Philipp Gruissem, Steve O’Dwyer Chop PSC Monte Carlo €25,500 Single-Day High Roller

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The 2017 PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo is slated to wrap up this weekend. The slew of winners so far include Bryn Kenney in the €100K Super High Roller and Adrian Mateos is the €50K Single-Day High Roller. Now, Philipp Gruissem has added his name to that list of titleholders by capturing the €25,500 ($27,987) Single-Day High Roller title for €485,135 ($528,786).

Philipp Gruissem and friends, including Igor Kurganov and Mustapha Kanit, celebrate his win at the PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo. (Image: PokerStars)

Flipping for Top Spot

The 2017 PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo €25,500 ($27,987) Single-Day High Roller attracted 58 unique entrants and 27 re-entries. Four of those belonged to Steve O’Dwyer, meaning he accounted for €100K ($109,755) of the €2,082,500 ($2,285,647) prize pool. He recouped that and then some by actually claiming the biggest payday of €494,665 ($539,174), even though on paper, he took second place.

That’s because during heads-up play, he and Gruissem, who had only fired a single bullet into the tournament, cut a deal that left €20,000 ($21,951) on the table. The guys decided to flip for it.

In the first hand, the two put the chips in blind and ran out a K♦3♣5♥K♥7♥ board. Gruissem, who was the shorter stack, revealed the 5♣5♠ for a full house, which easily bested the 8♠6♣ of O’Dwyer.

In the next hand, it was the short-stacked O’Dwyer at risk blind with what turned out to be the K♦9♠ against Gruissem’s 6♠9♥. The board ran out 5♥4♣3♠8♥7♥ and Gruissem straightened out O’Dwyer for the win.

“The master straight,” Gruissem shouted before embracing O’Dwyer.

The win marked the third time Philipp Gruissem, known to some fans as “Philbort,” had captured a prestigious title in Monaco. He previously won the EPT10 Grand Final €25K High Roller for €993,963 ($1,378,059) and the EPT11 Grand Final €5K Turbo for €147,700 ($164,938).

Final Table Results

1 Philipp Gruissem (Germany) €485,135 ($528,786)*
2 Steve O’Dwyer (Ireland) €494,665 ($539,174)*
3 John Juanda (Indonesia) €266,550 ($290,534)
4 Justin Bonomo (USA) €205,100 ($223,554)
5 Oliver Weis (Germany) €162,450 ($177,067)
6 Mikita Badziakouski (Belarus) €127,030 ($138,460)
7 Daninel Dvoress (Canada) €100,000 ($108,998)
8 Jason Mercier (USA) €78,100 ($85,127)
9 Nick Petrangelo (USA) €59,350 ($64,690)

*Denotes heads-up deal made based on chip counts before title playoff.

Holz Goes Turbo

On the same day Philipp Gruissem was taking down the €25,500 Single-Day High Roller, 23-year-old Fedor Holz was claiming his first PokerStars Championship trophy by topping a 38-strong field in the €5K Hyper Turbo for €57,140.

The win came on the heels of his fourth-place finish for €319,800 ($348,302) in the €50K Single-Day High Roller won by Mateos. Last month, Holz also captured runner-up to O’Dwyer in the PokerStars Championship Macau Super High Roller for $868,518.

Holz is Germany’s all-time money leader and currently sits seventh on the overall list with $22,119,732 in live tournament earnings, all of which have come in a less than five-year timespan.

Final Table Results

1 Fedor Holz (Germany) €57,140 ($62,281)
2 Jonathan Benadoun (France) €41,930 ($45,703)
3 Luigi Conti (Italy) €30,410 ($33,146)
4 Murad Akhundov (Azerbaijan) €20,270 ($22,094)
5 Tom Hall (UK) €14,740 ($16,066)
6 Fabrice Maltez (France) €11,060 ($12,055)
7 Timothy Adams (Canada) €8,750 ($9,537)



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