The back-and-forth, topsy-turvy heads-up match could've gone either way, but fortune finally smiled on Puk Nabuurs as the Dutchman ended up as the Diamond Poker Series PLO Grand Slam Tallinn €2,200 The Million Opener champion.
Nabuurs defeated Danyil Zaremba with a turned straight to win the glass trophy and €200,000 first prize by conquering a field of 416 of some of the toughest Pot-Limit Omaha players in Europe. The prize easily surpasses all of his previous live results combined, his previous best cash being $21,000 in an event in Las Vegas more than 15 years ago.
€2,200 The Million Opener Final Table results
| Place | Player | Country | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Puk Nabuurs | Netherlands | €200,000 |
| 2 | Danyil Zaremba | Ukraine | €119,080 |
| 3 | Fredrik Lindstrom | Finland | €89,340 |
| 4 | Tobias Andersen | Denmark | €67,020 |
| 5 | Lauri Varonen | Finland | €54,000 |
| 6 | Robin Palm | Sweden | €40,160 |
| 7 | Dario Alioto | Italy | €31,300 |
| 8 | Mihkel Vitsur | Estonia | €22,660 |
| 9 | Taago Tamm | Estonia | €18,340 |
“It’s pretty unreal. I never made such a big run, or deep run, or a big cash. I’m very happy with it,” an elated Nabuurs said after securing the title.
Nabuurs says he’s mostly a PLO specialist and decided to come here to the Chesterfield Poker Club in the Estonian capital for a chance to play in a series dedicated to his favorite game. “I strictly play Omaha. I barely play any other games. It’s definitely my favorite game,” he said.
“I’m very happy with this series so I can come here and play a bunch of PLO tournaments instead of going to a series where they maybe host one or two PLO events. So it’s pretty cool.”
Final Table action
Nabuurs led the remaining nine players who returned to play at 2 p.m. in the series’ opening event as he took 14,250,000 into the final table. Nabuurs wasted little time adding to his lead, taking out local player Taago Tamm when he flopped two pair against Tamm’s kings to make the Day 1 chip leader the first casualty of the final table.
Mihkel Vitsur then had his queens cracked as Lauri Varonen spiked the nut flush on the turn to send Vitsur out in eighth place. Dario Alioto, a WSOP bracelet winner and most accomplished player left in the field, called off his last 1,000,000 with a straight draw but couldn’t improve against Zaremba’s two pair as he had to settle for seventh.
Nabuurs hit aces and kings to bust Robin Palm in sixth place as he climbed up over 20,000,000. Zaremba took over the chip lead as Varonen got his last 2,450,000 in on the flop with trips, but Zaremba showed down a flopped full house to leave Varonen with just one out. No miracle arrived and Varonen was sent to the rail in fifth.
Zaremba hit 30,000,000 when he made quad fours and got paid on a 2,200,000 river bet by Fredrik Lindstrom. Tobias Andersen was then all in for 1,150,000 and up against Zaremba and Nabuurs. Both players checked down the board and Nabuurs showed kings and sevens to beat Andersen’s queens and send Andersen out in fourth.
Nabuurs jumped back in front when he bombed the river for 7,500,000 as Zaremba tanked for a minute before folding. Lindstrom and Zaremba then checked to the river on a queen-high board where Lindstrom bet 2,000,000. Zaremba raised all in and Lindstrom went into the tank before calling for his last 5,500,000. Zaremba showed nines full of fives and Lindstrom mucked a straight on his way out in third place.
Nabuurs held a slim lead over Zaremba at the start of heads-up play with 34,700,000 to 30,100,000. The stacks were nearly equal as the two players settled in for a duel that ended up featuring several lead changes and cruel twists of fate.
First, Zaremba doubled up with trip fives to move up past 40,000,000. Nabuurs took back the lead when he made two pair and got called on a 7,600,000 bet on the river. Zaremba made a full house to double up again, then had Nabuurs all in for 14,100,000 as Zaremba showed down a set against Nabuurs’ straight draw. Nabuurs missed the turn and Zaremba was a card away from the title, but Nabuurs spiked a king on the river to make his straight and survive. “It was needed. Much needed,” Nabuurs said about that lucky king he won’t soon forget.
Nabuurs took a big chip lead when he made the nut straight and Zaremba called a pot-sized bet of 13,600,000 on the river. Left with just 12,000,000, Zaremba got his last chips in a few hands later with two queens, but Nabuurs connected on a gutshot straight draw on the turn to win the title.
Nabuurs plays to make the most of the rest of the series, but not after the rollercoaster he just went through. “Probably tomorrow. Today I’m going to take off and just relax now,” he said about his upcoming plans to play further events.
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the €2,200 The Million Opener. Stay tuned for more coverage of PLO action for the rest of the Diamond Poker Series in Tallinn.
