Gerard Pique raised to 55,000 from the cutoff, Hakim Zoufri shoved all in for 140,000 on the button, Stephen Chidwick reraised to 225,000 from the small blind, and Pique folded.
Hakim Zoufri:
Stephen Chidwick:
Zoufri needed to hit or he would be bubble in the High Roller. The flop missed the Dutchman, who added a flush draw on the turn. The on the river bricked, giving Chidwick the winner.
All nine remaining players are guaranteed at least €46,900.
Gerard Pique raised to 65,000 from the hijack. Luc Greenwood shoved 564,000 from the cutoff. Marcelo Bonanata was on the button and asked for a count. After thinking for near a minute, he called all in for 497,000.
Pique folded directly when it was back on him, creating the following showdown.
Luc Greenwood:
Marcelo Bonanata:
It was a classic race, which would land in the Canadian's favor on an board. Greenwood paired both his ace and king to send Bonanata to the rail. The Uruguayan was the first to go home with money, and he received €46,900.
Stephen Chidwick raised to 60,000 under the gun. Short stack Mustapha Kanit shoved 210,000 from the big blind and Chidwick wasn't going anywhere.
Stephen Chidwick:
Mustapha Kanit:
The flop brought some reverse domination for Kanit, who now needed to hit one of his aces to stay alive. Neither the turn nor river delivered, ending his run in 8th place.
Stephen Chidwick raised to 80,000 in middle position. Christoph Vogelsang shoved 385,000 from the big blind, and Chidwick snap-called.
Christoph Vogelsang:
Stephen Chidwick:
The flop was safe for Vogelsang. However, the on the turn flipped the script on him, and Vogelsang shook his head. The on the river completed the board and ending Vogelsang's run. The German finished in 7th place and collected €79,200 in winnings.
With Christoph Vogelsang gone, Dan Colman was the only one to post a blind in the next hand. It was folded to Pavel Plesuv on the button, who slid enough chips forward to cover Colman. The American quickly called all in for slightly under 300,000.
Dan Colman:
Pavel Plesuv:
The flop paired both Colman and Plesuv, and after the turn and river Plesuv's hand remained best. Colman ended up in 6th place and was the first player to cash a six-figure score.
Gerard Pique shoved all in from the button for what looked like 165,000, and Stephen Chidwick snap-called in the big blind.
Pique:
Chidwick:
The race picked up some heat on the flop as Pique would win with a five. He got just that on the river with the , but unfortunately for the soccer star, it came after a turn left him drawing dead.
Luc Greenwood counted his stack and then shoved all in first to act. Ben Tollerene wanted a count in the small blind. It was 1,160,000. Tollerene dropped in calling chips.
Tollerene:
Greenwood:
The race went to Tollerene as the board ran out . Greenwood hit the rail in fourth.
Ben Tollerene opened to 170,000 on the button and Stephen Chidwick jammed it all in from the big blind. Tollerene double-checked his holding and called.
Tollerene:
Chidwick:
Tollerene flopped a near lock as he hit a set on . The turn was a , bringing faint hope for the British star. However, a was not what he was looking for on the river.
Directly after the even chop was settled, the players agreed to go all in blind on the next hand. The cards were dealt open.
Ben Tollerene:
Pavel Plesuv:
"Good start," laughed Tollerene.
The board ran out and Plesuv became the official winner of the second €25,500 Single-Day High Roller. Both players received an equal amount of €406,300.
After more than fourteen hours of play, the second €25,500 Single-Day High Roller at the 2017 PokerStars Championship Barcelona has concluded. Pavel "3P3NIPA" Plesuv of Moldova became the official winner after an extensive heads-up battle with Ben "Ben86" Tollerene. After several hours of back and forth trades, both players agreed on an even chop and took home €406,300 each.
Stephen Chidwick, who won the first €25,500 High Roller two days ago, nearly achieved an improbable back-to-back victory and finished in third place for €220,700. FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique finished in 5th place, noting his biggest lifetime poker cash with €129,350.
Position
Player
Country
Prize
1
Pavel Plesuv
Moldova
€406,300*
2
Ben Tollerene
United States
€406,300*
3
Stephen Chidwick
United Kingdom
€220,700
4
Luc Greenwood
Canada
€166,500
5
Gerard Pique
Spain
€129,350
6
Dan Colman
United States
€100,300
7
Christoph Vogelsang
Germany
€79,300
8
Mustapha Kanit
Italy
€61,450
9
Marcelo Bonanata
Argentina
€46,900
* = denotes heads-up deal
A total of 50 unique players showed up for the second Single-Day High Roller in Barcelona. 16 of them reentered to create a total field of 66 entries. 13 players took their seats right at the start of the day, with Gerard Pique drawing the most attention. Pique's love for the game is well documented, with three cashes already made during earlier EPT Barcelona's.
Alexandros Kolonias became the first player to bust and missed out on the money with his second attempt as well. Erik Seidel, Daniel Dvoress, Ivan Luca, Christopher Kruk, Byron Kaverman and Bryn Kenney were in the same camp, firing twice but coming up short each time. Daniel Negreanu, Sam Greenwood, Steve O'Dwyer, Dominik Nitsche, and Charlie Carrel also missed out on the money.
Adrian Mateos, Mikita Badziakouski, Isaac Haxton and Stefan Schillhabel all finished just shy of the money. With nine places paid, Hakim Zoufri became the eventual bubble boy by finishing in 10th place. Short stacked, Zoufri moved in with ace-queen against the pocket tens of Stephen Chidwick and missed all of his outs.
The final table started off with a couple of all in shoves from Luc Greenwood. When Gerard Pique raised, Greenwood moved in again and got called by Marcelo Bonanata. Greenwood was racing with ace-king against Bonanata's pocket jacks and hit both an ace and king to knock the Uruguayan out in 9th place (€46,900).
Mustapha Kanit lost with ace-queen against Chidwick's queen-jack when a jack on the flop send the cheerful Italian home in 8th place (€61,450). Christoph Vogelsang was the next to lose with the best of it (7th - €79,200). Holding ace-king, Vogelsang busted against Chidwick's ace-nine when a nine hit the turn. Dan Colman busted in the very next hand when he lost king-queen against Pavel Plesuv's ace-jack and finished 6th (€100,300).
With five players left, Gerard Pique was the clear short stack, and the soccer star had to make a move at some point. Down to just three big blinds, he went for it with ace-jack and Chidwick looked him up with pocket deuces. A deuce on the turn ended Pique's run, who's fourth money finish in Barcelona was also his biggest ever poker cash with €129,350.
Luc Greenwood lost queen-ten to Tollerene sixes and bowed out in 4th place (€166,500). Stephen Chidwick saw his attempt at a unique back-to-back run end in 3rd place. Chidwick shoved ace-eight into Tollerene's pocket jacks and failed to improve. After winning the first Single-Day High Roller for €690,400, Chidwick added another €220,700 to his bankroll for finishing third.
Heads-up started with a massive lead for Ben Tollerene but Pavel Plesuv wasn't going down without a fight against the online high-stakes legend. Plesuv, playing as "3P3NIPA" on PokerStars, has plenty of online pedigree of his own, including a WCOOP-victory for $503,000 and a SCOOP-title for $157,626. The two got locked in a fierce heads-up battle that lasted several hours, in which either player head a substantial lead at some point.
With the blinds going up every thirty minutes, the point was reached where a mere 33 big blinds were left in play. Once Tollerene doubled up to nearly equal stacks, both players agreed to evenly divide the money and flip for the trophy. The final hand and the trophy went to Plesuv, both players walked away €406,300 richer.
That's all the Single-Day High Stakes action from Casino Barcelona. PokerNews will be back tomorrow at noon local to cover Day 4 of the Main Event. At 12:30 p.m., the €10,300 High Roller will start, which will also feature start-to-finish coverage.