partypoker LIVE MILLIONS SHR Sochi: Jiang, Trickett, Chan, Badziakouski & Yong Among Recent Winners

Even with the Coronavirus epidemic causing tournament organizers to postpone or cancel scheduled events, the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Super High Roller (SHR) series in Sochi went ahead as planned. Underway at the Casino Sochi since March 6, a total of five events have already crowned champions with Jiang Xia He (Event #1: $25,000 Short Deck for $378,000), Sam Trickett (Event 2: $25,000 NL Hold’em for $435,000), Wai Leong Chan (Event 3: $25,000 Short Deck for $435,000), Mikita Badziakouski (Event 4: $50,000 NL Hold’em for $765,000) and Wai Kin Yong (Event #5: $50,000 Short Deck for $800,000) winning titles!

With the series slated to run till March 15, many more exciting events are still yet to play out.

Event #1: $25,000 Short Deck

The series-opener $25,000 Short Deck event drew in a field of 42 entrants at the Casino Sochi and collected a prize pool worth $1,050,000. Spain’s Jiang Xia He battled through a tough final table en-route to capturing his first-ever partypoker LIVE title for a career-best $378,000.

Little was known of Jiang before June 2019; that was when he won the $1,100 Wynn Summer Classic Main Event for $332,037. However, the Spaniard is obviously quite talented as he successfully held his own against the likes of John Cynn, Stephen Chidwick, Wai Leong Chan, Cary Katz, and Aaron Van Blarcum.

With only the top six places assured payouts, poker heavyweights such as Phil Ivey, Sam Greenwood, Jason Koon, and Mikita Badziakouski were seen in the running but fell out short of the final table.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Wai Leong Chan – 3,480,000
2. Jiang Xia He – 2,810,000
3. Aaron Van Blarcum – 2,725,000
4. Stephen Chidwick – 1,840,000
5. John Cynn – 940,000
6. Cary Katz – 805,000

Final Table Recap

The first player to hit the rail was Stephen Chidwick in sixth place.

Chidwick was soon joined by Wai Leong Chan, who, despite starting the final table as the chip leader, exited in fifth place.

Soon after that, it was Cary Katz’s turn to depart, and he was eliminated by Jiang Xia He in fourth place.

Following Aaron Van Blarcum‘s third-place elimination, the heads-up was set up between Jiang and the 2018 WSOP Main Event champion John Cynn.

It was a brief heads-up, and on the final hand, Cynn moved all-in in preflop with . Jiang called with . The runout saw the latter river a Royal Flush, bringing Jiang his career-first partypoker LIVE title, along with a personal-best $378,000 in prize money!

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Jiang Xia He – $378,000
2. John Cynn – $252,000
3. Aaron Van Blarcum – $168,000
4. Cary Katz – $105,000
5. Wai Leong Chan – $84,000
6. Stephen Chidwick – $63,000

Event 2: $25,000 NL Hold’em

The second event at the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS SHR Sochi was the $25,000 NL Hold’em. The event logged in 58 entries and generated a prize pool of $1,450,000. Sam Trickett won his first tournament in almost seven years and took home $435,000 in prize money!

With only the top nine players assured a min-cash of $43,500, Aleksey Gortikov became the unfortunate tournament bubble.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Ivan Leow – 2,830,000
2. Sam Trickett – 1,250,000
3. Adrian Mateos – 750,000
4. Artur Martirosyan – 705,000
5. Timothy Adams – 480,000
6. Phil Ivey – 475,000
7. Matthias Eibinger – 435,000
8. Paul Phua – 405,000
9. Chin Wei Lim – 295,000

Final Table Recap

Being the shortest stack at the start of the final, it came as no surprise that Chin Wei Lim was the first player to be eliminated in ninth place.

Following Lim to the rail was Triton Poker co-founder Paul Phua who was dismissed by Ivan Leow in eighth place.

10-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey has been making the headlines more for his legal troubles of late. However, he is back on the grind at the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS series and finished seventh in the event for his first score at the ongoing series.

Down to six-handed play, Artur Martirosyan became the sixth player to be eliminated from the final table.

Finishing in fifth place was Timothy Adams.

Adrian Mateos had a rather swingy time at the final table, and his final two hands saw him first secure a double-up through Matthias Eibinger before being ousted by Sam Trickett in fourth place in the very next hand.

After losing the pot to Mateos, Matthias Eibinger could not hold on to seat at the final table for much longer and was eventually busted by Trickett in third place.

It did not take long for Trickett to outlast his heads-up opponent Ivan Leow and clinch the title.

On the final hand, Leow’s were up against Trickett’s . The board gave Trickett a rivered flush, ending Leow’s run in the runner-up spot. Trickett banked $435,000 for his win.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Sam Trickett – $435,000
2. Ivan Leow – $290,000
3. Matthias Eibinger – $203,000
4. Adrian Mateos – $145,000
5. Timothy Adams – $116,000
6. Artur Martirosyan – $87,000
7. Phil Ivey – $72,500
8. Paul Phua – $58,000
9. Chin Wei Lim – $43,500

Event 3: $25,000 Short Deck

The third event of the series had logged in 61 entries, creating a $1,525,000 prize pool. Wai Leong Chan topped the field, winning his second-ever Short Deck title in the $25,000 buy-in event. Chan outran Paul Phua in the heads-up to bank a hefty payday worth $435,000!

Among the notables who cashed the event but missed the final table were the likes of Dmitriy Kuzmin (7th for $76,250), Sergey Lebedev (8th for $61,000), and Sam Greenwood (9th for $45,750).

Sergi Reixach was eliminated in 10th place and became the tournament bubble.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Wai Leong Chan – 6,385,000
2. Thai Ha – 4,705,000
3. Paul Phua – 2,395,000
4. Danny Tang – 2,380,000
5. Aaron Van Blarcum – 1,710,000
6. Ivan Leow – 725,000

Final Table Recap

Making his second final table appearance at the series, Aaron Van Blarcum, yet again failed to go all the way as he exited the event in sixth place.

Danny Tang saw his run come to an end in fifth place when his lost out to Paul Phua’s that hit a pair of queens on the river, sending Tang to the rail.

Ivan Leow busted in fourth place, and Thai Ha was eliminated in third place, setting up the heads-up match between Wai Leong Chan and Paul Phua.

While Phua fought hard, in the end, it was Chan who picked up the win. On the final hand, Phua’s were bested by Chan’s that improved to a pair on the runout . Phua had to yet again contend with a runner-up finish, while Chan took home a winner’s paycheque of $435,000.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Wai Leong Chan – $435,000
2. Paul Phua – $305,000
3. Thai Ha – $213,500
4. Ivan Leow – $152,500
5. Danny Tang – $122,000
6. Aaron Van Blarcum – $91,500

Event 4: $50,000 NL Hold’em

Forty-five runners were seen gunning for the gold in the $50,000 NL Hold’em event, leading to a prize pool collection of $2,250,000. partypoker Team pro Mikita Badziakouski championed the event, adding an enormous $765,000 to his bankroll.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Mikita Badziakouski – 1,565,000
2. Aaron Van Blarcum – 1,245,000
3. Cary Katz – 1,170,000
4. Artur Martirosyan – 1,105,000
5. Luc Greenwood – 920,000
6. Wiktor Malinowski – 400,000
7. Sam Greenwood – 350,000

Final Table Recap

Poland’s Wiktor Malinowski was the first player to be eliminated in seventh place, and he was followed to the rail by Cary Katz, who was ousted in sixth place.

The first of the Greenwood brothers to hit the rail was Sam Greenwood when he was eliminated in fifth place.

Aaron Van Blarcum picked up his third final table score at the series and was eliminated by Mikita Badziakouski in fourth place.

Luc Greenwood joined his brother Sam at the rail after his run came to an end in third place.

With that, the heads-up convened between Mikita Badziakouski and Artur Martirosyan. While the latter tried hard, it was tough to beat the Belarusi pro.

On the final hand, Martirosyan’s were no match for Badziakouski’s that rivered a flush on the board . Badziakouski bagged a colossal $765,000 for his win.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Mikita Badziakouski – $765,000
2. Artur Martirosyan – $495,000
3. Luc Greenwood – $337,500
4. Aaron Van Blarcum – $225,000
5. Sam Greenwood – $180,000
6. Cary Katz – $135,000
7. Wiktor Malinowski – $112,500

Event #5: $50,000 Short Deck

The $50,000 Short Deck event at the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS SHR Sochi series pulled in 50 entries. The last player standing at the event was Wai Kin Yong, who won his first-ever partypoker LIVE title at the event after besting 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey and netted $800,000 in the process!

The top eight players were slated to finish in the money, and Ivan Leow was the unfortunate one who burst the bubble. After that, Paul Phua was the first player heading to the cashier’s desk.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Sam Greenwood – 4,590,000
2. Phil Ivey – 2,915,000
3. Wai Kin Yong – 1,645,000
4. Seth Davies – 1,620,000
5. Cary Katz – 1,200,000
6. Mikhail Rudoy – 1,160,000
7. Paul Phua – 1,050,00
8. Aaron Van Barclum – 820,000

Final Table Recap

Mikhail Rudoy sent both Paul Phua and Seth Davies to the rail in eighth and seventh place, respectively.

Despite scoring the first two eliminations on the final table, it was Mikhail Rudoy, who was eliminated in sixth place at the hands of Phil Ivey.

Aaron Van Blarcum, who by now has become a fixture on all the final tables at the series, departed in fifth place.

Another frequent final table finisher Cary Katz also bid goodbye to the final table in fourth place.

Sam Greenwood was sent packing in third place, leading to the heads-up commencing between Phil Ivey and Wai Kin Yong.

Though Ivey had a dominating chip lead at the start, Yong worked his way to the top and whisked the title away from the seasoned pro.

On the final hand, Ivey’s fell short of Yong’s . With the board running , Yong hit a king-high straight on the turn, sealing Ivey’s fate in the runner-up spot. Yong, on the other hand, walked away with the title and top prize of $800,000.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Wai Kin Yong – $800,000
2. Phil Ivey – $525,000
3. Sam Greenwood – $350,000
4. Cary Katz – $250,000
5. Aaron Van Blarcum – $200,000
6. Mikhail Rudoy – $150,000
7. Seth Davies – $125,000
8. Paul Phua – $100,000

Content & Images Courtesy: partypoker LIVE

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