Level: 23
Blinds: 15,000/30,000
Ante: 4,000
2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 11 Malta
€25,500 High Roller
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 11 Malta
Buy-in
€25,000
Prize Pool
€2,156,000
Entries
88
Level
25
Blinds
25,000 / 25,000
Ante
5,000
The Birth of the High Roller on the EPT
Level 22
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
The latest European Poker Tour €25K High Roller final table is hurtling towards a finish here in the Portomaso Casino, Malta, as the remaining two players battle it out to win one of the most coveted titles on the tour.
High Rollers, be it 25K, 50K or 100K, seem the norm now on the EPT. It’s taken for granted that the world’s best players will turn up and play whenever one is scheduled into a stop. That wasn’t always the case though.
Throughout the first four seasons of the EPT, the biggest buy-in event was the €10,000 Grand Final held in Monaco at the end of every season. The common thinking back in those days was that side event buy-ins had to be smaller than the Main Event.
“The buy in for side events has to be smaller, we can’t take the shine off the Main Event,” was probably whispered within the walls of the PokerStars office. That all changed in Season 5 though as the tour gave birth to its first-ever High Roller Event. It was dubbed the "EPT £1 Million Pound Showdown." Many thought PokerStars was crazy to guarantee such a large prize pool for an untried format, but the timing proved perfect. A new dawn had arrived.
For a three-year period London became the center of the poker world for one month a year. The inaugural World Series of Poker Europe was held in 2007, and was deemed a great success after attracting many big-name North American pros who had rarely ventured away from their continent. EPT London was cleverly scheduled to take place just after the WSOP Europe so many stayed on to play. They must have liked what they saw.
Fast forward one year and even more made the long journey across the pond to play the back-to-back of the WSOP Europe and EPT London. It was also the first year the WSOP delayed their final table, creating the November Nine, and many of those players made the trip to London to gain the extra practice. Team PokerStars Pro Ivan Demidov ended up making the final table of the WSOP Europe, falling in third place, before going on to finish runner-up to Peter Eastgate in the WSOP Main Event a few weeks later.
The Season 4 EPT London Main Event attracted 392 players, and that number jumped up to 596 in Season 5. The risky £1-million Pound guaranteed prize pool? Smashed as 86 players created a whopping £1.72 million to play for. The numbers may not seem that impressive today, but back in 2008 it was a very big deal.
Around that time, Jason Mercier had announced himself on the poker scene by taking down EPT4 San Remo for $1,372,893, and proved he was no flash-in-the-pan success by defeating John Juanda heads-up for $944,847 along with the accolade of being the first ever High Roller Champion on a tour that was fast gaining a reputation as the world’s best.
As for Juanda, he was delighted the tournament was just taking place because he had missed the EPT Main Event due to the 22 hours it'd taken him to dismantle the WSOP Europe final table days earlier. By making his own history, Mercier had denied Juanda the chance of historic double titles in London.
Dennis Phillips – another November Niner who would go onto finish third the following month – bubbled the tournament, leaving a stacked final table to play out for the title. Along with Mercier and Juanda, the final table was comprised of such names as Isaac Haxton (6th), Peter Jetten (4th), and Mike Watson (3rd), all of who are still successful players on the tour today.
Their success was no doubt one of the key factors why High Roller events have stuck around and become a huge success. Every season, Main Event numbers were growing and schedules had to be lengthened to stop the days being ridiculously long. It was great that top prizes swelled, but it also made it a lot harder to get there. High Rollers, played over two to three days, offered the top players a chance to achieve similar rewards with less time investment and less players to get through. It proved to be a winning combination. This also appealed to rich businessmen amateurs — whose time was precious — and a perfect poker melting pot was created that continues to this day.
This season on the EPT has (or will feature) two 100k High Rollers, two 50Ks, three 25Ks and a bunch of 10Ks, one of which will feature next week at the back end of the Malta festival. We'd call that a success story!
Official Heads-Up Chip Counts
Level 22
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
The heads-up battle will start in about five minutes with the following chip counts. The current level is about to end and in the next level, 15,000/30,000 with a 4,000 ante, Connor Drinan will have 89 big blinds versus Dzmitry Urbanovich's 57 big blinds.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,674,000 | 474,000 |
|
1,727,000 | 127,000 |
Daniel Dvoress Eliminated in 3rd Place (€263,000)
Level 22
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
Connor Drinan folded his button and Dzmitry Urbanovich had the option in the small blind. He plummeted a small tower of 5,000 chips in the middle. Big blind Daniel Dvoress, down to his last 75,000 at this point, made the call.
Daniel Dvoress: 
Dzmitry Urbanovich: 
The flop came 
and Drinan remarked there were some possibilities all of the sudden.
The 
on the turn and 
on the river were both blanks though, sending Dvoress to the rail.
The remaining two players are guaranteed €397,800 and are going to battle it out for €572,300 after a short break.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Two Pair vs Two Pair
Level 22
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
Connor Drinan raised from the button to 52,000 and Dzmitry Urbanovich called from the small blind. The flop came down 
Urbanovich lead for 55,000 and Drinan called.
On the turn the 
hit and both players checked.
The river was the 
and Urbanovich lead for 130,000, Drinan called.
Urbanovich showed but his two pair was not enough against Drinan's 
.
Dvoress Shows Seven High
Level 22
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
Dzmitry Urbanovich limped the button and Daniel Dvoress completed from the small blind. Connor Drinan checked his option in the big blind.
Both blinds checked to Urbanovich on a flop of 
. Urbanovich bet 35,000 and just Dvoress called, Drinan folded.
Dvoress bet out 100,000 himself on the 
turn and Urbanovich made the call.
Both players checked the 
on the river and Dvoress announced "Seven high", revealing 
. Urbanovich tabled 
and took it down.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,853,000 | 183,000 |
|
|
291,000 | -159,000 |
Full House for Drinan
Level 22
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
The flop showed 
when both Conner Drinan and Dzmitry Urbanovich checked. The turn was the and Drinan lead for 30,000, Urbanovich called.
On the river the hit and Drinan bet 80,000. Urbanovich called and Drinan quickly revealed 
for a full house. Urbanovich mucked and Drinan raked in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,200,000 | 100,000 |
|
|
1,670,000 | -70,000 |
Dvoress Can't Beat Drinan
Level 22
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
In the early stages of three-handed play it's Connor Drinan who's taking control. Just now Daniel Dvoress limped again from the small blind and Drinan checked.
The flop brought out 
and Drinan called a bet of 25,000. On the turn the hit and Dvoress check-folded when Drinan bet 53,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,100,000 | 120,000 |
|
|
450,000 | -145,000 |
Does the First Exit Loosen Things Up?
Level 22
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
It’s often claimed the first exit at a final table leads to looser play, but is this fact of fiction? The PokerStars Blog donned its lab coat to investigate one of poker’s most popular myths.
Dvoress Gets Raised
Level 22
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
Daniel Dvoress limped from the small blind and Connor Drinan checked. The flop brought out and Dvoress bet 30,000. Drinan raised it up to 75,000 and his opponent folded right away.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,980,000 | 60,000 |
|
|
595,000 | -206,000 |