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Phil Ivey Wins Sochi Short Deck Event

Phil Ivey - Sochi

Phil Ivey may not play live poker tournaments in America at present, but that is not stopping him from globetrotting the circuit. Over the last week, Ivey has been doing well at the partypoker LIVE MILLION Super High Roller Sochi. He has made three final tables during that time and won his first live tournament since May 2018.

Ivey finished runner-up in the $51k Short Deck Event and then turned around took down the $100k Short Deck. Meanwhile, Paul Phua took down the $100k NL Hold’em Event.

Wai Yong Wins $50k Short Deck

The $50k NL Short Deck Event concluded on Wednesday and drew a solid field of 50 entrants. The final table was naturally stacked with Cary Katz, Sam Greenwood, Aaron Van Blarcum, Wai Yong, and Phil Ivey.

This event produced one of the sickest hands between Phil Ivey and Sam Greenwood. Ivey turned quads on the turn and Greenwood had a flush. In this game, a flush beats a full house, so normally he would be in good shape. Unfortunately for him, Ivey had quads and eliminated Greenwood in third place.

This setup heads-up play with Wai Yong. Unfortunately, Ivey was unable to take down the title but his runner-up finish still earned him $525,000. Wai Yong took the title and $800,000.

Phil Ivey Wins $50 Short Deck

On Friday, Ivey took down one of the final events of this series, a $50k Short Deck NL Event. Sam Greenwood once again made the final table. Joining him were Seth Davies, Wai Kiat Lee, Michael Soyza and the aforementioned Phil Ivey.

This time around, it was Ivey facing Michael Soyza for the title. In the final hand, Soyza was all in with top pair against a flush draw for Ivey. Ivey managed to river his flush to win the title and $856,060.

This was the first outright win for Ivey since taking down an event at the Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro in May 2018.His win pushed him over $1.4 million in earnings for the week and has Ivey inching closer to $30 million in career live tournament earnings.

Paul Phua Wins $100k NL Hold’em

The last of the events at the Super High Roller Series was a $100,000 NL Hold’em Event. This event drew a smaller field with just the final six players making the money. Aussies Michael Addamo and Kahle Burns managed to make the final and were the first two players eliminated.

Adrian Mateos finished fourth, earning $420,000. Webster Lim finished third, earning $672,000. This setup heads-up play between Matthias Eibinger and Paul Phua. Phua had the chip lead at the start of heads-up play and never relented.

Ultimately, Phua was able to dispatch Eibinger to take the title. Eibinger earned just over $1 million for his runner-up finish. Phua earned the title and $1.51 million in prize money. This was Phua’s fourth final table of the series and first victory. He also finished runner-up in an earlier $25k Short Deck Event.

Super High Roller Bowl Russia Underway

The poker world’s attention now turns to the Super High Roller Bowl Russia. This second SHRB event of 2020 kicked off on Friday and drew a field of 40 players. First place will receive $3.6 million with the top six players receiving a payday.

Jason Koon was the overall chip leader at the end of Day 1. Phil Ivey, Stephen Chidwick, Paul Phua, and Mikita Badziakouski were all in the top 10 in chips after the first day. While the COVID-19 virus is shutting down events around the world, it doesn’t appear to be slowing down the Super High Roller Bowl. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top in this event.

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