The 2017 PokerStars Champions Panama ended with some interesting highlights with Philadelphia pro Kenneth Smaron winning the main event for $293,860 and Steve O’Dwyer taking down High Roller event for $240,451. Indian origin-player Harpreet Gill finished 2nd in the main event, earning the top prize $217,860.
PokerStars Championship Panama Main Event
The PokerStars Championship Panama Main Event attracted a total of 366 entries at the Sortis Hotel, Spa & Casino to build a prize pool of $1,775,100. Finally, 32-year-old American poker pro Kenneth Smaron emerged victorious to win the title. In addition to the title, Smaron also earned 1,200 Card Player Player of the Year points and climbed 31st place in POY ranking.
Smaron began final table of 6 players in the middle of the pack, with his 62 big blinds for third chip position among final 6 players. He chipped up when he eliminated Jonathan Abdellatif to the rail in fourth place ($119,480). A few hands later he eliminated Denis Timofeev in third place ($161,340). Next in heads-up, he defeated Indian-origin player Harpreet Gill from Canada to take down the main event. Smaron ‘s Kc-Jc beat Gill’s 10d-8c on the board that read Ac-Qc-9h-9d and 5d to seal the deal.
Final Table Payouts:
1. Kenneth Smaron – $293,860
2. Harpreet Gill – $217,860
3. Denis Timofeev – $161,340
4. Jonathan Abdellatif – $119,480
5. Robin Luca Wozniczek – $88,480
6. Anthony Diotte – $65,520
PokerStars Championship Panama High Roller
In the $10,300 High Roller, which drew 110 entrants to Sortis Hotel, Spa & Casino and created a robust $1,067,000 prize pool, it was the 31-year-old poker pro-Steve O’Dwyer who took down the title for $240,451 after defeating Sam Greenwood who finished in 2nd place earning $223,149.
The 5 players resumed the final table on Day 3 and short-stacked Felipe Ramos was first to get eliminated when his pocket kings were beaten by Francois Billard’s pocket aces. A few hands later, it was Chris Hunichen who fell down. Francois Billard did not last long and finished in 3rd place when his ace-queen failed against O’Dwyer’s pocket tens. The heads-up game began between O’Dwyer and Greenwood. The former had a massive chip lead of 3.4 million over Sam greenwood who held 1.1 million. O’Dwyer maintained his lead and finally took down the title with a pair.
Final Table Payouts:
1. Steve O’Dwyer – $240,451*
2. Sam Greenwood – $223,149*
3. Francois Billard – $123,780
4. Chris Hunichen – $100,300
5. Felipe Ramos – $80,560
6. Anthony Zinno – $62,690
7. Daian Salas – $49,620
8. Sam Chartier – $37,880