Leading up to the 2017 World Series of Poker Europe, which officially kicked off today, the WSOP International Circuit Rozvadov played out inside King’s Casino.
A dozen gold rings were awarded, including former EPT champ Hossein Ensan, who emerged victorious in the Main Event.
Hossein Ensan Wins Main Event
The €1,650/$1,954 buy-in WSOP International Circuit Rozvadov Main Event drew 672 entries, which created a €957,600/$1,134,933 prize pool. Given the tournament had a €1 million GTD slapped on it, that meant there was a €42,400/$50,216 overly available to players.
Hossein Ensan wound up taking an overwhelming chip lead into heads-up play against 28-year-old Jan Jobmann, and dispatched his opponent in two hands. In what would be the final hand of the tournament, Ensan limped the button holding the 8♦7♦ and Jobmann checked with his Q♦3♦.
The 10♦4♦2♣ flop gave both players a flush draw, and the chips went in. The 9♥ turn gave Ensan an open-ended straight draw, but it’d be the 8♠ on the river that would give him the win.
Prior to the victory, the 53-year-old Ensan had $2.1 million in tournament win, of which $825,151 came from winning the EPT12 Prague Main Event back in 2015. He also earned a career-best $860,091 for finishing third in the 2014 EPT11 Barcelona Main Event.
“I am happy to be here. That was four days with great players and it was tough. But now I am just very happy,” Ensan told tournament director Jack Effel after the win.
Among the 71 players to cash but fall short of the final table were Brandon Cantu (14th for €10,342/$12,257), Jaroslaw Sikora (30th for €5,554/$6,538), Phil Hellmuth (56th for €3,639/$4,313), and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier (69th for €3,639/$4,313).
It’s worth noting that Ben Bensimhon, who recently did an exclusive interview with CardsChat about his WSOPC International Holland win, captured his second ring. He did so by topping a field of 763 entries, including well-known Brazilian pro Felipe Ramos in heads-up play, in Event #2: Monster Stack to win €69,550/$81,629.
Final Table Results
1 Hossein Ensan (Germany) €184,812/$219,036
2 Jan Jobmann (Germany) €116,444/$138,008
3 Ritat Gegic (Germany) €83,407/$98,853
4 Davit Okropiridze (Georgia) €65,691/$77,856
5 Pavel Stolar (Czech Republic) €51,615/$61,173
6 Viktor Kovachev (Bulgaria) €40,315/$47,781
7 Michael Magalashvili (Israel) €30,356/$35,977
8 Viliyan Petleshkov (Bulgaria) €21,163/$25,082
9 Tomas Fara (France) €16,758/$19,861
2017 WOSPE Kicks Off
Now that the WSOP International Circuit Rozvadov is complete, King’s Casino will play host to the 2017 World Series of Poker Europe, which kicked off Thursday with Day 1A of the €1,100 Monster Stack. It marks the first of 11 bracelet events.
Other highlights on the 19-day festival schedule include Event #5: €550 The COLOSSUS (October 27-November 2), Event #8: €1,100 Little One for One Drop (November 1-4), Event #9: €25,000 High Roller (November 1-2), Event #10: €111,111 High Roller for One Drop (November 3-5), and €10,300 buy-in, €5 million GTD Main Event (November 4-10).
In regards to the One Drop High Roller, 84 players have confirmed their participation including Gus Hansen, Bobby Baldwin, and power couple Igor Kurganov and Liv Boeree.
This marks the first time the WSOP Europe has been held at King’s Rozvadov after having previously been held Spielbank Berlin (2015), Casino Barriere (2013), and Casino at the Empire London (2010).
Earlier this year, the WSOP announced a partnership with King’s owner Leon Tsoukernik, who has come under fire as of late for not honoring his gambling debts. As part of the deal, King’s Casino Rozvadov will host the WSOP Europe in 2017 and 2019 with a minimum of 10 gold bracelet events each stop.
