The PokerStars Championship Macau began its festivities with NL Hold’em Turbo event, which attracted 57 entries, creating a total prize pool of HK$221,160 (US$28,468). As reported this opening event was taken down by Singapore’s Alan Lim. Among big attractions, the series featured HK$400K Super High Roller and PokerStars National Championship. In High Roller, it was Steve O’Dwyer who emerged the champion, while PokerStars National Championship won by Koen Breed. India’s Paawan Bansal finished 8th in this event, earning HK$182,000 for his efforts.
Steve O’Dwyer Wins the HK$400,000 Super High Roller
The HK$400,000 Super High Roller Event drew a total of 88 entries and ultimately O’Dwyer topped an 88-entry field after three days of play to win the top prize HK$8,460,803, more than US$1 million.
The final table of 8 players began with Qiang Lin as the chip lead with 5.5 million chips. He was followed by Zuo Wang (4.9 million) and Fedor Holz (3.3 million). O’Dwyer was in 4th place with 2.1 million. However, he quickly found his way to move to the top in the game. The first to go from the final table was Zhao Hongjun in 8th place. O’Dwyer took credit for the next elimination when he moved all-in with his Ks-Kh against Ah- Qs of James Chen, who lost and went out in 7th place. Holz also helped out and railed Kahle Burns to bring the final table down to 3 with Loeser as the chip lead.
But unfortunately for Loeser in the small blind, he jammed with 10c-3c and was called by O’Dwyer with 8x-8x in the big blind. Loeser didn’t improve and ended up going out in 3rd place, leaving Steve O’Dwyer and Fedor Holz in the heads-up game. Despite O’Dwyer holding a 4:1 chip lead, a deal was struck. Eventually, it was O’Dwyer managed to defeate Holz with his Jd-Td against Holz’s 6c-6d.O’Dwyer earned HK$8,460,830 (US$1,088,636) for his impressive 2nd roller victory.
Final Table Payouts:
1 – Steve O’Dwyer: HK$8,974,000*
2 – Fedor Holz: HK$6,236,000*
3 – Manig Loeser: HK$4,124,000
4 – Kahle Burns: HK$3,228,000
5 – Zuo Wang: HK$2,603,000
6 – Qiang Lin: HK$2,028,000
7 – James Chen: HK$1,605,560
8 – Zhao Hongjun: HK$1,251,000
Koen Breed Claims the Massive PokerStars National Championship
The 2 million guaranteed PokerStars National Championship saw a massive turn out of 818 entries, pushing the prize pool to a huge HK$6,347,680 (US$817,076) with 159 players getting paid. While the event had many big names attending the event such as Celina Lin, Chris Moneymaker, Felipe Ramos, Maria Ho and India’s Paawan Bansal, it was Netherland’s Koen Breed who emerged the victor. He defeated three Chinese players to claim the HK$888,080 (US$114,314) first prize. For him, it was the largest ever live score. India’s Paawan Bansal who started the final table 8th with 875,000 in chips played smartly but ended up finishing 6th place. He took home HK$182,000 for his efforts.
PokerStars National Championship Final Table Payouts:
1st – Koen Breed: HK$888,080
2nd – Jianbao Zhong: HK$646,500
3rd – Jie Xu: HK$471,000
4th – Tao Fan: HK$343,000
5th – Sandeep Kumar: HK$250,000
6th – Paawan Bansal: HK$182,000
7th – Fernando Brito: HK$132,500
8th – Boon Leong Tan: HK$96,300
9th – Ben Lai: HK$96,300
Team India at PSC
A large Indian contingent is playing at PokerStars Championship Macau. Among the Indian players, it was Paawan Bansal who impressed the most by finishing 8th in the big money tournament-PokerStars National Championship. Others who cashed in several events included Adda52 Pro Live Kunal Patni and Sumit Sapra. Patni finished 17th place in the HK$3,300 PokerStars Cup event to earn HK$11,100, while Sapra min-cashed in the HK$3,300 PokerStars Cup for around HK$4,600.