Pavel Plesuv Wins €25,500 Single-Day High Roller II for €406,300; Gerard Pique Scores Biggest Lifetime Poker Cash
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.
