Congratulations are in order for Poland’s Jakub “Olorionek” Michalak (29), who has just bested 64 entrants (20 re-entries) to take down the Euro 10,300 Single-Day High Roller at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Malta.
The field included a slew of top players such as Steve O’Dwyer, Scott Seiver, Pratyush Buddiga and Adrian Mateos.
Michalak’s prize could have been Euro 224,100 but it was diluted when he entered into a chop at the three-handed stage of the game after negotiating with fellow survivors Rocco Palumbo of Italy and Brit Charlie Carrel; the trio agreed that Carrel as chip leader at that point would take Euro 170,754; Palumbo accepted Euro 138,763; Michalak Euro 160,658 and Euro 17,475 was left on the table for the winner.
Carrel eventually exited at third, clearing the way for a heads up between Palumbo and Michalak, with the Italian pro holding the advantage. That was soon nixed by a good run of cards and the requisite skill to leverage them from Michalak, giving the Polish player the lead.
Despite a late double up and a brave attempt at a come-back Palumbo ultimately succumbed in second place, leaving the honours and the extra cash to his opponent.
It was another big win for the Polish pro, who finished sixth in September’s WCOOP main event to claim $305,439, and back in 2013 scored Euro 436,000 in winning the International Stadiums Poker Tour Wembley main event.
Other final table cashes included:
Orpen Kisacikoglu Turkey €80,250
Scott Seiver United States €63,550
Behzad Ahadpour Iran €49,700
Pratyush Buddiga United States €39,100
Adrian Mateos Spain €30,550
Morten Mortensen Denmark €23,200