"Never Give Up"; Matthias Eibinger Comes Back From the Brink to Win the Onyx High Roller Series $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em Grand Slam
Matthias Eibinger wasn’t having a particularly enjoyable experience so far this week at the Onyx High Roller Series.
Sure, he was soaking in the sun, the majestic beaches, and the azure blue seas here on the shores of the Mediterranean. But on the felt, the past few days had been a disaster.
Eibinger fired four bullets in the $100,000 High Roller Championship but had nothing to show for it. He lost two bullets on Day 1 of the $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em Grand Slam. He then fired a third right at the end of late registration to begin Day 2.
The third time was the charm, as Eibinger ended up as champion and took home the trophy and $1,250,000 first prize after defeating French superstar Johan “YoH ViraL” Guilbert heads-up. In order to get to the top of the podium out of the 95-player field, Eibinger needed not only to crawl out of the hole he had dug himself in during the series, but also at the final table.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthias Eibinger | Austria | $1,250,000 |
| 2 | Johan Guilbert | France | $870,000 |
| 3 | Joseph Oren | United States | $575,000 |
| 4 | Tom Vogelsang | Netherlands | $430,000 |
| 5 | Sergio Fernandez | Spain | $340,000 |
| 6 | Igor Yaroshevskyy | Ukraine | $265,000 |
| 7 | Quan Zhou | China | $210,000 |
| 8 | Thomas Muehloecker | Austria | $175,000 |
| 9 | Gha Iakobishvili | Russia | $145,000 |
Eibinger folded more than 60 hands in a row, which he says is a new personal best for tightness. He then picked up aces on his 63rd hand, but was outflopped by Joseph Oren’s set of sixes, leaving Eibinger with just two outs to survive. He spiked an ace on the turn, and the comeback was in full motion.
“It’s just fighting experience. Never give up,” Eibinger said after clinching the title. “Had to be very patient. The 63rd hand got me going in the tournament, where, actually, I was lucky. And from there, it just developed. Made a hero call, which was right. I think a little bit of luck and the right intuition is required to win a title.”
Eibinger admitted he needed a deep run in this event just to get back to even for the series. The win was more than enough to turn a big deficit into an overall profit. “Difficult, because the $100K took me four bullets without success,” Eibinger said, describing his experience at the festival. “Here I fired another three bullets, so I needed third to break even, but now I’m super happy that I won it.”
For most players, a seven-figure score would instantly jump to the top of their career highlights. But for Eibinger, this prize barely cracks his top five. The Austrian has established himself as one of the top high rollers on the circuit over the years. In addition to his first Onyx Series title, he has four Triton Series wins, including two here in Cyprus, a WSOP bracelet in the $75,000 Triton PLO event in December, as well as an EPT Super High Roller title. He was already in first place on the Austrian all-time money list by a significant margin, and his win today pushes his live earnings past $27 million.
Eibinger can’t compare this win to any of the other big wins he’s had in his career, but the atmosphere at the Merit Royal Diamond Casino & Spa made this one special in itself. “Comparing is hard because every event is kind of unique in itself, and the Onyx is a special experience here. I mean, the atmosphere out there, the sea, the hotel is beautiful. It’s just nice to win this trophy here,” he said.
Final Table action
The final eight players out of a starting field of 95 returned to the luxurious Onyx Club at 1 p.m. local time to play down to a champion after what was already shaping up to be a lengthy final table, with no eliminations over the final three hours of play yesterday. Eibinger, thanks to that fortunate double up with aces late on Day 2, began in fifth place with 5,950,000, while Tom Vogelsang (9,625,000) and Guilbert (8,450,000) sat atop the leaderboard.
Thomas Muehloecker began with just one big blind, and while he doubled up on the first hand of the day, he then ran ace-seven into Oren’s ace-ten to fall in eighth place.
Quan Zhou took the chip lead after rivering a straight against Vogelsang’s two pair, and was still sitting on a healthy stack when he got involved in a pot against Guilbert. Zhou three-bet to 1,650,000 in the big blind, and Guilbert called in the hijack. The flop came ten-high and Zhou continued for 1,300,000. Guilbert called to the turn, where Zhou moved all in. Guilbert snap-called with two kings, while Zhou had a pair of tens and a straight draw. The river was no help to Zhou as the stacks were counted down. Guilbert narrowly had Zhou’s remaining 4,150,000 covered, and the Chinese native went from chip leader to out in seventh place.
Guilbert took a big chip lead with more than 15,000,000 with that pot. Vogelsang, meanwhile, left Igor Yaroshevskyy short when both players hit a pair of aces, but Vogelsang took the pot with his king-kicker. Right before players went on break, Eibinger and Oren went heads-up in a limped pot between the blinds. Oren fired out 1,100,000 on the river, and Eibinger went deep into the tank. “I don’t believe you, that’s the problem,” Eibinger said before calling with a pair of eights, while Oren could only show a queen-high bluff.
Yaroshevskyy ran into Oren’s jacks shortly after returning from break to fall in sixth place. Eibinger and Sergio Fernandez were the two short stacks among the remaining five when they both tangled in an all-in pot after Eibinger shoved the button and Fernandez called in the small blind. Eibinger barely had Fernandez’s 3,475,000 covered and had the Spaniard dominated with ace-queen against ace-jack. Fernandez, though, hit a pair of jacks on the flop to take the lead, and Eibinger was about to lose most of his stack going to the river until he found a miracle queen to win the pot and bust Fernandez in fifth place.
Eibinger never looked back from there, and a pivotal hand against Guilbert vaulted him into a chip lead that he would never relinquish. Oren opened to 600,000 under the gun and Eibinger three-bet to 1,800,000. Guilbert then shoved the big blind and Oren got out of the way, while Eibinger snap-called for 8,675,000 with two kings. Guilbert’s two jacks were crushed, and Eibinger earned the massive double up and left Guilbert nursing a short stack.
Eibinger, who barely played a hand at the beginning of the final table, suddenly opened up and got involved in nearly every pot, increasing his stack past 20,000,000. He then defended his big blind after a raise to 800,000 from Vogelsang, and they saw a queen-high flop. Vogelsang continued for 600,000, but Eibinger came back with a raise to 2,100,000. Vogelsang called, and the turn put a pair of fours on the board. Eibinger then bet 4,275,000, and Vogelsang called. Eibinger moved all in on the river, and Vogelsang called for 8,150,000 with two pair, queens and fours. Eibinger, though, had turned trips with king-four to win the massive pot as the start-of-day chip leader fell in fourth place.
Eibinger controlled nearly 80 percent of the chips in play at the start of three-handed action. Guilbert stayed alive when he hit a king on the river to double up, while Oren then called off his last 5,400,000 after Eibinger shoved. Oren was racing with ace-ten against Eibinger’s pocket threes, and he picked up more outs with straight and flush draws going to the river. He missed everything, however, and “Handz” busted in third place as Eibinger took a 38,525,000 to 9,000,000 lead over Guilbert into heads-up.
Guilbert managed to climb back over 13,000,000 with a series of small pots, but Eibinger then spiked a straight on the river against Guilbert’s turned straight and moved all in. Guilbert managed to save his last 7,200,000 but once again faced a significant chip disadvantage.
Guilbert had less than ten big blinds when he called an all-in shove for 4,200,000 with two sevens. Eibinger had eight-seven and Guilbert was a favorite to double up, but Eibinger hit an eight on the flop and another on the river to make trips and seal the title.
The flamboyant, loquacious Guilbert had to settle for second place, but Eibinger recognized the difficulty playing against Guilbert’s unorthodox style could be. “Definitely a fun character. He has an untypical game, but he is smart. So it’s not like what you play every day, and I think I did a good job navigating through it,” Eibinger said.
"Never give up" was Eibinger's motto at the final table. He narrowly avoided elimination a few times, but his experience at these big final tables, as well as some luck, helped him turn around his Onyx Series here today.
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the $50,000 Grand Slam. Stay tuned for more coverage from the Onyx High Roller Series here in North Cyprus.