Sam Greenwood scooped the monster $250k buy-in Super High Roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, pocketing a whopping $3,276,760 for his efforts!
The Canadian was among 39 entrants to the nosebleed-level tournament, a mix of seasoned highstakes pros and wealthy businessmen and amateurs doing battle at the Baha Mar beach resort in the Bahamas.
Early casualties in the hunt for a slice of the $9,498,060 prizepool included Andrew “Lucky Chewy” Lichtenberger on day one, with Bryn Kenney, Kathy Lehne, Ike Haxton, and the English trio of Ben Heath, Stephen Chidwick, and Rob Yong all falling on day two.
The bubble, one of the most expensive in poker history with a $664,900 min. cash for 6th spot, saw Orpen Kisacikoglu all-in and at risk on the flop, Thorel betting Martirosian out of the pot on the river having hit his straight...
Kisacikoglu: A♣ Q♥
Thorel: 10â™ 8â™
Board: 9♠J♠A♦ 7♦ 8♣
With that bustout, Justin Bonomo automatically crossed the $60million lifetime tournament earnings barrier, but he couldn’t stretch his lead at the top any further as he fell in 6th spot to Greenwood in a race.
Martirosian joined Bonomo on the well-paid rail after walking into Greenwood’s pocket kings, and then Kaverman fell in 4th to a cooler...
Kaverman: 10♦ 10♣
Thorel: J♦ J♣
Board: 8♣ 8♦ Q♥ K♥ Qâ™
Kaverman’s deep run was worth a $million+ payday and the money of course only gets higher from there, David Yan taking $1,472,200 when Thorel hit his ace on the river.
That left the pharmacy entrepreneur and skilled poker enthusiast heads-up with Canadian legend Sam Greenwood, with $5.5million to be shared out.
After taking a big hit, the last of the Frenchman’s chips went in on a wing and a prayer, only to miss all his outs...
Thorel: Q♥ 8â™
Greenwood: 2♠2♣
Board: 9♦ 10â™ K♣ 4♦ 6â™
...leaving Greenwood to pick up the trophy and the $3.2million first prize.
Final results
1 | Sam Greenwood | $3,276,760 |
2 | Jean-Noel Thorel | $2,317,100 |
3 | David Yan | $1,472,200 |
4 | Byron Kaverman | $1,092,300 |
5 | Artur Martirosian | $854,800 |
6 | Justin Bonomo | $664,900 |
“Good! That's an understatement. I'm feeling really tired but really happy," Greenwood told PokerNews after his victory, adding: “Honestly, I had a lot of trickier spots on my first bullet. On my second bullet, I was getting pretty good cards.”
“I was winning all of my preflop all-ins. It was all pretty smooth. There were some ups and downs, but it wasn't that tough,” he added.