In about 90 minutes from now, the lights in Holland Casino Amsterdam will be dimmed. The flashy host will grab the microphone and showgirls will escort the players to their seat at the final table of the Master Classics of Poker. This is a sight not to be easily forgotten, it's unlike any other tournament. If they understand one thing here in Amsterdam, it's that show matters. With their favorite song blasting through the speakers, the players will take their seats and get ready for action.
Claas Segebrecht leads the way with a massive chip advantage. His closest competitor, Belgian player Bart Lybaert, trails by almost 700,000. The short stack coming in is Goran Mandic. The experienced Croatian player brings 14 big blinds. John Juanda is the most recognizable name for the general public, he brings 33 big blinds.
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Lars Bonding
Denmark
926,000
46
2
Bart Lybaert
Belgium
1,535,000
77
3
Igor Yaroshevskyy
Ukraine
896,000
45
4
John Juanda
Indonesia
660,000
33
5
Marijn van Puffelen
Netherlands
726,000
36
6
Goran Mandic
Croatia
270,000
14
7
Claas Segebrecht
Germany
2,206,000
110
8
Kai Lehto
Finland
917,000
46
9
Moritz Dietrich
Germany
437,000
22
Play gets underway at 3 p.m. PokerNews.com will be here from start to finish to bring you all the updates on an half hour delay, synchronized with the live stream!
Goran Mandic shoved the cutoff with for 131,000. In the small blind, Kai Lehto called with and big blind Moritz Dietrich overcalled with .
Mandic, all in against 2 opponents, saw Lehto and Dietrich check the flop of . The hit the turn and Lehto checked again. Dietrich, having flopped a set, bet 125,000 into 420,000 and Lehto folded.
Mandic got the bad news and got up from the table even before the completed the board.
The remaining 8 players are guaranteed €29,005 from here on out.
Lars Bonding opened to 45,000 from middle position with . Big blind Claas Segebrecht in the big blind found and 3-bet to 185,000. Bonding shoved for 1.2 million and Segebrecht called almost instantly.
The board ran out and just like that, Lars Bonding hit the rail in 8th place.
Action folded to Marijn van Puffelen in the small blind and he shoved for 489,000 with . The big blind, Claas Segebrecht, instantly called with .
For a pot worth 999,000, the board ran out which meant that Van Puffelen was drawing dead on the turn. He got up, shook some hands, and wished the players at the table good luck.
Marijn van Puffelen out in 7th place, earning himself €35,777. The remaining 6 players are guaranteed €45,257.
On the button, John Juanda shoved for his last 155,000. Kai Lehto in the big blind called with .
The flop came , helping Lehto to a flush draw on top of the better hand he already had.
The on the turn gave Juanda some new outs but the on the river wasn't one of the cards he was looking for.
John Juanda, the number 7 on the all time money list, exited the Master Classics of Poker Main Event as he secured his first Dutch flag on his HendonMob, and got €58,800 for his deep run. The remaining 4 players are guaranteed a €78,776 payday.
Igor Yaroshevskyy in the small blind with shoved for 790,000. Big blind Claas Segebrecht instantly called as he had a monster with .
A set up for Yaroshevskyy and he never recovered. The flop of gave him an open-ended but the on the turn and on the river were blanks and that was the end of it for Yaroshevskyy.
The Ukrainian player bowed out in 4th place for €78,776, the remaining 3 players are now guaranteed €109,361.
Claas Segebrecht was the one pushing the action, and this hand was no different. He shoved with to put the pressure on Kai Lehto. Lehto found and decided it was good enough to call.
Lehto was the marginal favorite and that didn't change on the flop. The on the turn. however, changed everything. Segebrecht was in the lead and Lehto had just a few outs left to make a comeback.
The on the river wasn't one of the cards Lehto was hoping for and he had to settle for 3rd place, good for €109,361.
Claas Segebrecht brings a huge lead to the heads up against Bart Lybaert. They are guaranteed €157,553 and will battle for the MCOP plate and accompanying €235,087 shortly.
Bart Lybaert opened the button for 125,000 with before Claas Segebrecht in the big blind 3-bet to 450,000. Lybaert shoved for 1.6 million soon after and Segebrecht called.
The 3.2 million pot was soon decided as Segebrecht flopped a set on . The on the turn settled things, Lybaert was drawing dead. The completed the board, giving Segebrecht the winning full house.
Bart Lybaert, after finishing 3rd in 2 big tournaments on Dutch soil earlier this year, now a 2nd place in the biggest Dutch tournament of the year. Lybaert's 19th cash of the year was worth €157,553.
Claas Segebrecht has won the Master Classics of Poker 2017 Main Event for a €235,087 payday. The German high roller dominated the final table knocking out 5 of his opponents and never relinquished the massive chip lead he started with.
Segebrecht knocked out Belgian poker phenom Bart Lybaert in 2nd place. John Juanda, the most accomplished player at the table if you look at tournament earnings, bowed out in 5th place for €58,800.
Position
Player
Country
Prize
1
Claas Segebrecht
Germany
€235,087
2
Bart Lybaert
Belgium
€157,553
3
Kai Lehto
Finland
€109,361
4
Igor Yaroshevskyy
Ukraine
€78,776
5
John Juanda
Indonesia
€58,800
6
Moritz Dietrich
Austria
€45,257
7
Marijn van Puffelen
Netherlands
€35,777
8
Lars Bonding
Denmark
€29,005
9
Goran Mandic
Croatia
€23,926
The final day of the Main Event started with 9 players in the spotlight, literally. They made their entrance escorted by showgirls, with their favorite song played through the speakers of the entire casino.
When the cards got pitched, it didn't take long for the first player to hit the rail. Accomplished player Goran Mandic started out short and never got anything going. He got it in with jack-eight against 2 opponents and one of them, Moritz Dietrich, flopped a set to send the Croatian player home.
A little more surprising was Lars Bonding's exit. He started out relatively deep but wasn't intending on folding pocket sixes to a 3-bet of Claas Segebrecht. He 4-bet shoved 60 big blinds and Segebrecht called with jacks. No 6 on the flop, turn, or river and Bonding could get up and collect €29,005 for his 8th place finish.
Marijn van Puffelen, the lone Dutchman at the final table, first made a big laydown with jacks, later learning he was well ahead as his opponent had just an open-ended with jack-ten. The remainder of his chips went in with ace-five against Segebrecht's sevens and again no help would come.
Moritz Dietrich, playing under the Austrian flag which made for 9 different nationalities represented at the final table, got short and made a move with fives. He, too, ran into jacks, this time belonging to Igor Yaroshevskyy.
John Juanda was one of the shorter stacks for most of the final table and while he got some shoves through, it wouldn't be enough in the end. He shoved with queen-seven suited only to get called by queen-eight. That should give you some indication of how short he was when he made his final move. After 5 blanks as community cards, Juanda could pack his bag and exit.
Short too, Igor Yaroshevskyy must have been happy to find a real hand with ace-queen suited in the small blind. His options were limited, the all in push the obvious choice. Unfortunately for the Ukrainian player, Segebrecht found ace-king in the big blind and had an easy call. No luck for Yaroshevskyy and the tournament was 3-handed.
Bart Lybaert and Kai Lehto were both severely shortstacked while Segebrecht had the majority of the chips. As Lybaert doubled, Kai Lehto was by far the shortest. Segebrecht continued to dominate and push his opponents around. He shoved all in and Lehto called with ace-four. Segebrecht had just ten-six but hit a ten on the turn to eliminate Lehto and get heads up.
The heads up was a quick affair. After only a few hands, Bart Lybaert opened ace-ten and Segebrecht 3-bet nines. Lybaert pushed all in and Segebrecht called. The flop brought a 9 to give Segebrecht a set and on the turn it was all over as Lybaert was drawing dead.
With that, the Main Event of the biggest poker tournament on Dutch soil concluded. Some of the biggest names in poker competed, both locals and internationally renowned players. Next year, the MCOP returns for its 27th consecutive running, again towards the end of November. So mark it in your calendars, this is an event you don't want to miss! Claas Segebrecht can attest to that.