Day 3 Completed
Martin Kabrhel Wins Event #9: €100,000 Super High Roller (€2,624,340)
If anyone was going to win back-to-back World Series of Poker Europe bracelets here at King’s Casino, it was always going to be him.
368 days ago, Martin Kabrhel was crowned champion of the €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Super Turbo Bounty at the 2017 WSOPE. Now, he’s made it two bracelets in two years after winning Event #9: €100,000 Super High Roller for €2,624,340.
Unsurprisingly, the result is Kabrhel’s largest cash to date, eclipsing the €366,762 he won for finishing eighth in this event last year.
Such were the payouts in this event – the biggest buy-in of the festival – that runner-up David Peters and Julian Thomas both walked away with six-figure scores of their own.
Peters’ runner-up finish moves him into the top ten all-time money list and it also looks likely that Peters will move into top spot in the GPI World Poker Rankings.
| Position | Player | Country | Prize in € | Prize in $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Kabrhel | Czech Republic | €2,624,340 | $2,993,112 |
| 2 | David Peters | United States | €1,621,960 | $1,849,878 |
| 3 | Julian Thomas | Germany | €1,116,308 | $1,273,172 |
| 4 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | €789,612 | $900,568 |
| 5 | Dominik Nitsche | Germany | €574,406 | $655,293 |
| 6 | Jan-Eric Schwippert | Germany | €430,218 | $490,672 |
| 7 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | €331,943 | $378,588 |
| 8 | Michael Addamo | Australia | €264,110 | $301,223 |
“The greatest victory, I’m very happy,” said Kabrhel shortly after he won. “I’m only satisfied when I win it so I don’t really care too much about the players that are in it.”
Kabrhel is dominant in King’s Casino. Not only has he now won two bracelets at the venue, but he has also won four WSOP Circuit rings here, his last coming earlier this month.
“You can be the best player in the world and run like shit,” said Kabrhel. “But you can’t do anything about that sometimes.
“Hopefully I can win two bracelets [this year]; If I’m unlucky in the Main Event I’ll just have to win one! But that’s poker. I hope I’m one of the favourites for the Main like every other tournament!”
Final Day Recap
The eight remaining players came into the day with a 47 big blind average to start the final, so the pace was expected to be a slow one.
The short stack at the table was Spaniard Adrian Mateos however, it was the second shortest stack and WSOPE €25,000 High Roller winner Michael Addamo who bust inside the first half hour of play. He three-bet all in with a suited ace only to run into the kings of overnight chip leader Dominik Nitsche. He flopped an ace but a king came with it, giving Nitsche a set, and he was eliminated.
The big movers in the early exchanges were David Peters and Julian Thomas, both taking pots from Nitsche and Mikita Badziakouski respectively as the players settled into final table play.
After coming into the day as the shortest stack, and laddering one spot to sixth, Mateos was eliminated next. He got his chips in with king-ten against the ace-ten of Thomas and although Mateos flopped a flush draw, there was no further help and he was eliminated in sixth place.
Players participating in Super High Rollers tend to be a calm group of people, but there was a moment of tension between the remaining players, after a hand involving lengthy tanks from both Nitsche and Badziakouski. This was met by the annoyance of Kabrhel, who believed that if he was involved in such a hand, they would have called the clock on him “100% of the time.” Thankfully, the spat did not seem to linger amongst the players.
Up until this point Nitsche still held onto the chip lead, but with the blinds ever-increasing, Peters picked up a hand to overtake the German. On an eight-high flop with two clubs, Nitsche held the nut-flush draw and check-raised Peters and then shoved when the board paired on the turn. Unluckily for Nitsche, Peters held pocket aces and called off the shove to move over 60 million, with 190 million in play.
Jan-Eric Schwippert had had a very quiet day up until this point, and hadn’t really involved himself in any capacity. As a result, his stack dwindled and he open-shoved for just under 11 big blinds with ace-eight and Kabrhel – fresh from a double of his own through Peters – moved all in from the next position with aces. Nitsche was in the big blind with queens and also shoved, and Kabrhel’s aces held to send two players to the rail.
Kabrhel moved up to second in chips with that hand, but he would add yet more chips to his stack with the elimination of dangerman at the table Badziakouski, whose suited ace was smaller than that of Kabrhel, and Badziakouski was eliminated in fourth.
Thomas then won a large pot off Kabrhel to leave the Peters, Thomas and Kabrhel as the one-two-three in the standings as the players headed off on dinner break.
When play resumed, things went south for Thomas. In multiple spots against Kabrhel and Peters, he was forced into river folds. He then got sixes in against the eights of Peters to bust in third.
Peters took almost a 4:1 chip lead into heads-up play, but it was Kabrhel who drew first blood after turning a straight and getting paid on both turn and river. Things went from bad to worse for Peters who then paid off a 26,000,000 river bet with top pair only for Kabrhel to turn up with a flush.
This evened the stacks, and when Peters check-shoved a six-high flip with ace-king, Kabrhel snap-called with top set. The board ran out clean and, after some counting discovered the players were dead even in chips, Kabrhel was declared the winner taking home the second-highest WSOPE first prize in history.
David Peters Eliminated in 2nd Place (€1,621,960)
Martin Kabrhel raised to 5,500,000 on the button and David Peters in the big blind three-bet to 22,000,000.
“How much do you have behind, please?” Kabrhel asked and took two minutes before making the call.
“Good luck David, maybe this is the last hand,” Kabrhel added in table chat right before the flop fell 
. Peters opted to check and Kabrhel carefully counted his chips carefully for more than three minutes. After 3:40 minutes, he splashed in a bet worth 14,900,000 that fell over towards the middle of the table. Peters moved all in for 71,400,000 and Kabrhel snap-called.
David Peters: 
Martin Kabrhel: 
Peters knew he was drawing to a chop with running straight cards and Kabrhel added “you have more David, maybe 300,000 more.” The 
turn officially left the American drawing dead, which made the 
river a formality. The stacks were counted and both players were even in chips to end the tournament with a bang.
Peters had to settle for second place and a payday of €1,621,960, while Kabrhel won his second WSOP bracelet on home soil at King’s Casino in Rozvadov.
A recap of today’s action is to follow.
| Martin Kabrhel |  |
190,000,000 | 95,000,000 | ||
| David Peters |  |
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Exactly Even in Chips
Martin Kabrhel raised to 5,500,000 with the 
and David Peters opted to three-bet to 22,000,000 with the 
, Kabrhel snap-folded.
“He plays very good, but very slow,” Kabrhel said in table chat right after.
Peters raised to 5,400,000 with 
and Kabrhel came along with the 
. The 
flop gave Kabrhel a gutshot and Peters top pair. Kabrhel opted to bet 6,000,000 and Peters called. On the 
turn, Kabrhel double-checked his cards and then bet 26,000,000. Peters folded and Kabrhel said “good fold, very good fold David. Can we see the river card?” while raking in the pot.
| David Peters | |
95,000,000 | -1,000,000 | ||
| Martin Kabrhel | |
95,000,000 | 1,000,000 |
Kabrhel Chips Up With a Flush; Almost Evens Out the Stacks
Martin Kabrhel raised to 5,500,000 with the 
and David Peters defended with the 
. On a flop of 
, Peters checked and Kabrhel bet 6,000,000, Peters called. The 
turn improved Kabrhel and both players checked.
After the 
river, Peters checked his top pair once more and Kabrhel eventually bet 26,000,000 with 19,000 behind. Peters called and
| David Peters | |
96,000,000 | -37,400,000 | ||
| Martin Kabrhel | |
94,000,000 | 37,400,000 |
Peters Gets Some Back
David Peters limped in with the 
and Martin Kabrhel checked his option with the . Kabrhel checked blind to the 
flop and Peters claimed the pot with a min-bet of 1,600,000.
Kabrhel raised to 5,500,000 with the 
and Peters called with . The flop brought 
and both players checked. There was no betting action on the 
either and the river paired the board for the second time. Peters decided to overbet for 18,000,000 and Kabrhel was sent into the think tank.
“Too much, I think that’s too much,” Kabrhel said in table chat and folded after some further consideration.
| David Peters | |
133,400,000 | 5,900,000 | ||
| Martin Kabrhel | |
56,600,000 | -5,900,000 |
Kabrhel Draws First Blood Heads-Up
Martin Kabrhel 
check-called 1,600,000 from David Peters on a flop.
The turn completed Kabrhel’s straight, and he chose to bet out for 6,000,000. Peters called.
The river was the 
and Kabrhel bet 11,100,000. Peters quickly called and was shown the bad news.
| David Peters | |
127,500,000 | -20,300,000 | ||
| Martin Kabrhel | |
62,500,000 | 20,300,000 |
Cards Are Back in the Air
Both players are back in their seats and David Peters will start the duel of one-time WSOP bracelet winners with a dominating lead over Martin Kabrhel.
Heads-Up Chip Counts
Here are the heads-up chip counts with Peters holding a commanding lead. The players are going on a short break before starting heads-up play.
| David Peters | |
147,800,000 | 29,000,000 | ||
| Martin Kabrhel | |
42,200,000 | -4,200,000 |
Julian Thomas Eliminated in 3rd Place (€1,116,308)
After losing out in that big pot to David Peters, Julian Thomas has already shoved 
into the American and got a fold. Later Martin Kabrhel 
opened from the button to 2,400,000 and Thomas three-bet all in from the small blind.
Peters moved all in from the big blind and Kabrhel folded.
Julian Thomas 
David Peters
There was no help for Thomas on the 
runout and he was eliminated.
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