Samuel Panzica Wins the EPT Dublin �10,300 High Roller for �375,770
The third and final day of the 2016 PokerStars European Poker Tour �10,300 High Roller saw 13 hopefuls from a 185-entry field return to the tables at the Royal Dublin Society. With the top 27 spots reaching the money, the remaining field was well into the money with Sergey Lebedev in the lead, but the Russian wasn't the man walking away with the title. That accomplishment was fulfilled by American Samuel Panzica to the tune of �375,770.
Lebedev ultimately settled for third place after having already finished 10th in the �10,200 Single-Day High Roller a few days ago.
Panzica and Akin Tuna cut a deal before heads-up play started and left �65,770 and the trophy up for grabs. In the end it was Panzica who emerged victorious and shattered his previous biggest cash of $109,326.
Tuna finished second for �290,000 and more than quadrupled his live earnings to date.
Diego Ventura was the shortest stack coming back for Day 3, and the Peruvian first doubled up with pocket aces against the pocket sevens of Ryan Riess before he saw his pocket queens getting cracked one hand later by the ace-ten of Lebedev when an ace appeared on the river.
EPT regular Sam Chartier finished 12th after defending his big blind with jack-six suited. The French Canadian found middle pair on a queen-high flop and check-raised all in. Tuna called with the superior pocket tens and held up to bust Chartier.
Christoph Vogelsang also fell victim to the early run of Tuna, who jumped into the lead by sending his fellow German to the rail in 11th place. Vogelsang defended his big blind with eight-five suited and found a five-high flop that prompted him to check-raise all in. Tuna had an overpair with pocket sixes, called, and won the hand.
The unofficial final table was set with the elimination of Jerry Odeen in 10th, and, wouldn't you know, he also sent his stack over to Tuna. The story was exactly the same with Odeen defending the queen-jack suited from the big blind and finding top pair on a jack-high flop, only to check-shove right into the pocket kings of his opponent.
Panzica then scored a huge double up after flopping a set of fours in a four-way pot. Lebedev paid off his check-shove with pocket tens and didn't get there. It was this pot that really helped propel Panzica forward, and he gained plenty of momentum.
It was then Rocco Palumbo who fell in ninth place when his three-bet shove with ace-king was snap-called by Panzica, who held pocket aces to jump into the top spot.
Then it was William Arruda who exited in eighth place, Timothy Adams who finished in seventh, and Ryan Riess who took sixth.
For Riess, the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event champion, he recorded his second high roller cash during the Dublin festival after finishing 13th in the �10,200 Single-Day High Roller. He was eliminated when his pocket sevens ran into the pocket eights of Davidi Kitai.
Despite scoring that knockout of Riess, Kitati was the next to go. He got his stack into the middle of the table by three-bet shoving with ace-seven. Tuna called with ace-six and made a straight on the river.
Emil Patel's run came to an end in fourth place. The American, now based in Finland, was at risk with ace-ten and had hopes of a comeback when Panzica turned over the ace-eight in the all-in showdown. However, an eight hit on the turn, and that was all she wrote.
Down to the last three, Lebedev was the shortest stack. After a passive start, the Russian then open-shoved for 24 big blinds from the button with pocket threes. Panzica called with pocket nines in the small blind, and no miracle happened for Lebedev.
After a quick discussion, the two remaining title contenders agreed to a deal that saw Panzica lock up �310,000 and Tuna �290,000. Tuna got off to an early lead, but then surrendered two bigger pots to become a 2-1 underdog.
On the final hand between the two, a board with three kings on the flop saw Tuna fire all three streets with jack-ten. A ten appeared on the river, and Panzica shoved over the third barrel from Tuna, who called it off with a full house only to get shown quads by Panzica holding king-five.
EPT Dublin �10,300 High Roller Final Results
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samuel Panzica | United States | �375,770 |
| 2 | Akin Tuna | Germany | �290,000 |
| 3 | Sergey Lebedev | Russia | �184,650 |
| 4 | Emil Patel | Finland | �150,550 |
| 5 | Davidi Kitai | Belgium | �120,050 |
| 6 | Ryan Riess | United States | �92,240 |
| 7 | Timothy Adams | Canada | �67,120 |
| 8 | William Arruda | Brazil | �48,630 |
That's it from the PokerNews Live Reporting team reporting on the �10,300 High Roller. However, make sure to check out the updates of the �5,300 Main Event.