2017 PokerStars Festival Bucharest

€2,200 High Roller
Day: 2
Event Info

2017 PokerStars Festival Bucharest

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
55
Prize
€55,500
Event Info
Buy-in
€2,200
Prize Pool
€215,340
Entries
111
Level Info
Level
24
Blinds
15,000 / 30,000
Ante
5,000

€2,200 High Roller

Day 2 Completed

Or Patreanu Wins €2,200 PokerStars Festival Bucharest High Roller for €55,500

Level 24 : 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
Or Patreanu, PokerStars Festival Bucharest High Roller winner
Or Patreanu, PokerStars Festival Bucharest High Roller winner

Fifty-seven players returned at 2 p.m. local time for the second and final day of the €2,200 PokerStars Festival Bucharest High Roller Single Re-entry in the stunning JW Marriot Bucharest Grand Hotel. Ten late registrations joined the pack to create a total prize pool of €215,340. 15 players would receive a share of it, with the biggest slice of €55,500 going to the eventual winner.

It took more than twelve hours of play before Or Patreanu was able to call himself a PokerStars Festival High Roller champion. The 29-year old businessman from Tel Aviv, Israel, scored another big win for his home country in what's sure to be one of Israel's best years at the poker tables.

Alin Pandilica, who was one of the late registrants at the start of the day, finished runner-up and cashed €38,100. Eduard Norel became 3rd for €24,980, start-of-the-day chipleader Georges Yazbeck ended up in 4th place and received €20,200.

"It was a three-day marathon," laughed Patreanu when PokerNews spoke to him directly after his victory. "I fired two bullets in the Main Event and mincashed that one, so I actually lost money there," he chuckled. "I late-registered the High Roller because I was like, well, I broke even anyway, let's do this. And here we are," he smiled.

The Israeli may not be a fixture on the circuit, as a former poker professional he definitely knows his way around the poker table. "I've quit playing professionally years ago and focused on my business, but I know all the players in my home country. And I guess I've still got it," he laughed.

One of the players he's very well acquainted with is Shai Zurr, the Israeli who won a WSOP bracelet earlier this year. "Shai [Zurr] and I, we go way back. I know him very well, he's a good friend. We used to play cash games for hours every night years ago. He's absolutely one of the best players in Israel," Patreanu complimented his countryman.

Patreanu scored another big victory for Israel, which is more and more becoming a nation to be reckoned with on the poker circuit. There's a large contingent of Israeli's here in Bucharest but the big victory party has to wait until tomorrow. "They're all asleep now," laughed Patreanu, "and I can't sleep now obviously. But tomorrow they'll come, we make a winner picture together and then we celebrate."

Final Result PokerStars Festival Bucharest €2,200 High Roller Single Re-entry

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Or PatreanuIsrael€55,500
2Alin PandilicaRomania€38,100
3Eduard NorelRomania€24,980
4Georges YazbeckLebanon€20,200
5Cosmin VoineaRomania€16,250
6David BorkowskiPoland€12,700
7Alexandru CincaRomania€10,050
8Mihai StincaRomania€7,650
9Elie GhazalLebanon€5,600

Day 2 early action

After late registration had closed, the day started with 57+10 players. Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker was one of those late registrants and fired his second bullet in this tournament. The 2003 World Champion came up short again and fell in the early stages. Moneymaker shoved 15 big blinds in the middle with pocket nines and got a call from Ion Stoian with pocket jacks. Ironically, Stoian was the one who busted Moneymaker yesterday as well, giving him quite the story to tell of how he once busted Moneymaker twice in the same tournament.

Alexandru Papazian, Andreas Klatt, Marc Radgen, Mihai Malone, Lawrence Bayley, Andreas Vlachos, and Niko Koop all got eliminated during the first three levels of the day and had to part empty-handed as well. Another player who finished shy of the money was the aforementioned Ion Stoian, who went to the rail in a hand he won't soon forget.

With the pot around 20,000, Stoian held ace-king with the ace of spades on an all-spade queen-ten-eight flop. Stoian looked at his left-hand neighbor Cristinel Dumitru, who had 35,000 behind, and moved all in with his stack of 170,000. Although Dumitru folded, Stoian had presumably missed Georges Yazbeck still being active in the hand, the only player at that time to cover Stoian. Yazbeck snap-called with king-four of spades for the nut flush, and a shocked Stoian was sent to the river after the turn and river blanked out.

The bubble hand provided more drama, as Roi Koko got pressured by a massive shove from chipleader Dawid Borkowski, Holding ace-king, Koko eventually called while sporting a very healthy stack at that point. Borkowski tabled ace-five and rivered a straight with his inferior kicker to send Koko to the rail in dramatic fashion. Daniel Portiansky busted at another table at the same time, and both players chopped up 15h place prize money.

After the bubble burst, Tom Givony, Esa Karttunen, Salvatore Camarda, Maan El Hachem, and Paul Esau busted in rapid fashion to bring us to the final table of nine.

Final Table seating and chip counts

SeatPlayerCountryChip Count
1Mihai StincaRomania252,000
2Or PatreanuIsrael305,000
3Cosmin VoineaRomania120,000
4Alin PandilicaRomania365,000
5Georges YazbeckLebanon390,000
6Dawid BorkowskiPoland700,000
7Alexandru CincaRomania210,000
8Elie GhazalLebanon150,000
9Eduard NorelRomania265,000

Final Table action

In one of the first hands at the final table, Elie Ghazal was forced to the rail. On a ten-high board, Ghazal got it in with king-ten against Padilica's ace-ten and couldn't catch up. Ghazal was followed by Mihai Stinca, who lost a classic race with ace-king against Patreanu's pocket jacks.

Seven-handed play lasted for nearly three levels of 40 minutes before Alexandru Cinca succumbed in 7th place. Cinca was dwindling short and raised all in with ace-seven after Yazbeck had opened. Yazbeck called with king-seven and hit a king to send Cinca packing.

Six-handed play lasted shorter, but it took still nearly two levels to see Dawid Borkowski bow out in 6th place. Borkowski limp-shoved pocket deuces in the small blind against Eduard Norel's ace-queen in the big blind. Norel found a queen to cripple Borkowski, and the Pole busted shortly after.

With the bustouts taking a long time up until this point, play was rather shallow five-handed, which resulted in a flurry of eliminations in short succession. Cosmin Voinea was the first of the remaining five to tap out. Voinea briefly held the chip lead before his bustout but lost multiple big pots to finish in 5th place. Day 1 chipleader Georges Yazbeck immediately followed Voinea out the door. Yazbeck had blinded off to just two big blinds and called all in with five-trey against Pandilica's jack-six. No help meant the end for the Lebanese dentist in 4th place.

Three-handed play didn't last long, as Patreanu and Eduard Norel got their chips in the middle for a pot of 75% of all the chips in play. It was as even as coin flips come, with Petreanu holding six-deuce of spades on a nine-eight-seven board with two spades, while Norel held ten-nine. Both players had a 49% chance to win the hand, and fortune favored Patreanu when the ten of spades hit the turn to give him the winner.

Heads-up play didn't last long. Patreanu started with a 4:1 chip lead and won the first all in of the night. Patreanu had open-shoved with pocket fives and Pandilica had called with ace-queen. The board ran out ten-three-four-deuce-seven to make Patreanu the new High Roller champion.

With Patreanu's victory, the PokerNews live reporting of the PokerStars High Roller comes to an end. Don't miss any of the live updates from the Main Event, which will go into its fifth and final day on Sunday, August 5th, and will restart at 1 p.m. local time.

Tags: Alexandru CincaAlexandru PapazianAlin PandilicaAndreas VlachosChris MoneymakerCosmin VoineaDaniel PortianskyDawid BorkowskiEduard NorelElie GhazalEsa KarttunenGeorges YazbeckIon StoianLawrence BayleyMaan El HachemMihai StincaOr PatreanuPaul EsauRoi KokoSalvatore CamardaTom Givony

Adil Pandilica Eliminated in 2nd Place (€38,100)

Level 24 : 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
Alin Pandilica
Alin Pandilica

After a few small hands in the opening stages of the heads-up. Or Patreanu was the first player to go all in. He open-shoved from the small blind and Alin Pandilica instantly called from the big blind.

Or Patreanu: {5-Spades}{5-Diamonds}
Alin Pandilica: {A-Spades}{Q-Hearts}

Pandilica was racing to stay in it but failed to gain any help on a {10-Hearts}{3-Spades}{4-Diamonds}{2-Clubs}{7-Clubs}, keeping Patreanu's pocket fives in the lead.

"Yes!" yelled Patreanu, who clasped his hands in excitement. He shook Pandilica's hand and congratulated him on a good game. The Romanian, one of the late registrants at the start of Day 2, finished in 2nd place and received €38,100.

Or Patreanu won €55,500 and is the inaugural PokerStars Festival Bucharest High Roller champion!

Player Chips Progress
Or Patreanu il
Or Patreanu
2,775,000 500,000
Alin Pandilica ro
Alin Pandilica
Busted

Tags: Alin PandilicaOr Patreanu

Eduard Norel Eliminated in 3rd Place (€24,980)

Level 24 : 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
Eduard Norel
Eduard Norel

Or Patreanu raised on the button and Eduard Norel defended his big blind. The flop was {9-Spades}{8-Spades}{7-Hearts} and Norel checked. Patreanu bet 70,000, Norel check-raised to 230,000, Patreanu shoved all in for 1,027,000, and Norel snap-called for 1,017,000 total.

Just like that, a gigantic pot of 75% of all the chips in play was created.

Or Patreanu: {6-Spades}{2-Spades}
Eduard Norel: {10-Diamonds}{9-Hearts}

With Norel as a 49.80% favorite, Patreanu as a 48.99% favorite, and a 1,21% chance to chop, the chances couldn't be more equal. Norel was slightly ahead but needed to dodge a lot of cards to hold up.

One of the cards he needed to dodge was the {10-Spades} on the turn, improving Patreanu to a flush. Norel could still fill up with a ten or nine but the {J-Clubs} on the river gave Patreanu the winner.

Norel had three antes less than Patreanu and was eliminated After winning the last two tournaments he cashed, Norel now finished third and took home €24,980.

Player Chips Progress
Or Patreanu il
Or Patreanu
2,275,000 1,145,000
Alin Pandilica ro
Alin Pandilica
500,000 -70,000
Eduard Norel ro
Eduard Norel
Busted

Tags: Eduard NorelOr Patreanu

Georges Yazbeck Eliminated in 4th Place (€20,200)

Level 24 : 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
Georges Yazbeck
Georges Yazbeck

Georges Yazbeck kept himself aside while all the chips were flying around, and his stack suffered in the process. The Day 1 chipleader was down to his last 76,000, a little over two big blinds, when he was seated in the big blind, Alin Pandilica put him all in and Yazbeck quickly called.

Alin Pandilica: {J-Hearts}{4-Hearts}
Georges Yazbeck: {5-Clubs}{3-Hearts}

It was over after the turn on {A-Clubs}{J-Clubs}{6-Spades}{6-Hearts}{9-Diamonds} and the Lebanese dentist added €20,200 to his lifetime winnings of over a million dollars.

Player Chips Progress
Alin Pandilica ro
Alin Pandilica
570,000 -50,000
Georges Yazbeck lb
Georges Yazbeck
Day 1 Chip Leader
Busted

Tags: Alin PandilicaGeorges Yazbeck

Cosmin Voinea Eliminated in 5th Place (€16,250)

Level 24 : 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
Cosmin Voinea
Cosmin Voinea

Cosmin Voinea was first to act and shoved 141,000 from under the gun. Eduard Norel called from the small blind and, after contemplating for a while, Or Patreanu called from the big blind.

Both active players checked down {3-Hearts}{9-Diamonds}{5-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds} to the river. Patreanu bet 145,000 and Norel snap-called.

Or Patreanu: {A-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}
Eduard Norel: {A-Clubs}{K-Diamonds}
Cosmin Voinea: {7-Clubs}{6-Clubs}

Patreanu dragged the substantial pot with the nut flush, eliminating Voinea in 5th place. The Romanian was off to the payout desk to collect his €16,250 in winnings.

Player Chips Progress
Or Patreanu il
Or Patreanu
1,130,000 360,000
Eduard Norel ro
Eduard Norel
950,000 -350,000
Cosmin Voinea ro
Cosmin Voinea
Busted

Tags: Cosmin VoineaEduard NorelOr Patreanu

Voinea Loses Nearly All

Level 24 : 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante

In the hand after doubling up Or Patrenau, Cosmin Voinea shoved 346,000 from the small blind, Adil Pandilica called all in from the big blind for 299,000 total.

Cosmin Voinea: {A-Diamonds}{2-Hearts}
Adil Pandilica: {Q-Hearts}{J-Spades}

Pandilica made a straight on {Q-Spades}{9-Diamonds}{7-Spades}{K-Spades}{10-Diamonds} and left Voinea with less than two big blinds, which Voinea tripled in the hand after.

Player Chips Progress
Alin Pandilica ro
Alin Pandilica
620,000 340,000
Cosmin Voinea ro
Cosmin Voinea
150,000 -200,000

Tags: Alin PandilicaCosmin Voinea

Patreanu Doubles Through Voinea

Level 24 : 15,000/30,000, 5,000 ante
Or Patreanu and Cosmin Voinea
Or Patreanu and Cosmin Voinea

Or Patreanu shoved 321,000 from the small blind. Cosmin Voinea took slightly under a minute before calling it off in the big blind.

Or Patreanu: {A-Clubs}{8-Clubs}
Cosmin Voinea: {4-Spades}{4-Hearts}

The board ran out {8-Hearts}{2-Hearts}{2-Spades}{2-Diamonds}{9-Hearts} and Patreanu paired his eight to double up.

Player Chips Progress
Or Patreanu il
Or Patreanu
770,000 320,000
Cosmin Voinea ro
Cosmin Voinea
350,000 -200,000

Tags: Or PatreanuCosmin Voinea

Level: 24

Blinds: 15,000/30,000

Ante: 5,000