2015 WSOP Europe 888 Hand of the Day: Richard Gryko Gets There Against Ismael Bojang
The 2015 World Series of Poker Europe continued in Berlin, Germany, Monday with the final table of Event #3: €3,250 Eight-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha.
PokerNews was on hand for all the action and will be in Berlin for the duration of the 17-day series. As a part of our coverage, that is brought to you by 888poker, we will be bringing readers a special "888 Hand of the Day" every single day throughout the entire WSOP Europe schedule.
The action at the final table had just begun when the UK's Richard Gryko got involved in a massive hand with 10-time WSOP final table participant Ismael Bojang that would send Bojang to the rail and set Gryko up in prime position to win his first WSOP bracelet, thus making it the 888 Hand of the Day.
With blinds at 4,000/8,000 Gryko looked down at the Q♣Q♥10♦9♣ under the gun and raised it up to 16,000. Three players called, including Bojang on the A♦K♣J♠J♣.
The flop came J♦2♦2♣, giving Bojang a full house. The blinds checked and Gryko continued for 32,000. Bojang called and the blinds released. The turn brought the Q♦, filling up Gryko.
"I C-bet slightly dubiously," Gryko said of his play on the flop. "It seems kind of obvious to me, which is easy to say in retrospect, that he had precisely jacks. My job gets quite easy there when I turn a queen. Actually, I don't think I can quite possibly mess that up. I kind of got pretty lucky with that."
Gryko fired out 72,000 on the turn and Bojang flatted again. The river brought the 8♠ and Gryko simply pushed in for 264,000, having Bojang covered. Bojang made the call for his tournament life and got the bad news straight away with Gryko turning over a turned full house that beat the one he'd flopped.
Gryko stacked the chips and cruised to a heads-up match with Mike Leah that he eventually won to collect his first WSOP bracelet along with 888 Hand of the Day honors. Looking back, he said this hand truly propelled him to victory.
"It was definitely the key," he said. "Immediately after, stack distribution was such that there were five or six people within a 150,000 of one another, possibly even narrower than that. And this hand gave me a sizable edge on all of them. Plus, I got quite lucky that there was an extreme short stack at the table after that and I was able to accumulate chips with everyone trying to outlast him.
"It was the cumulative impact of hitting a queen on the turn and the stack distribution after that giving me a very good shot."
As the 2015 WSOP Europe rolls on, be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage, including regular 888 Hand of the Day articles.
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