Orpen Kisacikoglu Wins €50K High Roller at WSOP Europe for €750,000

Orpen Kisacikoglu Wins €50,000 NLHE Diamond High Roller for €748,106

The WSOP Europe has been going full throttle in Rozvadov, Czech Republic since late October. It’s high time we bring you some news about what’s been happening at the European leg of the World Series.

The biggest buy-in event on the schedule was the €50,000 Diamond High Roller, starting on November 10th. 45 players put up the entry fee, including such big names in the poker world as Daniel Negreanu, Daniel Dvoress, Nick Petrangelo, Laszlo “Omaha4Rollz” Bujtas, and reigning WSOP Main Event champion Espen Jorstad.

Timothy Adams from Canada led the field going into Day2. By the time the final table was formed, he was down to second in chips (with 52 BB’s in his stack), just below 5-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Shaun Deeb (59 BB’s), and ahead of Kisacikoglu (40 BB’s).

At the heads-up stage, Turkey’s Kisacikoglu was facing Sam Grafton from the United Kingdom. After knocking out Deeb in 3rd place, Kisacikoglu entered the final duel with a 3.5-1 chip lead. It was enough for him to clinch the title after shoving KQ off-suit pre-flop, which Grafton called for the last 19 BB’s in his stack with KJ off. Kisacikoglu was the clear favorite, which was reversed on the flop with the J door card. However, he did make a straight in the end on the J78 9 10 board -  enough for the victory.

While this was his first WSOP gold bracelet, Orpen Kisacikoglu is actually a seasoned high roller. He now has $10.1 million in live tournament earnings, which puts him on top of the Turkish all time money list on Hendon.

Max Kruse Takes Down €1,650 NLHE 6-Max Event For €134,152

German international soccer player Max Kruse topped the 413-player field in the €1,650 NLHE 6-Max event at the WSOPE. The VFL Wolfsburg forward has made 14 appearances for the German national team, scoring 4 goals - however, he didn’t make the squad for the upcoming 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Hopefully, this great WSOPE victory is somewhat of a consolation for him - he seemed happy enough in his celebratory photo. Heads-up, he managed to beat French poker pro Dorian Melchers.

Paul Phua Triumphs in €25,000 NLHE Platinum High Roller for €482,433

Triton Poker founder Pual Phua from Malaysia also scored big in Rozvadov. This was the second biggest high roller on the WSOPE schedule, and the East-Asian businessman outlasted every one of the 67 entrants. Those entrants included some of the same big names we saw in the €50K event, such as Negreanu, Deeb, (both of whom made it to the final table, finishing 4th and 3rd, respectively), and Jorstad.

Two Asian countries “delegated” the two players for the final two’s heads-up battle. Phua from Malaysia faced off against Gab Yong Kim from South Korea. It all ended when Phua called Kim’s 17 BB shove from the button. Kim had K9 suited, while Phua was holding A3 off-suit. The eventual winner Phua was ahead for the whole hand, and even blinked an Ace on the river for good measure. This gave him his first WSOP gold bracelet, along with the €482,433 first prize money. This certainly softened the blow when he bubbled the €50K High Roller shortly after.

These are the major event results so far:

In the meantime, the €10,350 WSOP Europe Main Event has also kicked off. So far, 646 players entered - we’re soon bringing you news about the winner of that major event as well.