BANCO CASINO MASTERS # 9: PAVEL CHALUPKA WINS!

21. March 2017

The six-day poker competition for the ninth title of champion of the largest and most prestigious Banco Casino Masters tournament culminated in the final day, in which a strong line-up of nine players was introduced. Well-known names guaranteed quality poker worthy of a big tournament at Banco Casino Bratislava.

BANCO CASINO MASTERS # 9: PAVEL CHALUPKA WINS!

After the second day, the successful ninth edition of the Banco Casino Masters reduced 85 poker players not only from Slovakia, but also from neighboring countries to the final nine, which played in spotlight of the cameras yesterday for the largest stakes from the prize pool. We registered a total of 692 entries in this Masters, so the prizepool climbed over a hundred thousand! All participants of yesterday were sure of earning 304€ and also points to the Masters League 2017. If you did not have a chance to watch the live broadcast, you should watch the commented livestream:

The finalists met at 18:00, where their progress stacks were waiting for them, and poker theater could begin. It started in the blinds 25,000 / 50,000 (ante 5,000) and so everything was open. The foreword of the floor manager Milan Németh and the finalist-players photo started the whole event, the aim of which was the coronation of the Masters champion. Before the final table, it looked like this:

Jozef Szelle – 4,295,000
Nebo Ankucic – 3,840,000
Martin „Peco“ Pecník – 3,250,000
Pavel „palo1973“ Chalupka – 2,505,000
Vlado Valent – 1,735,000
Radoslav Závodský – 1,730,000
Roman Lakatoš – 1,590,000
Juraj Liška – 1,195,000
Ondrej Milaberský – 595,000

After two hours of play, the fist eliminated became the famous Martin "Peco" Pecník. Peco opened the jacks and got a 3bet from Neba Ankucic on the button. Peco with the jacks just called and on the Qx Tx Xx flop he just called cbet. Four showed on turn and those present heard the all-in and call of both actors in the game. Nebo turned Kx Qx and our player needed help. However, needed help did not reach the river and Peco took home 1,534€ from the tournament for 9th place.

Roman Lakatoš became another victim of the final mills when Vlado Valent just called him from the small blind. On the big blind, Lakatoš tried to steal mandatory bets with 8x3x out of color and called all-in. Valent called very quickly and turned his aces over. The board brought five cards that did not change the situation and the aces lasted the whole board. Roman Lakatoš received a reward of 1,892€ in the ninth edition of the Masters.

The seventh place and prize of 2,412€ and, of course, a ticket worth € 165 to the next Masters went to Rado Závodský.

Jozef Szelle took sixth place, after a limpol from the Qx Jx offsuit hijack and Pavel Chalupka on the big blind announced an all-in covering the opponent. Szelle snap-called and had to fight for tournament life against Ax 7x. Palo1973 straight flopped two pairs and after a blank tour and river, Szelle was ordered out of the game. His patch for elimination was a reward of 2,973€.

It did not take long, and we met another one who dropped out. Juraj Liška in the blind vs. blind situation, after the Ankucic all-in, he decided to call with a combination of Kx Tx. Ankucic turned over a better hand in the form of Ax Qx and Qx 3x Qx on the flop, it was almost decided. Seven on turn sent Liška for a reward belonging to the fifth place, exactly 3,921€.

After this elimination, there was a debate on a possible deal. The debate lasted several minutes, but no agreement was reached. The fourth place was finally taken by Ondro Milaberský, who sent a short stack to the middle of the table with Kx 9x on the small blind and Chalupka found Ax Tx on the big blind, which he called. The board held a stronger hand and Milaberský took home 4,984€ from the tournament.

At that time, Pavel Chalupka held the chip lead and Valent found the king with the queen on a small blind. Valent called all-in and Ankucic found the kings after checking the cards. We saw a snap-call and after a run of five cards 9x Qx Jx Ax 5x Vlado Valent took third place, for which he collected 8,364€.

Before entering the heads-up, the players had almost identical stacks and the final fight for the title of champion and a reward of 20,270€ could begin. In the final hand, Ankucic opened the game, Chalupka 3beted with a pair of eights and we saw another aggressive action in terms of 4bet. Chalupka sent all-in and got a snap-call. The final board brought 5x Jx 5x Kx 6x, which eliminated Neba Ankucic in second place for 13,683€.

The winner of the ninth Banco Casino Masters was the well-known poker player Pavel "palo1973" Chalupka, who won 20,270€ and a beautiful trophy and title from Banco Casino Bratislava. Congratulations!