Main Event
Day 3 Completed
Main Event
Day 3 Completed
The biggest Pot-Limit Omaha tournament of the year outside of Las Vegas has come to a conclusion in Europe's biggest poker arena at the King's Casino and Resort in Rozvadov and it was Adon Ursu that lifted the trophy for the winner shots in the early morning hours after defeating Veton Raka in heads-up.
It was the second edition of the PLO festival in 2019 and the flagship tournament drew a total of 474 entries for the €2,350 buy-in, the top 55 spots took home a portion of the €1,000,000 prize pool.
For Ursu and Raka it was the far biggest payday on the live circuit thus far while third-placed Tomasz Kozub reached back-to-back final tables in this very event. In April 2019, Kozub finished 5th for €61,363 and took home €88,000 this time.
The final table also featured Sergey Verkhoturov and Han Kuo while Marian Vacha and Sascha Minerva were ousted just before the field combined to one table. Martin Kabrhel, first on the Czech Republic all-time money list, led the remaining 28 players as chip leader into the final day but had to settle for a rather disappointing 22nd place and €8,750.
Ursu began the final day fifth in chips and quickly found his way to the top of the leaderboard when the final three tables were reached. He remained one of the most active players and sent several opponents to the rail to regain momentum after small setbacks.
Two clashes with eventual third-place finisher Kozub sent Ursu back into the middle of the pack but he then sent Pawel Keller to the rail to take over control. Ursu never ceased the top spot anymore and knocked out seven of his eight final opponents to the rail to showcase his dominating role in the late stages of the tournament.
Final Result The Big Wrap €2,350 Main Event
Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in EUR) | Prize (in USD) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Adon Ursu | Turkey | €200,000 | $222,986 |
2 | Veton Raka | Kosovo | €120,000 | $133,792 |
3 | Tomasz Kozub | Poland | €88,000 | $98,114 |
4 | Borritoo | Lithuania | €71,200 | $79,383 |
5 | Sergey Verkhoturov | Russia | €56,300 | $62,771 |
6 | Han Kuo | Germany | €43,400 | $48,388 |
7 | Pawel Keller | Poland | €32,250 | $35,956 |
8 | Victor Nalim | Turkey | €23,260 | $25,933 |
Martin Kabrhel made his presence known on Day 2 and topped the leader board of the remaining 28 players, but the final day was filled with obstacles for the two-time WSOP bracelet and five-time WSOP Circuit ring winner in his home casino. Kabrhel doubled Hasan Nazarian and MAXIFELI to drop below the average and his run came to an end when he got it in with kings against the aces of Sergey Verkhoturov.
By then, Ilyaz Dosikov, Erich Kollmann and Leonid Yankovski were already on the rail and other notables that fell short of the final table were Iaroslav Boiko, Oleh Sushko, Sascha Minerva and Marian Vacha. Both Minerva and Vacha were nursing shorter stacks for a long time and Minerva was well ahead with a wrap when he ended up at risk only for Veton Raka to spike a pair on the river.
Down to the final table, Pawel Keller was in the lead with Adon Ursu and Sergey Verkhoturov hot on his heels. Hasan Nazarian was left with crumbs and failed to make any further pay jumps. Lithuania's Borritoo was the next short stack to face elimination but throughout the final day the Lithuanian turned out to be a cat with more than nine lives. Time after time, he would get short and double again to postpone the trip to the payout desk.
Instead, Victor Nalim and Pawel Keller were felted by Ursu and Borritoo knocked out fellow short stack Han Kuo when both were even in chips. Borritoo doubled much to the delight of his rail from Lithuania, got short, tripled and doubled when his queens hit a flush to best the queens of Sergey Verkhoturov. Ursu finished off Verkhoturov soon after and Borritoo seemingly escaped from elimination once again when he clashed with Ursu, but he was counterfeited on the river to end up in 4th place.
Three-handed play was all about the sheer aggression of Ursu and Veton Raka. Tomasz Kozub managed to double his short stack twice against Raka. If there was any proof needed for the run-good of Ursu, it was his clash with Kozub when he flopped a pair, gutshot and flush draw against a straight draw. Ursu turned a straight flush to leave Kozub without any hope and heads-up play lasted all but two hands after.
That wraps up the PokerNews updates from Rozvadov for now and Europe's biggest poker arena is getting ready for the upcoming 2019 World Series of Poker Europe in a month from now. Some of the biggest names in poker will be heading to Rozvadov to battle for 15 WSOP gold bracelets.
Winner Picture courtesy of Vasyl Tsubera / King's Resort and Casino.
Veton Raka raised the pot to 1,500,000 and Adon Ursu repotted to 4,500,000 to see the flop. Both checked the 9 million pot to the turn and Ursu checked, Raka bet the pot and called the shove of Ursu.
Veton Raka:
Adon Ursu:
Ursu was ahead and needed to dodge plenty of straight and pair outs, which he did on the blank river to end the tournament right there. Raka had to settle for second place and a payday of €122,000 while Ursu takes home the trophy and €200,000.
A recap of today's action is to follow.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Adon Ursu |
47,600,000
16,900,000
|
16,900,000 |
Veton Raka | Busted |
The battle for the top prize of €200,000 has commenced and Adon Ursu has a decent lead over Veton Raka.
Tomasz Kozub limped in from the small blind and Adon Ursu checked his option in the big blind to see the flop. Kozub check-raised from 500,000 to 2,500,000 and Ursu moved all in to get a call from Kozub.
Tomasz Kozub:
Adon Ursu:
Ursu had flopped a pair, gutshot and flush draw while Kozub had plenty of straight outs. Several cards in the deck could leave Kozub drawing dead right away and the turn was among them as Ursu hit a straight flush!
The river was a formality and Kozub headed to the payout desk to collect €88,000 for his efforts while Ursu and Veton Raka went into a short break before their heads-up duel.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Adon Ursu |
30,700,000
9,700,000
|
9,700,000 |
Veton Raka |
16,900,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
Tomasz Kozub | Busted |
In a battle of the blinds, Veton Raka raised to 1,500,000 with the and Tomasz Kozub came along with the to see the flop. Raka bet 2,000,000 into 3,000,000 and Kozub called.
After the turn, Raka checked and Kozub bet 2,000,000 only to fold against the shove of his opponent.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Veton Raka |
16,875,000
5,775,000
|
5,775,000 |
Tomasz Kozub |
10,000,000
-4,150,000
|
-4,150,000 |
Tomasz Kozub raised the button with the and Veton Raka called with the in the big blind. The flop came and Kozub ended all in for 5,200,000 once more.
The turn and the river failed to improve Raka and Kozub scored the next double, which propelled him ahead of Raka in the counts.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Tomasz Kozub |
14,150,000
7,200,000
|
7,200,000 |
Veton Raka |
11,100,000
-6,900,000
|
-6,900,000 |
In a limped pot to the flop, Adon Ursu checked with the and Veton Raka bet 700,000 with the . Ursu called and the turn brought another check-call for 1,000,000 to the river, which was checked through to get the
Tomasz Kozub:
Veton Raka:
Things looked dire for Kozub on the flop and turn, but he binked the river to get back into contention.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Adon Ursu |
21,000,000
-2,750,000
|
-2,750,000 |
Veton Raka |
18,000,000
-1,000,000
|
-1,000,000 |
Tomasz Kozub |
6,950,000
3,050,000
|
3,050,000 |
Veton Raka raised the pot to 1,750,000 on the button with the and Adon Ursu called with in the big blind. Both checked the flop and the turn. Ursu spiked the river and Ursu bet 1,500,000 to force a fold from Raka, who showed his bricked gutshot straight flush draw.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Adon Ursu |
23,750,000
-500,000
|
-500,000 |
Veton Raka |
19,000,000
-1,800,000
|
-1,800,000 |
Veton Raka raised the small blind with the and Tomasz Kozub called in the big blind with . The flop was checked and Raka checked the turn, Kozub bet 1,200,000 and picked up a call.
After the river, Raka improved to a straight and he bet the pot for 4,400,000. Kozub had fewer than that behind and sent his cards into the muck.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Veton Raka |
20,800,000
6,150,000
|
6,150,000 |
Tomasz Kozub |
3,900,000
-4,125,000
|
-4,125,000 |