Sam Soverel Dominates 2019 Poker Masters To Win Purple JacketThe Poker Pro Closed Out His Run At The Series By Winning The $50,000 Main Event For $680,000 |
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Sam Soverel put together a dominant performance at the 2019 Poker Masters, cashing in seven of the ten events held at Aria Las Vegas to secure the Poker Masters Purple Jacket and a $100,000 bonus as the player of the series. Over the course of the series Soverel accumulated $1,396,800 in earnings, more than double the amount of any other competitor. The Las Vegas reisdent closed out his incredible run by taking down the $52,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event, topping a field of 34 total entries to win $680,000.
“It’s exciting to win,” Soverel said after securing the jacket. “I just like being in action all the time and when you win you get to play the longest.”
Soverel ultimately won two titles, finished fourth three times and added a fifth and sixth-place finish during the ten-day series of high stakes events. His other title came in the $26,000 pot-limit Omaha event, which he won for $340,000. Soverel accumulated a total of 1,619 Card Player Player of the Year points throughout his run at this series. He has now made a total of 21 final tables in 2019, with seven titles won along the way. As a result, he has climbed into third place in the POY race standings, which are sponsored by Global Poker.
“I’m glad I don’t feel like I’m at a big disadvantage when playing these guys whereas in the past I kind of felt like that,” said Soverel about squaring off against some of the top tournament poker players in the world throughout this series. “I come from a cash background and I know I didn’t study enough and understand things like the impact of the big blind ante, but I understand it a bit better now and I think that my live background helps me a lot in the rest of the game.”
Soverel had already mathematically locked up the Purple Jacket by the time he entered the final table of the $52,000 no-limit hold’em main event in second chip position with six players remaining and only five set to make the money. Ali Imsirovic was knocked out on the bubble when his top pair, top kicker failed to hold up against the straight and flush draws of Card Player POY race leader Stephen Chidwick.
Seth Davies was the first player sent to the rail inside the money. He ran pocket queens into the pocket kings of Soverel preflop and failed to come from behind. Davies took home $136,000 as the fifth-place finisher.
The same preflop cooler resulted in Stephen Chidwick’s elimination in fourth place. Chidwick’s queens couldn’t outrun the kings of start-of-day leader Chris Hunichen, and the British Poker pro was sent home with $170,000. This was his 19th final-table finish of the year, and it brought his 2019 to-date earnings to $6,389,256.
Soverel knocked out two-time WSOP bracelet winner Elio Fox in third place. With three nines and a seven on the board, Fox’s last chips got in with him holding 10-7. Soverel had him just beat with 8-8. Fox earned $272,000 as the third-place finished.
With that Soverel took a lead into heads-up play with Hunichen. He was able to stretch his chip advantage to roughly 4:1 by the time the final hand arose. Soverel shoved with Q-10 from the button. Hunichen called with pocket deuces. Soverel paired his queen and held from there to secure the pot and the title. Hunichen cashed for $442,000 as the runner-up.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in the main event:
Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
1 | Sam Soverel | $680,000 | 408 |
2 | Christopher Hunichen | $442,000 | 340 |
3 | Elio Fox | $272,000 | 272 |
4 | Stephen Chidwick | $170,000 | 204 |
5 | Seth Davies | $136,000 | 170 |
Here is the top ten in the Poker Masters race for the Purple Jacket:
Rank | Name | Series Points | Earnings | Cashes |
1 | Sam Soverel | 1,160 | $1,396,800 | 7 |
2 | Kahle Burns | 630 | $585,950 | 3 |
3 | Chance Kornuth | 630 | $556,400 | 3 |
4 | Sean Winter | 480 | $495,350 | 4 |
5 | Ali Imsirovic | 450 | $497,600 | 3 |
6 | George Wolff | 420 | $404,500 | 3 |
7 | Alex Foxen | 330 | $169,450 | 3 |
8 | Kristen Bicknell | 300 | $408,000 | 1 |
9 | Sergi Reixach | 300 | $369,000 | 1 |
10 | Isaac Baron | 300 | $223,100 | 1 |
Photo and results provided by Poker Central.