2016 Poker Year In Review: An Exciting Year In Tournament PokerCheck Out The Highlights From A Year On The Tournament Circuit |
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2016 will go down as one of the most exciting years in poker tournament history. As of early December, a total of 81 players have cashed for $1 million or more this year. High-stakes high roller events have increasingly become the norm, with several events with buy-ins of $25,000 or more taking place every single month this year. There was also a healthy market for more affordable fare, with events with buy-ins from $500 to $1,500 as plentiful as they have ever been. What follows is a look back at the tournaments that shaped 2016 into one of the game’s most thrilling years in recent memory.
Winter
This year kicked off with a new event, a $200,000 buy-in super high roller hosted at the WPT Philippines. The tournament drew 52 entries to build a gigantic $10,039,120 prize pool. Fedor Holz defeated David Peters heads-up for the win, capturing the top prize of $3,463,500.
The super high roller streak continued in the Bahamas with the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. The series kicked off with the $100,000 buy-in super high roller, which drew a huge field of 58 entries in 2016. Bryn Kenney came out on top, capturing $1,687,800 after defeating 2015 WSOP main event champion Joe McKeehen heads-up. The PCA $10,300 main event shifted from a $10,000 buy-in to a $5,000 one this year and as a result it drew a 928-player field. Canadian poker pro Mike Watson emerged victorious for his first European Poker Tour main event title and the $728,325 first-place prize.
The World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw main event later in January proved that smaller buy-in events could still award massive paydays. The $1,675 buy-in main event drew 1,565 entries. Andy Philachack scored $393,188 as the eventual champion.
From the Bahamas the poker world hopped the long flight to Melbourne, Australia for the 2016 Aussie Millions. Ari Engel came out on top in the $10,000 AUD main event, defeating a field of 732 entries to win $1.6 million AUD ($1,120,110 USD). This year the Crown Casino once again played host to two super high roller events. Steve O’Dwyer won the $250,000 buy-in event, topping a field of 16 players to earn $951,960 AUD ($744,829 USD). German high-roller regular Fabian Quoss won the $100,000 buy-in event for $1,446,480 AUD ($1,012,536 USD).
After spending the first month of the year globetrotting the poker tournament scene returned to America for the 2016 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event, which drew 515 entries. German Dietrich Fast was the last player standing, earning $1,000,800.
Spring
The 2016 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star main event drew a record-setting field of 753 entries, creating a $5.3 million prize pool. German Stefan Schillhabel came out on top, taking home $1,298,000 for the win. The three-stop California Swing of the WPT wrapped up with Harrison Gimbel taking down the WPT Rolling Thunder event near Sacramento. The 25-year-old poker pro topped a field of 409 players to win his first WPT title and the top prize of $275,112.
With that there was only two more open-field WPT main events before the season-ending championship. Justin Young overcame a field of 1,222 entries to win the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $3,500 buy-in for $669,161. Only a few days later Chino Rheem took down the World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale $10,000 buy-in event for $705,885. In doing so he became only the fourth player in poker history to win three WPT main event titles.
For the first time ever the WPT’s season ended with a Tournament of Champions event that pitted this season’s winners, who won their entry along with their titles, and champions from previous seasons who could buy their way in to the rake-free event for $15,000. Farid Yachou became the first ever champion of this new format, earning $381,600 to bring a close to the WPT’s 14th season.
The European Poker Tour also closed out its season in the fall with the EPT Grand Final festival. The massive series was highlighted by a number of major events. Ole Schemion took down the €100,000 super high roller for $1,829,002 while Fabian Quoss won the €50,000 buy-in for his second high roller title of the year and $967,927. Schemion, just days removed from his win, finished second in this event for another $977,255 after making a deal heads-up with Quoss.
The EPT Grand Final €5,300 main event drew a record field of 1,098 entries, the largest in tournament’s 12-year history. In the end Jan Bendik was the last player standing, or sitting as it were. The 51-year-old Slovakian was awarded $1,097,077 for the win.
Summer
With that the major tours were wrapped up for the year just in time for the summer and the World Series of Poker. Before the WSOP kicked off, though, poker’s top stars gathered for the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl held at Aria. The 49-player field created a $15 million prize pool, with $5 million going to German poker pro Rainer Kempe in the end. Fellow German wunderkind Fedor Holz finished second for $3,500,000. This was already his eighth final table of the year.
The 2016 WSOP hosted 69 gold bracelet events, up one from last year. Over the course of the series $221,211,336 in prize money was awarded. As always, a number of recognizable names emerged with bracelets this summer, including double-bracelet winners Jason Mercier ($10,000 no-limit single draw lowball and $10,000 H.O.R.S.E.), Ian Johns ($1,500 H.O.R.S.E. and $10,000 limit hold’em) and Benny Glaser ($10,000 and $1,500 Omaha eight-or-better).
Several notable players won their first bracelets, including Kyle Julius ($1,000 turbo no-limit hold’em), Ryan D’Angelo ($1,500 no-limit single draw lowball), Jean Gaspard ($10,000 dealer’s choice), Ryan Laplante ($565 pot-limit Omaha), Sam Soverel ($1,000 pot-limit Omaha), Andrew Lichtenberger ($3,000 no-limit hold’em), David Peters ($1,500 no-limit hold’em) and Tony Dunst ($1,000 no-limit hold’em).
This year’s WSOP featured three high roller events. The $50,000 Poker Players Championship was won for a second time by Brian Rast, who earned his third career bracelet and $1,296,097. The second high roller event of the series was the second ever $25,000 pot-limit Omaha event, won this year by Jens Kyllonen for $1,127,035 and his first bracelet.
The $111,111 One Drop High Roller was won by none other than Fedor Holz. The 22-year-old topped a field of 183 entries to win his first gold bracelet and the first-place prize of $4,981,775. It was Holz’s third seven-figure score of the year. Dan Smith, who had finished third in the $25,000 pot-limit Omaha event, late registered for this event and went on to finish as the runner up for $3,078,974.
The marquee poker tournament of the year, the WSOP $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event, drew 6,737 entrants to build a $63,327,800 prize pool. This year the final table players were all guaranteed at least a $1,000,000 payday with $8,005,310 and the championship bracelet for the winner. Vietnam-born Las Vegas resident Qui Nguyen overcame a tough final table, utilizing a fearless and aggressive style to capture the title of poker’s world champion for 2016.
August, which in recent years has been a slower time on the circuit, was chock full of tournament poker action in 2016. James Mackey took down the WPT Choctaw main event for $681,758. The season-ending WSOP Circuit Global Casino Championship was won by Said El-Yousfi. The Moroccan topped a field of 126 to win $343,256.
In Florida, the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open series hosted a number of massive tournaments, including the $5 million guaranteed $5,250 buy-in main event. Jason Koon outlasted a field of 847 to capture the title and the top prize of $1,000,000.
The next major festival on the international tournament circuit was the EPT Barcelona. The €5,300 no-limit hold’em main event was the largest event ever in the tour’s history, topping last year’s record of 1,694 entries by attracting 1,785 total entries this year to build a prize pool of €8,657,250. Polish online qualifier Sebastian Malec emerged victorious in the end, capturing his first EPT title and the $1,258,210 first-place prize.
It had been more than a month since Fedor Holz had notched a seven-figure score. He quickly rectified that situation by taking down the EPT Barcelona €50,000 super high roller for $1,471,485. It was his fourth score of a million dollars or more this year and brought his live tournament earnings to just shy of $16 million on the year.
Rounding out the summer season was the 2016 WPT Legends of Poker. The main event was won by Pat Lyons, who overcame a field of 687 entries to win his first WPT title and the first-place prize of $615,346.
Fall
The first major series of the fall was the WPT Borgata Poker Open. 2012 WSOP main event runner up Jesse Sylvia emerged victorious, defeating a field of 1,179 entries to win $821,811.
In the middle of October the first ever Big One for One Drop Invitational no-limit hold’em event took place. The €1 million buy-in tournament was invite, with 28 players turning out to build a €24,888,892 prize pool. In the end amateur Elliot Tsang came out on top to win €11,111,111.
The EPT Malta main event was won in the final days of October by Aliaksei Boika. The Belarusian pro won €355,700 in what would be the penultimate EPT main event. Online poker giant PokerStars, who runs the EPT and several other global live tours, announced that in 2017 the largest of their international events would join under one banner as PokerStars Championship events. The first will be the event formally known as the EPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. The tournament will now be known as the PokerStars Championship Bahamas.
After 15 years as the voice of the World Poker Tour Mike Sexton turned the tables by taking down the WPT Montreal main event. Sexton, a WSOP bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Fame member, defeated a 648-entry field to win $317,896 and his first title on the tour that he helped popularize.
The final WPT event of the year was hosted by the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The Five Diamond World Poker Classic tied the record for the largest $10,000 buy-in WPT event with 792 entries and was won by James Romero for $1,938,118. Jason Koon and Ankush Mandavia had stellar high roller performances, each winning an event and cashing in another. The $100,000 event was chopped between Jan Eric Schwippert and Tom Marchese, for $1,439,274 and $1,018,566, respectively.
David Peters ended the year on a tear. He made four final tables in December alone, bringing his total final tables for the year to 22. With a third-place finish in the EPT Prague main event and a win an a $25,000 Aria high roller he vaulted into the lead in the Card Player Player of the Year race as the tour entered into the home stretch. Jasper Meijer van Putten came out on top in the EPT Prague main, the last of the tour’s stops before rebranding in 2017. He topped a field of 1,192 entries to win $727,531.
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