Wiktor Malinowski bags Super High Roller Bowl Europe Main Event, Ivan Leow settles for runner-up finish

Carrying one of industry’s heftiest price tags, this year’s Super High Roller Bowlrecently concluded with Polish pro Wiktor Malinowski capturing the Main Event win for $3,690,000. The 9-event line-up kicked off last August 23rd at Merit Royal Hotel Casino & Spa in North Cyprus, and completed five Short Deck Hold’em and four No Limit Hold’em tournaments throughout the week-long schedule. Other winners include Russian pro Artur Martirosian, Tony G, who bagged two Short Deck events, and legendary Phil Ivey among others.

Following the successful Europe series, high stakes regulars are in for an exciting month ahead as the high roller action continues in the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino, Las Vegas. From September 27-29, 2021, top players will battle for the bulk of the upcoming $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl VI million dollar prize pool along with the coveted title of being the next SHRB champion.

SHRB Europe $250,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event – Wiktor Malinowski – $3,690,000

Wiktor Malinowski’s first live Super High Roller Bowl appearance ended up being a highly memorable one as the high stakes regular claimed the festival’s Main Event win for a whopping $3,690,000,having topped the 41-player field. For his impressive performance, Malinowski secured the biggest payout of the season as well as the lion’s share of the $10,250,000 prize pool. Three other players bagged seven-figure scores and notable profits from the $250,000 prime event. Malaysia’s Ivan Leow came in the closest but was left to settle for a runner-up finish after five hours of heads up play.

Final Table Recap

Entering Day 3, Russia’s Viacheslav Buldygin was in dire need of a double up, carrying the shortest stack of 8 big blinds as compared to chip leader Malinowski’s 78-big blind stack. While David Peters ran quads and doubled up for the first hand through opponent Zhuang Ruan, Buldygin’s shove with struck no luck against Ruan’s as the flop instantly gave Ruan a full house. With two big blinds left, Leow claimed the last of Buldygin’s chips and carried on to crack Peters’ for a huge double up. A few hands later, Peters jammed his last ten big blinds with with Leow calling behind with . A on the turn awarded Leow the pot and also the lead, having eliminated Peters in 5th place.

With four left in contention, next to go was Timothy Adams who was hopeful to win his third live SHRB title in a row. After moving three-bet all-in against Malinowski’s open, Adams’ failed to crack the Polish pro’s and left to settle for the event’s first seven-figure payout of $1,127,500. Shortly after, Ruan followed suit as his failed to hold against Malinowski’s when a gutshot for Malinowski’s straight came on the river.

The heads up battle between Malinowski and Leow lasted several hours with the lead extending back and forth between the two. However with the blinds adding in more pressure, a crucial preflop race cost Leow the lead and majority of his chips after five brutal hours. Leow eventually moved all-in with against Malinowski’s raise, who held a stronger and answered with a call for the rest of his stack. After failing to luck out on a flop of , Leow was eliminated the following hand and claimed a sweet $2,460,000 payout for his second place finish.

Date/s: August 30 – September 1, 2021
Buy-in: $250,000
Prize pool: $10,250,000
Entries: 41 players

SHRB Europe Main Event Final Table Results

1st Wiktor Malinowski – Poland – $3,690,000
2nd Ivan Leow – Malaysia – $2,460,000
3rd Zhuang Ruan – United States – $1,640,000
4th Timothy Adams – United States – $1,127,500
5th David Peters – United States – $820,000
6th Viacheslav Buldygin – Russia – $512,500

Other Events

Among the other SHRB champions, it was Lithuania’s Tony G who impressively bagged two titles in a span of four days – Event #7: $100,000 Short Deck ($1,196,000) and Event #3: $25,000 Short Deck ($382,500), for a combined $1,578,000 in winnings. For his latest million dollar cash, Tony G recorded his career-best payout for outlasting the 26-player field.

Event #7: $100,000 Short Deck
Date/s: August 29-30, 2021
Prize pool: $2,600,000
Entries: 26 players
Winner: Tony G – $1,196,000

Event #3: $25,000 Short Deck
Date/s: August 25-26, 2021
Prize pool: $1,125,000
Entries: 45 players
Winner: Tony G – $382,500

24-year old Artur Martirosian likewise claimed his career-best victory after defeating American pro David Peters in heads up for Event #6: $100,000 No Limit Hold’em’s top prize of $1,400,000.

Event #6: $100,000 No Limit Hold’em
Date/s: August 28-29, 2021
Prize pool: $3,500,000
Entries: 35 players
Winner: Artur Maritrosian – $1,400,000

Turkish pro Selahaddin Bedir denied legendary Phil Ivey a second SHRB title in Event #4: $50,000 No Limit Hold’em, leaving the Poker Hall of Famer to settle for a runner-up finish this time around and an additional $546,000 in winnings. Bedir, who also placed second in Event #2: $25,000 No Limit Hold’em, fell short of the title as France’s Johan Guilbert took home the overall victory but earned a great redemption as he bagged the series’ fourth event for a career-best cash of $832,000.

Event #4: $50,000 No Limit Hold’em
Date/s: August 26-27, 2021
Prize pool: $2,600,000
Entries: 52 players
Winner: Selahaddin Bedir – $832,000

Event #2: $25,000 No Limit Hold’em
Date/s: August 24-25, 2021
Prize pool: $2,025,000
Entries: 81 players
Winner: Johan Guilbert – $506,250