Antoine Vranken Wins World Series of Poker Europe €1,650 No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Mixed Event

Antoine Vranken won the first poker tournament of his career over the weekend. It was a memorable one as his first victory coincided with his first World Series of Poker bracelet.

In the sixth event of the 2021 WSOP Europe, the Dutch player defeated a 339-entry field in the €1,650 no-limit hold’em/pot-limit Omaha mixed event for €113,000. The event was only scheduled to take two days to complete, but a third day was needed to finish the tournament, with an unofficial 10-handed final table returning for the final day.

Vranken started the day with just 17 big blinds and only three stacks shorter than he was, but he told reporters after the event was over that he just let the game come to him and lady luck took care of the rest. Eventual runner-up Moncef Karou started Day 3 as the chip leader with 58 big blinds.

“I just waited for good cards today,” Vranken told WSOP live reporters. “I think I only bluffed once or twice. Last night, I was looking up my opponents and they were all pretty good, so I had to just stay patient.”

Vranken stayed out of harm’s way early, allowing half the table to get sent home before he played a post of any significance. Danny Covyn was out 10th, Julien Sitbon hit the rail in ninth, Fahredin Mustafov busted eighth, Manuel Fritz fell in seventh, and Mikkel Plum was eliminated in sixth.

Covyn got his money in good with his A8 up against Plum’s K8, but a KJ7 flop changed things and left Covyn as the player with three outs. He didn’t spike an ace on the turn and river and was the first player eliminated.

Sitbon lost a preflop race with his A-K against Claudio Di Giacomo’s 5-5 and Karoui took out Mustafov with JJ all in preflop against Mustafov’s A9.

Fritz was the first player to hit the rail during a pot-limit Omaha round. He was all in preflop out of the big blind and got three callers. Di Giacomo bet the turn with the board reading K8410 and was called only by Karoui. They both checked the 10 river and Karoui won the pot with 9966, giving him a flush, which topped Frtiz’s trip 10s and Di Giacomo’s two pair.

Karoui continued to chip up when he busted Plum in sixth. In no-limit hold’em, Plum moved all in from the cutoff for just shy of six big blinds and was called by Karoui in the small blind and Stanislav Koleno in the big blind. On a flop of 862, Karoui moved all in and forced a fold from Koleno.

Karoui tabled A-J and was in the lead against Plum’s K-Q. There was no paint on the turn or river and Karoui expanded on his chip lead.

Vranken played his first significant pot five-handed in no-limit hold’em. Action folded to Carter Newhof in the small blind, who moved all in and Vranken called off his just shy of 10 big blind-stack. Vranken was in great shape with his AJ against Newhof’s 96. Newhof flopped a six, but Vranken spiked a jack on the turn to double up.

Then Vranken went back to the patient ways he talked about. He let Kolen bust in fifth and Di Giacomo get eliminated in fourth before he played another big one.

Koleno moved all in for four big blinds from the small blind with 84 and ran into Newhof’s A8. Koleno flopped a four to take the lead, but the A came on the river to send Koleno home in fifth.

Di Giacomo was out just a couple hands later when his A10 couldn’t hold up against Karoui’s QJ. The flop and turn were safe for the Italian, but the J on the river forced him to the cashier’s cage in fourth.

At the outset of three-handed play, Vranken was once again the short stack with just 10 big blinds again. Karoui and Newhof battled briefly with Newhof briefly taking the chip lead, but as stack depths got shallower, a couple of unfortunate hands eliminated the lone American at the final table in third.

Vranken doubled through Newhof with A-J against K-J and then Newhof lost a race with 4-4 against Karoui’s A-10. Just like that, his roughly 20 big blind-stack was gone, and he earned €47,286 for his deep run.

Karoui started heads-up play with a nearly 2-1 chip lead, but Vranken doubled up early with two pair against a wrap straight draw to nearly flip the positions. A few hands later, Vranken finished the job.

In another hand of pot-limit Omaha, they got all the chips in the middle preflop. Karoui showed AA87 and was a favorite against Vranken’s KKJ3.

After a flop of JJ3, Karoui went from a favorite to a huge underdog. Vranken flopped a full house, leaving Karoui with just one of the two aces left in the deck to stay alive, but the 9h on the turn and the 8h on the river eliminated the Tunisian in second.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Winner photo via King’s Resort’s official Facebook page.

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