Paul Phua Wins 2022 World Series of Poker Europe €25,000 High Roller

Paul Phua came into the 2022 World Series of Poker Europe as one of the most successful high-stakes tournament regulars on the circuit. The successful businessman and Triton Poker co-founder had more than $26 million in prior earnings, placing him inside the top 25 on poker’s all-time money list.

One goal he had not yet achieved, though, was winning a bracelet. Phua crossed that item off his to-do list in style this week, emerging victorious in the €25,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller for his first piece of WSOP hardware and the top prize of $482,433.

“This is the highlight of my poker career,” Phua told WSOP reporters. “I’m lucky enough that money doesn’t matter. I just try to play my best, and try to be competitive against pros. You know, we don’t get to study every day. But as I play more I think I get a little bit better and have a better chance.”

Phua topped a field of 67 entries on his way to securing the title. The win saw him earn 504 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his second title and ninth final-table finish of the year. With 3,392 total points and $4,660,788 in year-to-date POY earnings, Phua now sits in 33rd place in the 2022 POY race standings sponsored by Global Poker.

The $40,098 bubble burst when Vaclav Lattner got the last of his short stack in with A-2 facing the A-Q of reigning WSOP main event champion Espen Jorstad. The superior hand held up and Lattner was the last player eliminated outside of the money.

WSOP bracelet winner Tim Adams (11th) and Laszlo Bujtas (10th) both took home the aforementioned min-cash of $40,098 after they were sent home shortly after the bubble burst. The final nine then combined onto a single table, with bracelet winner Ben Heath in the lead and Phua in seventh chip position.

Jorstad was not able to secure his third WSOP bracelet of the year, after having won the world championship and the tag team event in Las Vegas this summer. The Norwegian poker pro was on the wrong end of the worst possible preflop cooler, running pocket kings into the pocket aces of Heath. Neither player improved and Jorstad was eliminated in ninth place ($45,242). The 42 POY points he earned were enough to see him climb into 27th place on the leaderboard.

Eelis Parssinen was the next to fall. He committed most of his six-big-blind stack with A-5 and found himself all-in and at risk against the K-10 of Phua, who had Parssinen covered by less than a big blind. A king on the flop gave Phua the lead, which he maintained through the river to eliminate Parssinen in eighth place ($53,129). The Finnish poker pro now has nearly $2.9 million in recorded tournament earnings, including a bracelet win in a $5,000 no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha mix event at last year’s WSOP.

Phua then found another double up with K-Q beating the A-9 of Heath, who remained the chip leader for the time being. Heath then three-bet shoved with J-10 suited over the cutoff open of Gab Yong Kim, who called with pocket aces. Heath flopped a pair and turned a straight draw, but missed the river to fall back into a virtual tie for second place with Phua while Kim moved into the lead.

Six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu managed to score a pair of double-ups during seven-handed action. Wayne Heung, who lost one of those all-ins, was the next to be eliminated. He called all-in with K-8 from the big blind and found himself up against A-Q for Shaun Deeb. Deeb made nines full of aces on the turn and avoided quads on the board to scoop the pot and narrow the field to six. Heung took home $64,835 as the seventh-place finisher.

Another cooler resulted in a pot for the chip lead. Negreanu picked up pocket queens against the pocket jacks of Heath and got all the chips in preflop. The larger pocket pair remained best through the river and Negreanu surged into the lead while Heath slid to the bottom of the chip counts. Heath soon got all-in for his last two big blinds with A-Q suited and was called in two spots. Heath remained ahead on a seven-high flop, but Phua turned top pair with A-9 and bet to make Kim fold K-J. Heath was now reverse-dominated and needed a queen on the river to keep his hopes alive in this event. The river was a king, sending Heath home in sixth place ($82,104). The score increased his lifetime earnings to more than $13.9 million.

Deeb lost the majority of his stack when his A-K suited couldn’t outrace the pocket sevens of Kim. The five-time bracelet winner was left with just a couple of big blinds after the hand. He managed two double-ups to get out of the danger zone.

The coolers kept coming when four-time bracelet winner Julien Martini ran pocket jacks into the pocket kings of Phua. Martini flopped a set, but Phua picked up an open-ended straight draw. The river completed his king-high straight to give him the massive pot. Martini settled for $107,752 as the fifth-place finisher, growing his career earnings to $5.5 million in the process.

The two most decorated WSOP performers clashed in a pair of all-ins, with Negreanu and Deeb taking turns winning to swap places and then swap back again. Negreanu soon got all in again, and this time he was up against Phua who held pocket fours. Negreanu had pocket fives and was ahead until the J422A runout gave Phua a full house. Negreanu was awarded $146,370 for his latest deep run. The score saw him surpass $49 million in career earnings, the third most of any player in history.

Deeb soon followed, with his A3 running into the pocket sevens of a soaring Phua. The board came down 765Q2 and Deeb was eliminated in third place ($205,566). His career earnings grew to more than $11.1 million as a result.

Phua took roughly a 4:1 chip lead into heads-up play with Kim. An early double for the shorter stack closed the gap considerably, but Phua then won a big pot with a turned straight that saw him jump back out to a sizable advantage.

In the final hand of the night, Kim shoved from the button with K9. Phua called with A3 and the board ran out 8775A to give Phua aces up for the win. Kim was awarded $298,163 as the runner-up finisher. This was the second-largest cash of his career, trailing only the $678,645 he earned as the fourth-place finisher in this year’s European Poker Tour Prague main event.

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

Winner photo provided by WSOP. Player photos via King’s Resort Facebook page.

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