Chess Prodigy Turned Blossoming Poker Superstar Ottomar Ladva Runs Over the Field in the $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event
The spotlight was on a Poker Hall of Famer and legend today at the final table of the Onyx High Roller Series $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event, but it was a young, burgeoning superstar from just across the Baltic Sea who stole the show.
Ottomar Ladva stormed past Patrik Antonius and the rest of the final table to capture the trophy and $1,150,000 first prize, the largest of his blooming poker career.
“Just ran insanely good today. It was like, I don’t remember if I ever ran that good at a final table,” the 27-year-old Estonian said after defeating Geoffrey Mooney in a short heads-up match. “So I just kept getting good hands, kept making good hands, and just everything was so smooth.”
$25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ottomar Ladva | Estonia | $1,150,000 |
| 2 | Geoffrey Mooney | Australia | $717,000 |
| 3 | Mikalai Vaskaboinikau | Belarus | $490,000 |
| 4 | Kirill Shcherbakov | Russian Federation | $355,000 |
| 5 | Patrik Antonius | Finland | $270,000 |
| 6 | Matthias Lipp | Austria | $200,000 |
| 7 | Boris Kolev | Bulgaria | $160,000 |
| 8 | Daniil Kiselev | Russian Federation | $124,000 |
| 9 | Jessica Teusl | Austria | $100,000 |
The title is just the latest in what is becoming a litany of big scores for Ladva. In the past few years, he’s won two EPT €25,000 events, another Main Event in his native Estonia, and a Super High Roller at the BSOP in Brazil in November. He also finished runner-up in two events at EPT Prague in December
Ladva had eight six-figure scores in just the past 12 months, even before conquering this field of 207 players. The prize will push his live earnings past $5 million, good for second place on Estonia’s all-time money list behind only Vladimir “Gambledore” Korzinin. But Ladva admits one tournament won’t change his reputation that much. What is more important is the respect he gets from other good players.
“Online, I’ve had a good reputation for a few years already, and I don’t think one specific win is going to change it a lot, because it’s mostly just variance,” he said. “A few tournaments, it’s just variance. What matters more is, like, how you play and how other good players perceive you. That’s more important.”
Poker wasn’t the first game in which Ladva proved a natural talent. He grew up as a chess prodigy, winning the Estonian national championship for the first time at just the age of 15. He went on to win it three more times and participated in four Chess Olympiads. He achieved the title of Grandmaster before turning 20, and even sat across the board from chess legend Magnus Carlsen.
It was while he was competing at chess tournaments that Ladva was first exposed to poker. “A lot of chess players play poker, as well. So I started playing poker at chess tournaments at a young age because everybody was playing. I knew a lot of players that are, like, almost professional or professional poker players, so it kind of motivated me,” he said. “I think, like, the discipline and study part are kind of similar.”
Final Table Action
The final table began with nine players returning to the Onyx Club inside the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Spa at 1 p.m. The chip leader was none other than Antonius, the Finnish poker legend who was a clear favorite to take home the title today after starting with 9,660,000. Ladva, meanwhile, was near the back of the pack in seventh place with 4,265,000.
Ladva moved up the counts early at the final table when he coolered Kirill Shcherbakov with aces and queens against the Russian’s aces and jacks to win a big pot. Jessica Teusl, the short stack at the start of the day, then got in her last 1,985,000 with king-jack and was racing against Antonius’ two fours. Teusl picked up a straight draw on the flop, but she improved no further on the turn and river and became the first casualty of the day.
Antonius increased his chip lead and moved past 13,000,000 when he picked off a bluff from Boris Kolev on the river with a pair of nines on an ace-queen-high board. Matthias Lipp and Mikalai Vaskaboinikau then played a big classic flip, with Vaskaboinikau all in for 4,410,000 with two queens against Lipp’s ace-king. Vaskaboinikau held on, and the Belarusian earned the double up.
Antonius took care of the next elimination, hitting two pair, kings and tens, on the river as Daniil Kiselev called for his last 2,265,000 with jacks and tens before hitting the rail in eighth place. Antonius moved up past 20,000,000 during seven-handed play, more than double his closest challenger.
Kolev picked up two aces and held on against Vaskaboinikau’s straight and flush draws to double up. Kolev was then poised to knock out Ladva as he had him dominated with ace-king against Ladva’s king-jack. The flop gave Ladva some hope with a flush draw, but it was the jack on the river that sealed his fortunate double up to 7,000,000.
Shortly afterward, Kolev and Ladva tangled in another pot where they went to the river on an ace-king-high board. Ladva then shoved, and Kolev tanked for several minutes before calling for 1,505,000 with a pair of kings. Ladva, though, had turned a flush to win the pot and bust Kolev in seventh place.
Ladva pulled nearly even with Antonius, calling Antonius’ turn raise of 2,100,000 with the nut flush draw and getting there on the river. Antonius checked back the river after Ladva tried to set a trap, but not before Ladva moved up past 15,000,000.
Antonius lost another big pot to Vaskaboinikau when he four-bet shoved before the flop, but Vaskaboinikau snap-called for 6,015,000 with two kings and doubled up against Antonius’ fives. Antonius' downfall continued in a pot against Ladva, who led the turn for 800,000. Antonius then raised to 2,100,000, and Ladva called. Ladva then bet 3,700,000 on the river, and Antonius used up seven time banks before calling with a pair of aces. Ladva, though, had rivered a straight with seven-six as the normally reserved, stoic Antonius let out a rare sign of emotion by slamming the table in frustration.
From his once-lofty heights, Antonius had fallen all the way down to 5,000,000 and looked like he would lose most of the rest of his stack in a pot against Lipp, who was all in for 3,795,000. Lipp hit a pair of kings on the flop against Antonius’ ace-eight, and the turn was no help as Antonius, who had Lipp covered by less than 500,000, was in danger of being left on fumes. The river, though, gave Antonius a straight and the knockout, sending Lipp to the rail in sixth place.
Any hopes of a comeback, though, were quickly extinguished. Ladva opened to 525,000 under the gun before Antonius three-bet to 1,400,000. Ladva four-bet to 2,600,000, and snap-called when Antonius shoved for 8,420,000. Ladva showed down two queens, while Antonius was left looking for help with ace-five. None arrived, and Antonius’ collapse was complete as he had to settle for fifth place.
Ladva took down the poker icon today, admitting he simply ran pure against Antonius. “It’s incredible to play versus such a legend who’s played this for more than 20 years. He’s really tough to play against, and I just ran good against him. Made good hands, and got paid off,” he said.
Ladva climbed up near 30,000,000, with more than half the chips in play to start four-handed action. He then picked up two aces and won a big pot off Vaskaboinikau’s queen-jack. Mooney then ran his sevens into Vaskaboinikau’s aces and was at risk of elimination, but he spiked a straight on the river to earn the fortunate double up and leave Vaskaboinikau short-stacked.
Shcherbakov, who nursed a short stack for much of the final table, then picked up two aces and was all in for 1,650,000 against Ladva. He was poised for a double up until Ladva, continuing his scorching run, hit two pair on the river to bust Shcherbakov in fourth place.
A clear sign that it was just Ladva’s day came the next hand, when Vaskaboinikau moved all in for 3,625,000 with two eights. Ladva woke up with aces this time, and they finally held up as Ladva spiked top set on the flop. Vaskaboinikau was eliminated in third place, while Ladva took a massive chip lead over Mooney into heads-up with 40,750,000 to 11,000,000.
Ladva dropped Mooney down to 6,000,000 when he flopped a pair of nines against Mooney’s eights. A few hands later, Ladva opened to 600,000 on the button, Mooney shoved for 4,550,000, and Ladva snap-called with ace-queen. Mooney was dominated holding ace-five, and while he picked up the nut flush draw on the flop, he couldn’t improve and had to console himself with making the long journey back home to Australia with $717,000 for his runner-up finish.
Ladva, the trophy and his first career seven-figure payday in tow, says he’s not sticking around for the Pot-Limit Omaha portion of the schedule and will likely head back home right away. It was a fortuitous trip to North Cyprus. He not only got to play against an idol, but he got the better of him and the rest of the field today.
That concludes PokerNews's coverage of the Onyx High Roller Series $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event. The focus next switches to PLO over the next week, so stay tuned for more action.