Felipe Boianovsky Rides the Wave to the BSOP $50K Super High Roller Title
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Felipe Boianovsky began the day as chip leader, but it wasn’t a smooth ride for the local superstar on Day 2 of the Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) Super High Roller Series R$250,000 ($50,000 US) Super High Roller.
Boianovsky fell to a short stack at the start of the final table. Then he doubled up back in contention. Then he was short once again before finding a few more double ups. The cards continued to swing in his favor until Boianovsky ended up as the champion, taking home the title and R$3,200,000 ($640,000 US) first prize.
As it turned out, the win just capped off what was already shaping up to be a special day for him. “I’m feeling amazing. It was a great experience. I had all my friends on the rail. My girlfriend. It’s the same day as my nephew is coming into the world, so I dedicate this to him. He’s being born today, so it’s a very special moment,” he said after defeating Leandro Zavodini heads-up.
$50,000 Super High Roller Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (R$) | Prize (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Felipe Boianovsky | Brazil | R$3,200,000 | $640,000 |
| 2 | Leandro Zavodini | Brazil | R$2,200,000 | $440,000 |
| 3 | Vladimir Minko | Russia | R$1,400,000 | $280,000 |
| 4 | Ruben Lopes | Portugal | R$1,080,000 | $216,000 |
| 5 | Leonardo Rizzo | Brazil | R$850,000 | $170,000 |
| 6 | Pedro Padilha | Brazil | R$675,000 | $135,000 |
The win was the biggest live accomplishment in a career that dates all the way back to 2010, but Boianovsky is no stranger to capturing major titles. He won the PokerStars SCOOP Main Event in 2023 for $1.03 million. He also won a R$50,000 Super High Roller here at the BSOP in 2023, as well as a side event at EPT Barcelona in 2019. His earnings today are eclipsed only by a runner-up finish in a €50,000 event at EPT Monte Carlo last year, where he earned a career-best $746,286.
Boianovsky was first drawn to poker nearly 20 years ago, captivated by the play of high rollers such as Tom Dwan on television and inspired to join them one day. He soon established himself as a top online grinder, building a resume that includes more than $6 million in live earnings, as well as multiple WCOOP and SCOOP titles.
But he’s proving just as comfortable under the bright lights of a live final table. His earnings today push his career total past $3 million and put him inside the top 10 all-time among Brazilian players. For Boianovsky, playing live and online carries with it different challenges, ones that he’s fully prepared to meet.
“This is a bit more nerve-racking. You have all the lights, all the cameras, and you have to worry about live tells and stuff like that. If you’re nervous, bluffing in a pot when you’re playing for so much money, you know, your opponents can notice that. And so it’s a little bit more challenging than playing at home, but it’s not my first time,” he said. “I’ve been playing live poker since, I don’t know, 2009 or something. So I have a lot of experience live as well. So yeah, it was okay.”
Day 2 Action
Fifteen players returned to the WTC Sheraton at 2 p.m. Three late entries pushed the field to 40 and the prize pool to R$9,405,000 ($1.88M).
Zavodini, last year’s champion, reached the final table with the chip lead on 1,970,000. Thiago Crema was the first to go after running ace-king into Vladimir Minko’s ace-king and losing to a turned flush. Boianovsky, short with 220,000, doubled through Leonardo Rizzo before Ottomar Ladva bowed out in eighth.
Only six spots paid, and Joao Simao bubbled when Zavodini rivered a straight. Once in the money, Boianovsky doubled twice, cracking aces and then winning a race versus Zavodini. Pedro Padilha was eliminated by Minko in sixth, while Boianovsky knocked out Rizzo in fifth.
A cold run left Boianovsky short again, but he scored three more doubles through Minko, climbing close to 3,000,000. Minko later ended Ruben Lopes’ run in fourth before losing a massive pot to Boianovsky’s flopped trips, swinging the momentum. Zavodini doubled twice through Boianovsky, then knocked out Minko in third.
Zavodini led narrowly to start heads-up, but a critical hand changed everything when his time bank expired facing Boianovsky’s shove, killing his two jacks. Moments later Boianovsky turned the nut flush to seal the title.
After one of the wildest rides of the festival, Boianovsky summed it up, saying “a very big rollercoaster day… chip leader, then short, then back again. Just playing one hand at a time.”
Grateful to win such a stacked event on home soil, he praised the BSOP’s growth.
“This is just so amazing to see something this big happening here. I have never been to a Triton, for example, and we always hear about how players are treated so well at Tritons and the buy-ins are so big. And this felt like we were having a Triton at the back of our houses,”
