Team PokerStars’ Lex Veldhuis is up and running for 2023 after enjoying a brace of victories at PokerStars. Veldhuis came out on top in a $215 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha PKO event that was part of the ongoing New Year Series, and complemented that win by taking down the $109 buy-in Fast 5 PKO event.
New Year Series 84-M: $215 PLO 6-Max PKO drew in 484 entrants, meaning a small overlay on the $100,000 guarantee. With bounties included, everyone at the final table was guaranteed almost $2,000 for their efforts, with a five-figure score locked in for becoming the event’s champion.
Swedish duo “anonymstruts” and “Sasuke234” were the final table’s first casualties before “canabenol” of Ukraine and “lazutina” of Finland bowed out. The final three became two when German grinder “Brummfix” crashed out by the wayside, leaving Veldhuis heads-up against Finland’s “SiiliSuhonen.”
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Both heads-up players were now guaranteed at least $7.856 from the main prize pool, leaving the now five-figure final bounty up for grabs. Veldhuis got his hands on the $11,781 final scalp, taking his total haul to $19,637, and resigning his Finnish opponent to an $8,800 consolation prize.
Veldhuis’ other victory came in The Fast 5, a $109 buy-in five-handed turbo PKO. The Belgium-based Dutch star outlasted a field of 66 to reel in a $1,923 prize, which included more than $1,200 worth of bounties.
New Year Series 84-M: $215 PLO 6-Max PKO Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lex “L. Veldhuis” Veldhuis | Belgium | $11,781 | $7,856 | $19,637 |
| 2 | SiiliSuhonen | Finland | $945 | $7,855 | $8,800 |
| 3 | Brummfix | Germany | $1,428 | $4,654 | $6,082 |
| 4 | lazutina | Finland | $2,685 | $3,314 | $5,999 |
| 5 | canabenol | Ukrane | $650 | $2,360 | $3,010 |
| 6 | Sasuke234 | Sweden | $200 | $1,681 | $1,881 |
| 7 | anonymstruts | Sweden | $762 | $1,335 | $2,097 |
Bulgarian Binks the $1,050 NLHE 6-Max; Segebrecht Second
$1,050 buy-in tournaments are usually jam-packed with online poker’s superstars, and the New Year Series 86-H: $1,050 NLHE 6-Max was no different. Some 326 players piled into the event, creating a $326,000 prize pool that the top 41 finishers shared.
Artur “mararthur” Martirosian was the unfortunate bubble boy. The Russian’s untimely demise opened the door for such luminaries as Pablo “Pabritz” Brito Silva, “Sintoras,” Vlad “dariepoker” Darie, Jans “Graftekkel” Arends, and final table bubble boy David “MissOracle” Yan to see a return on their investments.
Brazil’s “neverstandard” never got going at the seven-handed final table and was the first out of the door. Sixth place went to Will “molswi47” Molson, before “Gobenni,” “12santoy13” and Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden crashed out, the latter seeing $32,379 hit his PokerStars account.
Bulgaria’s “milanov888” took on Claas “SsicK_OnE” Segebrecht heads-up. The heads-up duo did not discuss a deal despite the difference in prize money being a significant $17,000. The lack of a deal meant Segebrecht, who fell at the final hurdle, walked away with $44,472 while the champion secured a bankroll-bosting $61,081.
New Year Series 86-H: $1,050 NLHE 6-Max Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | milanov888 | Bulgaria | $61,081 |
| 2 | Claas “SsicK_OnE” Segebrecht | Austria | $44,472 |
| 3 | Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden | Finland | $32,379 |
| 4 | 13santoy13 | Canada | $23,575 |
| 5 | Gobenni | Brazil | $17,164 |
| 6 | Will “molswi47” Molson | Canada | $12,497 |
| 7 | neverstandard | Brazil | $10,118 |
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There were also New Year Series wins for the likes of Juanki “B4NKR0LLER” Vecino, “Spotzilla666,” and Malta’s “HypnosisMass” among others.
| Event | Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Year Series 81-H: NLHE 8-Max PKO | $530 | 613 | $306,500 | Juanki “B4NKR0LL3R” Vecino | $44,697* |
| New Year Series 82: NLHE 8-Max | $215 | 1,423 | $284,600 | Spotzilla666 | $43,864 |
| New Year Series 87-H: NLHE 7-Max Turbo PKO | $530 | 526 | $263,000 | HypnosisMass | $43,056* |
| New Year Series 84-H: PLO 6-Max PKO | $2,100 | 60 | $125,000 | ADIBO | $40,868* |
| Bounty Builder High Roller | $530 | 398 | $200,000 | ArtHouse2001 | $37,464* |
| New Year Series 86-M: NLHE 6-Max | $109 | 2,503 | $250,300 | garrafalitro | $36,831 |
*includes bounty payments
Stoyan Obreshkov Secures The Grand Victory
The PartyPoker Championship (PPC) Winter edition is in full swing over at PartyPoker, and a certain Stoyan Obreshkov gave himself plenty of ammunition for the festival’s run-in. Obreshkov came out on top in The Grand, a $1,050 buy-in affair that saw 103 players take to the PartyPoker virtual felt.
The nine-handed final table was crammed full of top-level poker talent. Preben Stokkan, Leon Sturm, Alex Gelinski De Carvalho, and Team PartyPoker’s Matt Staples all crashed out, leaving the remaining players with a little more elbow room.
Blaz Zerjav and Matthew Stumpf joined the list of busted player, Stumpf being the last player to collect a four-figure sum for his efforts.
Heads-up was set when Jans Arends saw his deep run end in a third-place finish worth $10,468. Arends’ demise left Obreshkov one-on-one against Slovenia’s Jan Strazisar. Obreshkov got the job done and his hands on $23,074, leaving Strazisar to capture the $15,026 second-place prize.
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PPC Winter #09 The Grand Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stoyan Obreshkov | Bulgaria | $23,074 |
| 2 | Jan Strazisar | Slovenia | $15,026 |
| 3 | Jans Arends | Austria | $10,468 |
| 4 | Matthew Stumpf | Canada | $7,549 |
| 5 | Blaz Zerjav | Slovenia | $5,731 |
| 6 | Matthew Staples | Canada | $4,686 |
| 7 | Alex Gelinski De Carvalho | Brazil | $4,039 |
| 8 | Leon Sturm | Austria | $3,509 |
| 9 | Preben Stokkan | United Kingdom | $2,995 |
Hren Is Victorious in the 8-Max PKO
Matic Hren of Slovenia saw $13,214 land in his PartyPoker account after he came out on top in the $215 buy-in PPC 8-Max PKO. A field of 363 created a guarantee-busting $72,600 prize pool, and Hren got his hands on the lion’s share of the pot.
Indeed, Hren was the only finalist to book a five-figure win, his $4,814 main prize pool prize topped up with an $8,400 bounty payment. The likes of Gilles Simon, Michael Skelenicka, Hristivoje Pavlovic, Matt Staples, and Martins Adeniya also cashed.
PPC Winter 8-Max PKO Final Table
| Place | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matic Hren | Slovenia | $8,400 | $4,814 | $13,214 |
| 2 | Timothy Frostad | Canada | $1,760 | $4,807 | $6,567 |
| 3 | Vladislav Solovev | Mexico | $1,420 | $3,256 | $4,676 |
| 4 | Gilles Simon | Austria | $575 | $2,162 | $2,737 |
| 5 | Claudio Rodrigues | Malta | $600 | $1,521 | $2,121 |
| 6 | Jonathan Wolter | Brazil | $325 | $1,216 | $1,541 |
| 7 | Michael Skelnicka | Czech Republic | $550 | $929 | $1,479 |
| 8 | Erik Nygren | Sweden | $625 | $767 | $1,392 |
| 9 | Nicolas Dip | Argentina | $928 | $636 | $1,564 |
Wilson Claims PPC Winter Main Event Day 1C Chip Lead
Former Irish Open champion Daniel Wilson did his chances of becoming the PPC Winter Edition Main Event champion no harm by clinching the Day 1C chip lead. Wilson turned his 500,000 starting stack into 9,897,604 chips, which are enough for third place overall with a trio of flights remaining.
Day 1C also saw superstars such as Preben Stokkan, Leon Sturm, Joshua McCully, and Elio Fox progress, also Fox made it through with only 133,445 chips so is likely to enter another Day 1 in an attempt to build a stack.
PPC Winter #01 Main Event Day 1C Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Wilson | United Kingdom | 9,897,604 |
| 2 | Markus Kuhnen | Austria | 7,300,803 |
| 3 | Bruno Bernardino | Malta | 6,010,067 |
| 4 | Victor Girao | Brazil | 5,455,596 |
| 5 | Daniel Koloszar | Hungary | 5,130,331 |
| 6 | Vladislav Solovev | Mexico | 4,927,094 |
| 7 | Johann Freisdorfas | Germany | 4,312,106 |
| 8 | Preben Stokkan | United Kingdom | 4,218,789 |
| 9 | Leon Sturm | Austria | 4,190,746 |
| 10 | Marijan Rankic | Slovenia | 4,080,352 |
Three more PPC Winter Edition Main Event flights remain, each costing $530 to enter, unless you win your way into them from as little as $0.01. Day 1D starts at 7:05 p.m. GMT on January 15, with Day 1E and the Day 1 Turbo shuffling up and dealing at 4:05 p.m. and 6:05 p.m. GMT on January 16.
Everyone who punched their Day 2 tickets returns to the action at 9:05 p.m. GMT on January 16, with play continuing until only the nine-handed final table remains. Those final nine take their seats at 9:05 p.m. GMT on January 17 under the watchful eyes of the PartyPoker Twitch channel viewers.