Byron Kaverman Wins European Poker Tour London £25,000 High Roller

The 2022 European Poker Tour London festival kicked off this week at the Hilton Park Lane. The 49-event series runs from Oct. 18-28, with the centerpiece of the whole affair being the £5,300 buy-in main event to be held from Oct. 22-28.

Outside the main event, there are tournaments at every price point on the schedule, with buy-ins ranging from £330 to £50,000. The first of several high-roller events on offer ran on Thursday, Oct. 20. The first of several £25,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em single-day high-roller events drew a field of 30 entries, creating a prize pool of £720,300 ($806,954 USD).

American poker pro Byron Kaverman came out on top after roughly 13 hours of high-stakes action, earning the trophy and the top prize of $306,555 USD. This was the 42nd career score of six figures or more made by Kaverman, a World Series of Poker bracelet winner from Ohio. He now has more than $17.7 million in recorded tournament earnings to his name.

In addition to the title and the money, Kaverman was also awarded 336 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his sixth final-table finish and his first title of the year. With $1,250,931 in year-to-date POY earnings and 1,620 total points, Kaverman now sits inside the top 200 in the 2022 POY race sponsored by Global Poker.

Only the top five finishers made the money in this event. Bracelet winner and high-stakes regular Sam Greenwood was knocked out on the money bubble, running Q-J into the K-9 suited of Steve O’Dwyer, which made a flush by the river. Greenwood was sent home in sixth place, ensuring that the remaining five all cashed for at least $76,642 USD.

That sum was ultimately awarded to British bracelet winner Ben Heath, who called all-in from the big blind for just eight big blinds with K-4. He was ahead of Kaverman’s J-3, which he had shoved from the small blind, but a jack-high runout saw Heath sent home in fifth place.

Reigning WSOP main event champion Espen Jorstad was the next to fall. He got all-in for less than three big blinds with Q-J trailing the K-8 of Orpen Kisacikoglu. The board improved neither player and Jorstad was knocked out in fourth place ($94,797 USD). This was his second POY-qualified score of the year, behind his $10,000,000 win in the world championship. He also won the tag-team event at the WSOP alongside partner Patrick Leonard. Jorstad now sits in 25th place in the POY standings as a result.

Kisacikoglu scored another big elimination thanks to a small-blind shove with 10-9. Steve O’Dwyer called out of the big blind for just shy of 11 big blinds with K-4 suited. Kisacikoglu flopped a nine to take the lead and held from there to send O’Dwyer packing in third place ($131,096 USD). This was the 2013 EPT Grand Final main event champion’s ninth final-table showing of the year, with three wins accrued along the way. He is now ranked 17th on the POY leaderboard.

Heads-up play began with Kisacikoglu holding a 2:1 chip lead over Kaverman. The early going saw Kaverman close the gap and then overtake the lead. He was able to extend his advantage to more than 3:1 by the time the final hand was dealt. He open-shoed from the button with J9 and Kisacikoglu called with A6. The K92 flop improved Kaverman to a pair of nines while giving Kisacikoglu the nut flush draw. The 7 on the turn changed nothing, leaving Kisacikoglu in need of a club or an ace on the river to extend the tournament. Instead, the 3 completed the board, locking up the title for Kaverman. Kisacikoglu earned $197,646 as the runner-up finisher, increasing his lifetime tournament earnings to more than $9 million in the process.

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

Winner photo credit: Tomas Stacha / Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.

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