By Frank Op de Woerd
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Well, that’s not exactly true as Patrick Leonard has won plenty of events in his poker career, but last night he finished in second place not once but twice.
WPT Champion Oleg Vasylchenko from Ukraine and Flavio Reis from Brazil proved too tough to beat last night for Leonard, but Leonard can still look back on a successful night on the tables. The partypoker pro earned a combined $14,177 for his two runner-up finishes.
Yesterday’s winners
$1,050 WPT 6-Max ($100K GTD)
The biggest buy-in event of the evening was the $1,050 6-Max with a $100,000 guarantee. Since 100 entries were collected, the guarantee was exactly met.
Dutchman Michiel Brummelhuis was the first to bust. He bought back in but, unfortunately for him, didn’t fare much better on his second bullet.
Players busted left and right till the bubble loomed. In the end, Spanish high roller Vicent Bosca Ramon exited in sixteenth place, guaranteeing the remaining fifteen players a payout. Greek player Ioannis Angelou-Konstas, playing from the Netherlands, was the first to bust in the money, his fifteenth place was worth $2,250.
Some poker heavyweights had made it into the money but busted before the final table was formed. Preben Stokkan (14th, $2,250) and Tomi Brouk (10th, $2,500) were just some of the players that settled for a min-cash or just over.
On the final table, legendary Spanish player Sergio Aido was the first to go home, earning $4,725 for his sixth-place finish. Scott Margereson followed him out the door; he made $6,250 for his fifth place.
The deciding heads-up was between Greek grinder Alexandros Theologis and German regular Pascal Hartmann. The latter would triumph, taking home the $27,012 first-place prize. Theologis settled for $17,117.
Pascal Hartmann
$215 WPT 6-Max ($50K GTD)
The $215 6-Max attracted many players that also bought into the $1,050, and then some. A total of 312 entries were collected into the 6-Max event, easily surpassing the $50,000 guarantee.
A lot of partypoker sponsored pro’s made deep runs but missed out on the money. Josip Simonic (60th), Renato Nomura (49th), Phillipp Gruissem (46th), and Matt Staples (44th) came close but failed to cash. Frank Lillis bubbled in thirty-seventh place.
While most of his partypoker colleagues missed out on a cash, partypoker’s Patrick Leonard had a fair shot at the title. He maneuvered his way to the final table, and then the heads-up, only to run into Oleg Vasylchenko. The 2016 World Poker Tour Prague Main Event champion proved to be one size too big for Leonard, as the Brit had to settle for a runner-up spot. Leonard took home $9,347, while Vasylchenko added another title to his virtual trophy case as he banked $13,957 for his win.
Oleg Vasylchenko
Mini: $22 6-Max ($25K GTD)
With a $22 buy-in, the 6-Max attracted a field of 1,339. With a 100,000 starting stack and 12-minute levels, it took almost ten hours to play down to a winner, a heavy-fought battle.
Brazilian player Leonardo Boff bubbled the event, no return of investment for his 181st place finish.
Boff’s countryman Marcello Gonçalves battled his way to the heads-up. There he faced Kostadin Kostadinov, and the two decided to look at the numbers. Instead of $3,079 for second and $4,025 for first, the two decided to chop it up, with Gonçalves taking the slightly bigger slice of the pie as he had a moderately more significant stack. Kostadinov took $3,477, and Gonçalves earned $3,627.
Main: $215 WPT 7-Max Turbo PKO ($50K GTD)
Seven-minute levels and a hundred big blinds to start. And all of that in a 7-max progressive knockout format. There you have the concept for an action-packed evening; a fast and furious flurry of bust-outs ensued in the $215 buy-in event.
The guarantee on the event was easily met, as 272 entries were collected into the event. Thirty-five players would end up in the money, but plenty would leave before that with at least a small portion of that bounty money. Soenke Jahn, for example, busted in thirty-eight place – just outside the money – but earned $287.50 in bounties to turn a profit still.
Denis Timofeev wasn’t so lucky; he had earned just $75 in bounties when he bubbled the event in thirty-sixth place.
partypoker’s Lui Martins sneaked into the money, earning $249 plus $100 for his thirty-fourth place. His teammate Matt Staples did a bit better, finishing in fifteenth place for $339 plus $200 in bounties.
Like in the similarly prized 6-Max event, Patrick Leonard did the best of the partypoker team. Again, Leonard made his way to the heads-up only to finish second yet again. This time it was Flavio Reis from Brazil that stood in his way. Reis beat Leonard heads-up and took home the biggest bounty of the event. Leonard earned $4,830 ($4,493 + $337) while Reis took home $12,094 courtesy of a massive $7,595 bounty and $4,499 from the regular prize pool.
Patrick Leonard
Mini: $22 WPT 7-Max Turbo PKO ($20K GTD)
The $22 buy-in edition of the 7-Max Turbo PKO saw 1,128 entries compete. With $10 going on one’s head as a bounty, all it took was busting a couple of players to turn a profit for the evening. The top 147 would be guaranteed to leave with more than they originally wagered on their entry, as a min-cash was worth $24.
Serhii Biletsky from Ukraine wasn’t one to be so lucky; he finished in 148th place and earned nothing but $5 in bounties. In contrast, Jeremias Platero, who finished just one spot above Biletsky, earned $46 for his 147th place as he made $22 in bounties on top of his $24 payout.
Of course, the big money was on top with the final bounty the one heaviest fought for. Brandon Lee from Canada and Rasmus Møller Jensen from Denmark battled for the title and the heftiest bounty. In the end, Jensen took home the title and $2,671 ($1,519 + $1,152). Lee earned $2,014 ($1,516 + $498).
Main: $530 WPT Mix-Max Knockout ($100K GTD)
A $530 buy-in tournament isn’t for everyone, but 203 entries still signed up for it. Some of the best players in the game battled it out for the title and the massive bounties.
No second-place finish for Patrick Leonard this time around, not even a cash. Still, the Brit turned a profit on his second entry as he collected $312.50 in bounties before busting in eighty-eight place.
Alex Foxen got close to the money but busted in thirty-third place. He was the last player to bust with no money to show for it, as he had knocked out no players during his run. Matt Staples also busted before the money in thirty-second place, but at least earned $125 in bounties.
Such familiar names as Georgios Zisimopoulos (22nd, $588 + $1,203), Chris Hunichen (20th, $588 + $125), and Robert Heidorn (16th, $613 + $250) came close to the final table but ultimately missed out on the biggest of prizes.
The Brit Scott Robinson and Lithuanian Gediminas Uselis faced off for the title and a massive bounty. With $8,942 guaranteed for second place, there was still a lot left to fight for. Uselis won the hard-fought battle, taking home not just the $8,952 for first but also the massive bounty of $10,279 for a grand score of $19,231. Robinson took home $11,768 ($8,942 + $2,826).
Mini: $109 WPT Mix-Max Knockout ($75K GTD)
Almost 900 entries gathered for the $109 version of the Mix-Max Knockout. Half of the $89,000 prize pool would be distributed to the top 120; the other half players could earn in bounties.
Sander Groeneveld bubbled the event in 121st place with nothing but $25 in bounties to show for his efforts.
Jan-Eric Schwippert (91st, $117 + $75), Carlos Chadha (89th, $119 + $225), Marty Mathis (75th, $123 + $118), Boris Angelov (32nd, $190 + $226), and partypoker’s Renato Nomuro (13th, $376 + $653) all finished in the money but probably won’t vividly remember this event next year.
Legendary Swedish player Michael Tureniec finished in ninth, good for $796 plus $482 in bounties. His countryman Jesper Jolheden would win the event for $11,589 ($5,968 + $5,621). Jolheden beat Manuel Machado heads up. The Portuguese player, playing from Malta, earned $8,263 ($5,959 + $2,304) for his second-place finish.
Play the Mini Main Event Monster Sat
With the World Poker Tour Online Championships, the mid-tier event is called the Mini. But the $1,050 buy-in event is only mini by name; it’s grand in just about every other fashion. With $1,050 buy-in, 25 minute levels, and 200 blinds to start, you don’t want to miss out on this Sunday’s Day 1B of the Mini Main Event.
But a $1,050 buy-in isn’t for everyone. Buying straight into the event might be a bit too big a hit on your bankroll. If it is, you’re in luck as a Monster Sat is awaiting this weekend. On Saturday, a $33 buy-in (with unlimited reentries) qualifier is scheduled for 8:15 pm (BST). It’s called a Monster Sat as there’s a monstrous 100 seats guaranteed on the event. So regardless of how many entries are made into the event, a minimum of 100 people earn themselves a $1,050 buy-in to Sunday’s Mini Main Event.
To register for the event, open the partypoker lobby and find the poker tab. Click on the WPT logo and select ‘Satellites’ under ‘Category.’ There you can search for Monster to see the event and click the shiny red ‘Register’ button. Alternatively, you can search for the tournament-id 281602923 in the partypoker client under ‘help.’
Good luck at the tables!
Tonight’s schedule
