The World Series of Poker Europe reached full throttle over the last week with several players cashing in for their first bracelets. That included well-known high stakes player Paul Phua, who took down a high roller event this week.
The last week also saw Anson Tsang score his third WSOP bracelet as well. With the Main Event starting Nov. 11, here’s a look at the last week of action.
Event 8: €25,000 Platinum High Roller
Longtime high stakes regular Paul Phua (pictured in lead image, courtesy WSOP) grabbed the first bracelet of his career in this high roller. He topped a 34-player field for a €482,433 payday.
“It’s a very different kind of feeling,” he said after the win. “You don’t get to do this all the time. Not often. I didn’t expect to win because there are so many players around. But the structure at the end is very short which suits players like me.”
Phua now has more than $26 million in live tournament winnings. The Platinum High Roller drew a hefty €1.6 million prize pool with South Korea’s Gab Yong Kim scoring runner-up for €298,163.
Some other big names made final table appearances as well. Shaun Deeb finished third for €205,566 and Daniel Negreanu took fourth for €146,370. WSOP Main Event winner Espen Jorstad finished ninth for €45,242.
Negreanu has continued his popular vlog series while playing in the Czech Republic.
Event 7: €1,650 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed
Some short-handed NLHE action proved popular, bringing in 413 entries for a €588,525 prize pool. The action continued on Wednesday and will be included in next week’s WSOP Weekly updates.
Event 6: €5,000 Pot Limit Omaha
The big buy-in PLO action saw Ukraine’s Roman Verenko score the title for €247,288. The win gives him more than $573,000 in live tournament earnings and the biggest score of his career.
The tournament attracted 223 entries for a $1 million prize pool. Sweden’s Omar Huang took runner-up for €152,827.
PLO seems to be quite the game for Verenko. Just a few days earlier, he also won the €5,0000 PLO High Roller side event for €49,637
Event 5: €550 Colossus
The Colossus delivered a fitting field with 2,982 entries and a $1.4 million prize pool. In the end, Slovakia’s Lubos Laska scored his first bracelet for €170,568. This was also the first major tournament win of the part-time poker player’s career.
“I was really lucky today,” he said. “I am really happy. Probably some professionals would be so much more happy because they would feel like they accomplished something, but I play just for fun.”
After learning to play poker in a bar years ago, Laska picked up the game again just a bit over a year ago. This was the biggest buy-in of his career and he’d simply hoped to get in the money. Nino Junior Pansier, of the Netherlands, took runner-up for €105,241.
Event 4: €2,000 Pot Limit Omaha
Hong Kong’s Yan Shing “Anson” Tsang scored his third bracelet in this four-card action. He scored €388,407 and won the exact same event in 2018. Tsang has now made three final table appearances in the same event.
His first bracelet came in the WSOP Online at GGPoker in 2020, when he took down a $500 Deepstack for $150,460.
Poland Tomasz Gluszko finished runner-up €58,988. 888poker ambassador Vivian Saliba, of Brazil, finished sixth for €14,959. The event saw 221 entries for a €388,407 prize pool.
Event 3: €1,350 Mini Main Event
This may not be “the” Main Event, but this smaller version packed in the players. The Mini Main Event garnered 1,431 entries for a $1.6 million prize pool.
Macedonia’s Ilija Savevski, 34, came out on top for €245,319 and his first bracelet. Germany’s Stefan Schoss finished runner-up for €151,554.
A part-time player, Savevski works for a software development company and has $631,000 in live tournament winnings.
“It means a lot,” Savevski said of winning his first WSOP title. “A bracelet is every player’s dream and I’ve wanted it ever since I learned about the WSOP and finally to win one after many years feels amazing.”
Upcoming events
Plenty of action continues in the coming week. That includes the final table of Event 10: €2,000 Eight-Game Mix. Shaun Deeb held the chip lead with 12 players left on Wednesday.
The €50,000 Diamond High Roller kicks off on Thursday with the €10,350 getting underway on Friday. Here’s a look at the remaining events.
2022 WSOP Europe
Date Event Tournament Buy-in Guarantee
Nov. 10 11 Diamond High Roller €50,000 €1,000,000
Nov. 11 12 Main Event €10,350 €100,000
Nov. 13 13 PLO/NLHE Mixed €1,650 €40,000
Nov. 14 14 Turbo Bounty Hunter €1,100 €30,000
Nov. 15 15 Turboa Freezeout €1,000 €30,000