[Removed:150] Wins $50,000 Super High Roller ($845,000)
After a heads-up match that ran shockingly long given the stack depths, [Removed:150] defeated Sean Winter to win the partypoker 2018 Caribbean Poker Party $50,000 Super High Roller.
The $845,000 in prize money claimed by the Venezuela native dwarfs the $220,000 he'd previously cashed for in live tournaments. He topped a field of 54 entries for his win.
Winter had to settle for second and $550,000 after having a majority of the chips three-handed and turning down a couple of suggestions from Iadisernia that the two chop up the money and play for the trophy.
Official Final Table Paid Results
| Place | Player | Home Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Removed:150] | Venezuela | $845,000 |
| 2 | Sean Winter | USA | $550,000 |
| 3 | Ali Imsirovic | USA | $400,000 |
| 4 | Talal Shakerchi | UK | $299,000 |
| 5 | Sorel Mizzi | Canada | $225,000 |
| 6 | Markus Prinz | Germany | $175,000 |
| 7 | Benjamin Pollak | France | $125,000 |
What looked initially like a small field grew slowly at first and then quickly at the close of registration with a number of entries at the buzzer. It was a typically star-studded $50K field and the unofficial final table of nine began with breakout star Ali Imsirovic and Christopher Kruk ahead of the pack and two off the money.
However, after Justin Bonomo went bust, Kruk would find himself in a frustrating slide before ultimately bubbling out, leaving Winter, who had started the final table in third, well ahead of the remaining players.
Winter only furthered that lead considerably as the field narrowed. He busted Benjamin Pollak in a flip, with short stacks Markus Prinz and Sorel Mizzi following. Then, Talal Shakerchi picked up queens on the button and got in a flip for over a quarter of the chips in play against Winter, losing the high-leverage spot when a pair of kings hit the board.
Winter had over two-thirds of the total chips, but 30-minute blinds and aggressive opponents meant it was far from over. Imsirovic ran up his last few big blinds but was forced to fold to an Iadisernia shove when four to Broadway hit the board on the turn in a large pot. Winter finished Imsirovic the next hand.
Winter nearly sealed things early as he got in a great spot. He picked off an Iadisernia check-raise bluff with an ace-high combo draw, seeing he only needed to fade non-heart queens and nines on the river as Iadisernia held a complete airball. The queen of spades hit to give Iadisernia life and even out stacks.
"OK..." was all Winter could muster with a bemused smile.
At that point, Iadisernia tried to persuade Winter to chop. However, Winter just grinned and said he felt like gambling. Gambling they were as less than 70 big blinds were in play during the final level.
Winter would double back twice to regain the lead, the second time getting lucky to run a backdoor flush when he check-jammed second pair against Iadisernia's top pair of aces. However, Winter's lead would evaporate in one hand when he shoved button with ace-seven and got snapped off by ace-king.
Left with crumbs, Winter joked that he agreed to the chop. Iadisernia knew the tournament was his, though, and he celebrated with his lone railbird after finishing Winter off moments later.