Wiktor Malinowski Archives -

From the keyboard to the crown. That’s how PokerGO commentator Brent Hanks described Wiktor “Limitless” Malinowski’s Super High Roller Bowl Europe (SHRBE) championship win on Wednesday.

The description is certainly now fitting. The high stakes online poker pro scored the biggest win of his career for $3.7 million – this time in a live setting. Malinowski isn’t a traditional high roller. A glass of wine and smoking a cigar is a regular part of his online poker streaming routine. That was the case in March when he battled Fedor Holz heads-up at GGPoker.

With the SHRBE title, he’ll now have even more reason to celebrate. The championship brought the series to a close. Here’s a look at Malinowski’s big win as well as the last few events closing out the series.

Super High Roller Bowl Europe championship

The SHRBE featured nine events at Merit Royal Hotel Casino in North Cyprus. Some of the game’s best turned out for the high stakes action. That has included some big wins by players like Phil Ivey and Tony G.

Malinowski added his name to that list in the championship event. Along with the money, the Polish pro takes the SHRBE championship ring and adds his name to a long list of SRB winners that includes Justin Bonomo, Brian Rast, Christoph Vogelsang, Isaac Haxton, and others.

The event kicked off on Monday with Malinowki as chip leader going into Wednesday’s final table. However when play reached heads-up, Ivan Leow held a chip advantage over Malinowski.

That lead flipped back and forth a bit however, before both players got it all in with Malinowski holding Ace-King to Leow’s Ace-Four. Neither player paired and Malinowski scooped a massive payday.

In total, the tournament attracted 71 entries for a $10.3 million prize pool. Leow scores $2.5 million for runner-up.

In April, Malinowski took to Twitter longing for the return of live poker. In North Cyprus, Limitless returned in a major way.

Missing live poker – hope to get an invite to the next $1 million buy-in ⁦@tritonpoker⁩ event. I will wear a suit and I promise not to drink too much 🍷
Online challenge with ⁦@CrownUpGuy⁩ is back in a few hours on https://t.co/TTKfiFFk9h pic.twitter.com/nTylmfGTng

— Wiktor Malinowski: 'Limitless' (@Limitless_poker) March 13, 2021

Event 5: $50,000 Short Deck

The stripped-deck action returned to the series with China’s Santi Jiang taking the title for $756,000. The score meant four nice series cashes for Jiang, who is based out of Spain.

In total, he cashed for more than $1.2 million in the series. Seth Davies finished runner-up for $504,000 and the event attracted 42 entries for a $2.1 million prize pool.

Short Deck has become a popular poker variant on the high roller circuit. Phil Ivey won the first event of the series, which also featured the game.

In Short Deck, deuces through fives are removed from the deck. This makes for plenty of action and big hands. Because of the differing mathematics in the game, straights are worth more than flushes. Jiang certainly seems to have figured out Short Deck’s intricacies.

Event 6: $100,000 NLHE

This six-figure buy-in saw Artur Martirosyan finish on top for $1.4 million. The payout becomes the biggest live score for this player from Russia.

David Peters also continued his huge run over the last few months, taking runner-up for $910,000. He also scored fifth in the championship event for $820,000.

These finishes come after he earned overall champion of the US Poker Open in June after winning three events. He also grabbed a World Series of Poker bracelet at WSOP.com in July.

The tournament attracted 35 entries for a $3.5 million prize pool. France’s Johan Guilbert continued his impressive run after already scoring one win in the series. This time he took third for $560,000.

Event 7: $100,000 Short Deck

Tony G was back in the winner’s circle after already winning the second event, $25,000 Short Deck. He got it done again in the game a week later, this time in this six-figure buy-in version.

The Short Deck wizard scored $1.2 million this time after topping Paul Phua heads-up for the title.

Didn’t make the final table of the $250k but got to be happy with my results this week. It’s goodbye to Cyprus from me and on to the next events. You can catch all the action from the FT of the $250k live now on ⁦@PokerGO⁩ with ⁦@BuffaloHanks⁩ and ⁦@jeffplatt⁩ pic.twitter.com/GpCxn0QrFD

— Tony G (@TonyGuoga) September 1, 2021

Phua took home $728,000 for runner-up. Jiang also had another deep Short Deck run, finishing fourth for $260,000. It was certainly a huge series for Tony G.

Event 8: $50,000 Short Deck

After some huge runs throughout the series, including a runner-up and a third-place finish, Seth Davies broke through with a win. He took home $435,400 after topping a field of 19 entries for a $950,000 prize pool. Jake Schindler took runner-up for $362,600.

Davies made numerous final tables and deep runs over the last two years and now has another title on his deep poker record. In four cashes in the series, Davies added more than $1.3 million. Here’s a look at all the SRBE winners.

Super High Roller Bowl Europe 2021

Start Date	Event	Buy-in	Tournament	Winner	Payout
Aug. 23	1	$25,000	Short Deck	Phil Ivey	$408,000
Aug. 24	2	$25,000	No Limit Hold’em	Johan Guilbert	$506,250
Aug. 25	3	$25,000	Short Deck	Tony G	$382,500
Aug. 26	4	$50,000	No Limit Hold’em	Selahaddin Bedir	$832,000
Aug. 27	5	$50,000	Short Deck	Santi Jiang	$756,000
Aug. 28	6	$100,000	No Limit Hold’em	Artur Martirosyan	$1.4million
Aug. 29	7	$100,000	Short Deck	Tony G	$1.2 million
Aug. 31	8	$50,000	Short Deck	Seth Davies	$435,400
Aug. 30	Main Event	$250,000	No Limit Hold’em	Wiktor Malinowski	$3.7 million

* Lead image courtesy Merit Poker

The high stakes, heads-up action between Fedor Holz and Wiktor “Limitless” Malinowski wrapped up Friday. After four sessions, Holz came out a winner of about $90,000 in the GGPoker Face-Off Challenge.

The series is one of a growing list of heads-up battles that have attracted plenty of interest in recent months. Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth are up next, playing in a live setting for PokerGO.

Here’s a look at the last two sessions between Holz and Malinowski. The series pitted two online poker sharks against each other battling online with GG streaming the action.

Dates: March 5, 8, 10, and 12
Game: No Limit Hold’em
Stakes: $100/$200 tables
Starting stacks: $20,000 (100 big blinds)

Session 3: Holz notches six-figure win

After dropping the first two sessions, Malinowski found himself in a $52,000 hole to start the third day. The two players put in about four hours in the third session, which lasted 562 hands. In the end, Holz came out on top again, scoring $108,195.

Right of the gate, Malinowski picked up pocket Aces followed by Ace-King. However, he didn’t get much action on either and raked minimal pots.

One interesting early battle typifies some of the less-than-marginal hands played in these events. Malinowski raised to $500 with 3♥10♥ and Holz made the call with 7♥2♥.

The flop brought Q♠2♣A♣ and both players checked. The 7♠ fell on the turn and both players checked again. Holz then hit a full house on the river 2♦.

He chose to check again and Malinowski made a stab at the pot with a $1,100 bet. Holz raised to $7,100 and his opponent quickly folded. A nice $3,840 pot went Holz’s way.

Holz takes command

Despite that hand, Malinowski held a $15,000 lead after the first hour of play. That wouldn’t last. One hand about halfway through the session saw Malinowski raise from the button to $500 with A♣9♠. Holz three-bet with Q♠J♠ and received a call.

The flop brought an interesting 5♦5♠5♥. Holz bet $1,230, Malinowski called, and the river brought the 8♠. Holz bet $3,600 and his opponent called again.

The 6♠ on the river gave Holz a flush, but still a scary board with full house possibilities. He bet $3,400 and Malinowski eventually folded, sending Holz a $13,700 pot.

Fedor Holz finished up the winner in the first edition of the GGPoker Face-Off Challenge. (courtesy Poker Central)

At the same time on the second table. Holz took a $29,000 pot after catching a set with 4♠4♥ to Malinowski’s A♣10♠ for top pair and top kicker.

It was that kind of day for the Polish high stakes online poker pro. He made some hands, but the bigger ones were too sporadic to gain any major traction.

Malinowski is a fun guy who clearly loves poker. Seeing him in some major live events would be a nice addition for a televised poker show.

After the third session, he lamented folding in some spots where he had the best hand. He said on the GGPoker stream: “I was Wiktor Fold-inowski today.”

Total hands played in series: 1,462
Results in series: Holz up $160,268

Session 4: Malinowski gets some back with win

After three straight losing sessions, Malinowski needed a win in the final session to cut his losses. If not, the series might end with a loss of $200,000 or more.

The fourth session went another four hours and this time Malinowski came out on top. He produced a $69,893 win after 392 hands, but that wasn’t enough to dig completely out of the hole. Holz ended the series with a win of $90,375.

The two players were fairly chatty during the session with Malinowski once again drinking a glass of wine.

The winning started early for Malinowski after picking up a $6,000 pot with 7-7. A few hands later, Holz picked up A♦A♠ and raised to $2,050.

Malinowski called with 7♣5♣ and the flop brought 4♣7♠8♦. Holz bet $1,230 and his opponent called. The 9♣ on the turn made the board even more interesting.

Holz bet $4,400 and Malinowski again made the call. The 7♥ on the river certainly changed things. This time, Holz moved all in and received an instant call.

The set of sevens sent Malinowski a $40,000 pot and typified the action on Day 4. After some missteps in the first three sessions, some solid poker skills and a little luck produced some positive results.

Full house over full house produces massive pot

By the halfway point Malinowski led by about $18,000. He turned it on even more in the second half. Holz missed some big draws and Malonowski made some nice calls after seeing some major bluffs in the first three sessions.

At close to three hours into the session, a huge hand developed. Holz raised to $500 from the button with 7♠7♣ and his opponent three-bet to $2,000 with A♣K♦.

The flop brought plenty of fireworks with 7♦A♥A♦. Malinowski hit two pairs but Holz landed a full house. After Malinowski bet $1,200, his opponent simply called.

The trap didn’t work, however, when the K♠ came on the river. Malinowski now had a larger full house and checked. Holz bet $3,200 and Malinowski simply called.

The river brought the 4♣ and tanked a bit before moving all in. Malinowski snap-called and raked a pot of $49,000. The day didn’t go his way but Hlz was pleased to finish up the series as a winner.

“This turned out to be a lot better than I thought it would,” he said on the GG stream, “and I’m very, very happy.”

Looking back at the action

The Face-Off Challenge produced some interesting hands and showing each player via video was a nice touch. The final two sessions seemed to produce more chit-chat between Holz and Malinowski.

Joey Ingram did a nice job on the GGPoker stream and brought some humor himself. In the fourth session, Ingram noted that was a little stressed out.

The reason? Supposedly his ex-girlfriend was moving out in the other room. Who knows if that was the case, but that kind of humor adds some fun in these long sessions.

Some side conversations between the players also produced interesting moments. Malinowski’s sense of humor certainly comes through.

Both players talking about their other side games going on at the same time was also insightful. The downside of that? Some slow play bogged down the action at times, especially from Holz.

Overall, the Face-Off Challenge produced some interesting moments. Look for even more heads-up matches online in the coming months. The format seems to be growing in popularity among poker fans/.

Total hands played in series: 1,854
Results in series: Holz up $90,375

Tag: Wiktor Malinowski

Wiktor Malinowski Knows No Limits – Scores Super High Roller Bowl Europe Title For $3.7 Million