $50,000 NLHE
Elton Tsang, of Hong Kong, notched his fifth cash of the series in this event and took the crown for $684,000. Canada’s Dvoress found another nice score, taking second for $456,000.
The tournament attracted 38 entries for a $1.9 million prize pool. Dvoress would go on to finish runner-up in the leaderboard standings as well, just behind Phil Ivey.
Event 7: $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha
Eelis Parssinen, of Finland, topped a field of 20 in this four-card action in North Cyprus. He scored $270,000 for his efforts and then went on to take third in Event 8 for another $304,000.
The tournament saw a prize pool of $500,000 with another Finnish player, Joni Jouhkimainen, taking runner-up for $150,000.
Event 6: $50,000 NLHE
Daniel Dvoress shined throughout the series and snagged a trophy in this event as well as $731,000. He topped a field of 43 entries, which produced a $2.2 million prize pool.
Sam Greenwood took runner-up for $473,000 with Koon finishing third for $322,500. Dvoress worked his way up from fifth out of the final seven players on the final day to capture the title.
Event 5: $50,000 Short Deck
Short Deck continues to grow in popularity at these high stakes series. In this event, Hong Kong’s Danny Tang jumped to the top spot for $640,000.
The tournament brought in 32 short deckers with a $1.6 million prize pool. Malaysia’s Lun Loon took the runner-up spot for $416,000. Koon again made a deep run, scoring third for $256,000.
Event 4: $50,000 Pot Limit Omaha
Phil Ivey found yet another title in North Cyprus after coming up big in the Triton series. He took down this event for another $640,000 after topping Ali Imsirovic in heads-up play.
The tournament brought in 32 entries for a $1.6 million prize pool. Ivey is pleased to be back at the live poker tables.
“I’m enjoying playing these tournaments,” Ivey said. “It’s fun.”
Imsirovic pulled in $416,000 for runner-up with Jouhkimainen in third for $256,000. Plenty in the poker world have noticed Ivey’s reemergence, including Daniel Negreanu.
Y’all hear me when I said Phil Ivey is back?
The GOAT returns with 5 final tables this week and two wins.
I’ve played against most all the top players in the world.
No better all around player than Ivey IMO.
🐐 🐐 🐐 https://t.co/ebWay0KCXN
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) April 11, 2022
Event 3: $25,000 NLHE
This became the largest event of the series, attracting 64 entries for a $1.6 million prize pool. When the dust settled, Germany’s Marius Gierse won the title for $432,000.
Hong Kong’s Danny Tang finished runner-up for $320,000 with Koon grabbing third for $208,000.
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Event 2: $50,000 Short Deck
This Short Deck action found Mikita Badziakouski, of Belarus, raising the trophy and collecting $756,000. The online cash game high stakes grinder has notched some big wins in live poker events in recent years.
He’s also shown plenty of skills in Short Deck in recent years and securing this title wouldn’t be easy. Badziakouski faced Ivey heads-up for the title and was able to deny him another title.
Ivey scored a $504,000 payday for second. Koon finished third for $336,000 in an event that brought in 42 entries.
In 2018, Badziakouski won back-to-back Triton super high roller events. He now has another nice win for his resumé.
Event 1: $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha
The first event of the series saw 40 entries for a $1 million prize pool. The Netherlands’ Tom Vogelsang kicked off the series with a win and a score of $360,000.
The win becomes a nice bullet point for the longtime online player.
“It kind of feels like a breakthrough,” Vogelsang said. “Because I’ve always been doing well online, but I didn’t really have the recognition that comes after winning something like this.”
Hungary’s Laszlo Bujtas finished runner-up for $240,000 and Slovenia’s Rok Gostisa took third for $160,000.