A total of 241 entries came into the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe €1,650 mixed PLO and NLH event, creating a final prize pool of €343,425. In the end, it was Norbert Szecsi from Hungary, who emerged the victorious to claim his second bracelet and the top prize of €86,596 ($99,585 USD).
Szecsi won his first WSOP title in 2013, beating 2,100 entries in a $1,000 buy-in NLH event at the summer series in Las Vegas. He had taken home $345,037 for his win. With his another title this week at the WSOPE, the player has now taken his lifetime live tournament earnings to $2,355,426.
Szecsi’s road to victory was not easy as he had to battle it hard with several tough pros to win the title. The final day of the event began with Netanel Amedi in lead and Szecsi not far behind. Szecsi got a good start early on at the FT, picking up the Ah Ad 10s 9c and moving all-in against Vittorio Castro’s Kh Khd 10d 5h. Szecsi flopped top set and held from there, earning a big pot and eliminating Castro home in 7th place ( €9,953). A few hands later, he then eliminated Amedi in 3rd place (€36,705) to take a 4-to-3 chip lead into THE heads-up battle with Shaun Deeb.
An internationally well-knonw poker pro – Shaun Deeb gave Szecsi a tough fight in heads-up and was able to gain the lead for a while, but eventually Szecsi won the event. On final hand, Deeb raised to 100,000 and Szecsi called. The flop was As 10d 6d. Szecsi checked and Deeb bet 100,000. Szecsi called to see the turn 4c. Szecsi checked and Deep bet 275,000. Szecsi announced a pot-sized re-raise to have Deeb re-pot all-in. Szecsi quickly called with Ah Ad 6h 3h against Deep’s Ac Qs Qc 10c. The river 2h completed the board, giving Szecsi the coveted pot as well as the title.
Runner-up Deeb took home $73,291 USD for his deep run in the tournament. This was his seventh POY-qualified final table finish of the year, with two huge titles along the way. With his 2nd place finish, the US poker player has now taken his total live tournament earnings to $6,087,769.
A total of 37 players were paid out in this tournament with a minimum cash of €2,350. Some notables who made money included Yunsheng Sun (10th for €5,954), Jean-Noel Said (11th for €4,777), Laszlo Bujtas (13th for €3,930), Anthony Zinno (15th for €3,319), Roland Israelashvili (18th for €2,878), Chris Ferguson (23rd for €2,878), Siarhei Chudapal (37th for €2,350) and Richard Toth (9th for €5,954) who unfortunately bubbled the 8-handed final table.
Team India
From Team India, Rakesh Lalwani and Bharath Janardhan (72,000) joined in the action. While the former could not make it to Day 2, Janardhan entered Day 2 of the event and was seated along with the likes of Romain Lewis, Julien Sitbon, Chris Ferguson, Anthony Zinno, and Richard Toth.
Early on Day 2, Janardhan lost a big three-way pot against Toth and Lewis and became the short stack. Shortly after Roman Cieslik exited as the bubble boy, Janardhan went out in 29th place for €2,564. Before this, Janardhan had also scored a 10th place finish for €2,958 in the 4th event – €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo Bounty Hunter of the ongoing WSOPE 2018.
Final Table Results (EURO)
- Norbert Szecsi – €86,596
- Shaun Deeb – €63,731
- Netanel Amedi – €36,705
- Julien Sitbon – €25,618
- Samuel Albeck – €18,276
- Jaroslav Peter – €13,334
- Vittorio Castro – €9,953
- Van Tiep Nguyen – €7,606
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