Phil Ivey Wins His First Live Tournament Title In Nearly Two Years

The 2020 partpoker MILLIONS Super High Roller Sochi series has seen $15,725,000 in prize money awarded over the past seven days, with the first-ever $250,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl Russia taking place at the same venue, the Casino Sochi, over this weekend (March 13-15).

The final champion decided during the first seven events of the series was none other than 10-time WSOP bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Fame member Phil Ivey. He defeated a field of 55 entries in the $50,000 buy-in short deck event, earning $856,050 for the win. This marked Ivey’s first live tournament title won since May of 2018, when he took down a short deck event at the Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro.

Ivey made three cashes in the seven events held so far in Sochi, accumulating more than $1.4 million in earnings along the way. Ivey now sits in 11th place on poker’s all-time money list with $29,517,424 in career cashes. He also accumulated enough Card Player Player of the Year points over the week to move into 46th place in the 2020 POY race standings, which are sponsored by Global Poker.

The series kicked off with a $25,000 buy-in short deck event, which drew a total of 42 entries to create a prize pool of $1,050,000. Xia He Jiang emerged victorious in that tournament, defeating 2018 WSOP main event champion John Cynn heads-up to capture the title and the top prize of $378,000. Cynn earned $252,000 for the third-largest score of his career.

2019 World Poker Tour Legends of Poker main event champion Aaron Van Blarcum finished third for $168,000. He would go on to add another three cashes during this series, but more on that later. Cary Katz earned the first of three cashes at the series in this event, taking home $105,000 for fourth place. The $490,000 he cashed for across the series was enough to see him surpass Antonio Esfandiari for 14th place on the all-time earnings leaderboard with $27,654,843.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in event 1:

The second event held was a $25,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament. With 58 total entries, the prize pool surged to $1,450,000, which was awarded to the top nine finishers.

In the end it was Sam Trickett who came out on top, securing his first live tournament title since 2013, when he won the Aussie Millions $250,000 AUD high roller. The British poker pro earned $435,000 for this latest victory, bringing his career total to more than $21.7 million.

As one might expect, Trickett overcame a stacked final table en route to the title, including the likes of Ivan Leow (2nd – $290,000), Matthias Eibinger (3rd – $203,000), 2017 Card Player Player of the Year award winner Adrian Mateos (4th – $145,000) and WSOP bracelet winner Tim Adams (5th – $116,000).

Ivey recorded his first cash of the series in this event, earning $72,500 for seventh place. Paul Phua kicked off a spree of scores in Sochi with his eighth-place showing in this event for $58,000.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in event 2:

The second $25,000 short deck event of the series saw 61 entries made, with $1,525,000 paid out among the top nine finishers.

After two days of fast and furious action, Wai Leong Chan defeated Paul Phua heads-up to lock up the title and the first-place prize of $435,000. This was Chan’s third career title, and it brought his lifetime live tournament earnings to more than $12.6 million.

Paul Phua (2nd – $305,000), Ivan Leow (4th – $152,500), and Aaron Van Blarcum (6th – $91,500) all notched their second final-table finishes of the series in this event. Sam Greenwood finished ninth ($45,750) for the first of four scores he would go on to make at this series.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in event 3:

The first of three $50,000 buy-in events of the series saw 45 entries, which meant that there was $2,250,000 in prize money up for grabs and only seven places paid. Belarusian high roller star Mikita Badziakouski came out on top in this no-limit hold’em event, securing $765,000 for the win. It would turn out to be his lone cash of the series, but it alone was enough to move him into 16th place on the all-time money list with $27,088,601 in total career live earnings.

Artur Martirosyan took home $495,000 as the runner-up for his second and final score of the series. Brothers Lucas Greenwood (3rd – $337,500) and Sam Greenwood (5th – $180,000) both cashes in this event. Sam had already notched one score at the series prior to this, and would add two more later in the week.

Aaron Van Blarcum placed fourth for $225,000 and his third cash of the series. Cary Katz secured his second of three cashes, earning $135,000 as the sixth-place finisher.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in event 4:

The next event on the schedule was a $50,000 buy-in short deck tournament. It drew 50 total entries to create a final prize pool of $2,500,000, which was paid out among the top eight finishers.

Wai Kin Yong outlasted the field, securing his third career tournament title and the first-place prize of $800,000.

Yong defeated Phil Ivey heads-up for the win, sending him to the rail with $525,000 for his second score of the series.

The rest of the top five finishers in this event was full of players who had been having a great series, with Sam Greenwood (3rd – $350,000), Cary Katz (4th – $250,000), and Aaron Van Blarcum (5th – $200,000) all making at least their cash of the series.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in event 5:

The penultimate tournament of the series was the $100,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event. Paul Phua defeated a field of 42 entries in this six-figure buy-in showdown to earn $1,512,000 for his fourth cash of the series.

All told, Phua accumulated $1,975,000 during this series, growing his career earnings to $18,850,098. The win further cemented his status as the leading poker tournament earner from his home country of Malaysia.

Austria’s Matthias Eibinger finished second for $1,008,000, which was the largest score of his career by $1,940 (beating out his $1,006,060 score as the runner up in a $100,000 event at Aria in 2018). He now has more than $10.4 million in lifetime earnings.

Adrian Mateos locked up $420,000 for his second fourth-place finish of the series. Australian poker pro’s Michael Addamo (5th – $336,000) and Kahle Burns (6th – $252,000) both made their first cashes in Sochi in this event. They’ve had impressive starts to 2020, and both now sit inside the top ten in the Player of the Year race standings.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in event 6:

As previously mentioned, Phil Ivey won the final event of this super high roller tournament series. He ultimately defeated Michael Soyza heads-up for the title in the second $50,000 short deck event held in Sochi this week. Soyza cashed for $561,780, which was the fifth-largest score of his career. Soyza has already accumulated more than $8.1 million in earnings in his career.

Lee Wai Kiat finished third for $374,520, his lone cash of the series. American poker pro Seth Davies earned $267,520 for fourth place. It was his second cash, both coming in the short-deck discipline. The two scores increased Davies’ career earnings to more than $8.3 million.

Spanish poker pro Sergii Reixach logged his first score of the series with a fifth-pace finish for $214,010, while Sam Greenwood added $160,510 to his totals for the series. With four cashes across the festival totaling $736,260, Greenwood increased his career total to more than $22.3 million.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in event 7:

Photo credit: Flickr.com/photos/pcmtour

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