"SerVlaMin" Takes Down PokerStars NYS $5,200 Main Event For $284K; Sam Grafton Sixth

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Jan 17, 2024 6 min read

$284,374 is the sum nestled in the PokerStars account of "SerVlaMin" after the Mexico-based star came out on top in the $5,200 buy-in, $1.5 million guaranteed New Year Series No-Limit Hold'em Main Event. Every poker tournament player dreams of kicking off a new year in style, and "SerVlaMin" has laid solid foundations for what could be a stellar year.

The $5,200 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event saw 294 entries, resulting in a small overlay on the $1.5 million guarantee. The top 41 finishers saw a return on their investment, with some of the in-the-money players including Niklas "Lena900" Astedt, Talal "raidalot" Shakerchi, and 13th-place finisher Neymar "Neymar-jr" Jr.

The star-studded final table took place under the watchful eyes of the PokerStars Twitch community. Team PokerStars' Sam "SamSquid" Grafton found himself in the envious position of chip leader only days after clinching a New Year Series title.

The nine finalists jostled for position and felt each other out for the best part of an hour before the first elimination was confirmed. With blinds of 90,000/180,000/22,500a, Michel "FreeLancerZZ" Dattani opened to 385,200 in late position, Roman "RomeOpro" Romanovsky three-bet all-in for 1,284,135, and Dattani wasted little time in calling. Dattani revealed queen-ten of spade, Romanovsky the ace-nine of diamonds, and Dattani locked up the hand by turning a king-high straight.

Four-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion Dominik "Bounatirou" Nitsche joined the list of busted players ten minutes after Romanovsky bit the dust. Vlad "dariepoker" Darie, who was also on the final table of the $1,050 NLHE Main Event, opened to 378,000 from early position with ace-six offsuit, and Nitsche three-bet to 1,170,000 from the button, leaving himself a single big blind behind, doing so with ace-jack. Darie put in a raise, and Nitsche called all-in. Similar to the previous elimination, Darie turned a straight to send another talented grinder to the rail.

Canada's Elliot "4rebmun" Smith crashed out shortly after Nitsche's demise, losing a coinflip against the hot-running Darie. "SerVlaMin" min-raised to 360,000 with suited queen-eight, Smith three-bet jammed for 1,557,264 in the cutoff with pocket queens, only for Darie to wake up in the big blind with ace-king; Darie four-bet, and "SerVlaMin" got out of the way. Darie spiked a king on the flop, and Smith was gone.

The final six became five when Grafton ran out of steam as the final table hit the three-hour mark. Blinds were now 150,000/300,000/37,500a, and Grafton was down to three big blinds. They went into the middle of the virtual felt with king-queen, which proved no match for the ace-deuce of Pascal "Pass_72" Lefrancois in the big blind.

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Fifth place and the last five-figure prize went to Romania's Darie after the largest pot of the final table. Everyone folded to Darie on the button, and he opened to 735,000 with ace-king. Jakob "Succeeed" Miegel looked down at pocket queens in the small blind and made it 2,646,000 to go. Darie wasn't about to let such a strong hand go; he clicked it back to 4,557,000. Miegel ripped it in for 16,154,955, and Darie snap-called off the 10,65,320 chips he had behind. Miegel flopped a set, leaving Darie drawing to a gutshot straight draw, which didn't come in.

Lefrancois bowed out in fourth after a battle of the blinds with Miegel did not go to plan. Miegel raised to 945,000 from the small blind, having found pocket queens again. Lefrancois committed his last 7,442,633 chips with ace-three, and Miegel beat him into the pot with a call. Lefrancois flopped a three and picked up a heart flush draw on the turn, but a brick river ended his participation in the $5,200 Main Event.

Heads-up was reached soon after Lefrancois' exit, and it was Dattano who made his way to the exits. "SerVlaMin" raised to 770,000 from the small blind with the lowly four-deuce offsuit, and Dattani called with ten-nine. "SerVlaMin" continued with a small 350,000 bet on the ten-trey-queen flop, and Dattani called. A five on the turn gave "SerVlaMin" an unlikely open-ended straight draw, and the Mexico-based player bet enough to put Dattani all-in. Dattani tanked before calling off his 2,010,407 stack. It was a solid call, but such plays do not always reap the rewards, and an ace on the river improved "SerVlaMin" to a wheel, busting Dattani in third.

Miegel held a two-to-one chip lead going into the one-on-one battle, but victory was far from assured, especially as there were 210 big blinds in play! Thirty minutes into the heads-up clash, Miegel had his opponent on the ropes, and it looked like the New Year Series Main Event title was heading to Austria. However, the Poker Gods had other ideas.

"SerVlaMin" doubled up before what turned out to be the last scheduled break of the tournament, and they never looked back. Their double-up hand saw Miegel limp for 500,000 with king-nine then call a 2,250,000 raise made with ace-king. "SerVlaMin" led for 1,387,500 on the queen-six-nine flop, and was called. The four of clubs put three clubs on the board, and both players checked. The deuce of clubs landed on the river. Miegel held the king of clubs, but "SerVlaMin" had the ace of clubs in their hand. A flurry of bets resulted in "SerVlaMin" being all-in for 16,381,374, and they doubled their stack.

The contest ended ten minutes after the players returned from a break. Miegel limped for 500,000 with ace-three of spades, "SerVlaMin" raised to 2,000,000 with queen-jack of clubs, only for Miegel to jam for 13,196,627. "SerVlaMin" called. Two clubs on the flop gave "SerVlaMin" flush outs, but they didn't need those because the queen of hearts completed the board, sending Miegel home in second place, and leaving "SerVlaMin" to bask in the glory that comes with becoming a poker champion.

$5,200 New Year Series NLHE Main Event Final Table Results

Blaz Zerjav Takes Down the $1,050 NLHE Main Event

Slovenian pro Blaz "Scarmak3r" Zerjav added to his already glowing reputation by taking down the $1,050 New Year Series NLHE Main Event. Some 1,538 entrants created a guarantee-busting $1,538,000 prize pool, and Zerjav got his hands on $214,053 of that princely sum.

This final table was arguably more stacked than its $5,200 buy-in cousin, with such luminaries as Vlad "dariepoker" Daire, Diego "Die Ventura" Ventura, Matas "bebaimis777" Cimbolas, Juan "Malaka$tyle" Pardo, and Damian "pampa27" Salas all present and correct.

However, the night belonged to Zerjav, who defeated online poker veteran "hello_totti" heads-up after the pair struck a deal to lessen the pay jumps. The champion scooped $214,053, while "hello_totti" raked in $187,327 for their bridesmaid finish.

$1,050 New Year Series NLHE Main Event Final Table Results

*reflects a heads-up deal

"baller139" Outlasts 12,789 Opponents to Claim the $109 Main Event Title

The $109 buy-in edition of the New Year Series NLHE Main Event drew in a massive crowd of 12,790 players, who fought tooth and nail for the right to become the event's champion and receive the lion's share of the $1,279,000 prize pool.

When the curtain came down on proceedings after three arduous days of poker action, it was the United Kingdom's "baller139" who had all of the in-play chips. The Brit had earlier struck a deal with Austria's "stuupid5" before defeating their final opponent. The impressive victory came with $152,142 in prize money, with second-place weighing in at $125,513 thanks to that deal.

$109 New Year Series NLHE Main Event Final Table Results

*reflects a heads-up deal

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