Paul Phua won the WSOP Europe High Roller
Paul Phua is one of the most successful poker players in the world, with a career income of 26 million USD. He is also the co-founder of Triton Poker. Despite the huge prize money and titles won, until recently, there was not a single WSOP bracelet in the asset of Phua. On November 8, Paul Phua won the WSOP Europe High Roller worth 25,000 EUR and earned 482,433 EUR.
“This is the highlight of my poker career. Fortunately, money doesn’t matter to me. I’m just trying to play my best and compete with the professionals. You know, it doesn’t work out to study every day. But as I play more, I think I’m getting a little better, and I have more chances,” Phua said after the game.
In the fight for the bracelet, Phua beat 66 rivals. This is his second title and ninth final this year. He was also credited with 504 POY points. Having scored 3,392 points and earned 4,660,788 USD, Phua now occupies the 33rd line of the CardPlayer rating.
- Paul Phua — 482,433 EUR
- Gab Yong Kim — 298,163 EUR
- Shaun Deeb — 205,566 EUR
- Daniel Negreanu — 146,370 EUR
- Julien Martini — 107,752 EUR
- Ben Heath — 82,104 EUR
- Wayne Heung — 64,835 EUR
- Eelis Parssinen — 53,129 EUR
- Espen Jorstad — 45,242 EUR
The bubble boy of the tournament was Vaclav Lattner, who lost to Espen Jorstad. All the remaining players guaranteed themselves at least 40,098 EUR. This amount went to the owners of the bracelets Tim Adams (11th place) and Laszlo Bujtas (10th). The chip leader of the final table was Ben Heath, and Phua was seventh in the chip count.
In the heads-up, Paul Phua was opposed by Gab Yong Kim
The winner of the WSOP 2022 main event, Espen Jorstad, failed to win his third bracelet this year. With pocket Kings, he lost to Heath’s pair of aces and took 9th place. The next event left the Finnish professional Eelis Parssinen, who, with A-5, lost to Phua, who had K-10. Phua got another king on the flop, which was enough to knock out the Finn.
After that, the tournament ended for Wayne Heung, who lost with K-8 to Shaun Deeb’s trips. Ben Heath lost most of his stack to Daniel Negreanu and sank to the bottom of the chip count. Soon he had to go all-in with A-Q against Phua with A-9. On the turn, Phua collected the top pair and knocked out Heath. The 4-time owner of the bracelet, Julien Martini, with pocket jacks, opposed the pocket kings of Phau. Martini collected a set on the flop, and Phua had a straight draw. On the river, Phua put together a complete combination, and Martini left the table.
The two most titled players at the table, Daniel Negreanu and Shaun Deeb, faced each other in several hands. None of them came out of the fight victorious. After that, Negreanu went all-in again, but this time he was opposed by Phua. Negreanu was ahead with pocket fives but eventually lost to the opponent’s full house.
Soon after Negreanu, Shaun Deeb also went home. With the A-3, he opposed the pocket sevens of Phua. 7-6-5-Q-2 appeared on the board, and Deeb took 3rd place. In the heads-up, Paul Phua was opposed by Gab Yong Kim. The stack ratio was 4 to 1 in favor of Phua. Kim managed to double the stack at the very beginning, but then Phua won a big pot and increased the gap. In the final hand, Kim placed a bet with K-9, and Phua called with A-3. 8-7-7-5-A was handed out on the board, and Phua became the champion.