Chance Kornuth Continues Great 2016 with €351K Win in EPT Grand Final €10K High Roller
Chance Kornuth continued his best year ever in poker by winning the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final €10,300 Single Reentry High Roller for €351,108 (approx. $400,000), following a three-way chop. Kornuth was awarded the win in a field of 214 entries and increased his 2016 live tournament earnings to over $1.5 million.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chance Kornuth | USA | €351,108* |
| 2 | Philipp Gruissem | Germany | €292,750* |
| 3 | Sergey Lebedev | Russia | €291,162* |
| 4 | Fedor Holz | Germany | €169,000 |
| 5 | Murad Akhundov | Azerbaijan | €133,680 |
| 6 | Anthony Zinno | USA | €101,500 |
| 7 | Felipe Ramos | Brazil | €74,100 |
| 8 | Dmitry Yurasov | Russia | €54,180 |
*Denotes a three-way deal.
The deal was made immediately after Fedor Holz busted in fourth place, attempting to pick off a bluff from Kornuth. According to reports from the PokerStars Blog, Holz limped from the cutoff seat with the blinds at 30,000/60,000/5,000. Sergey Lebedev called from the small blind, and Kornuth checked his option in the big blind to see the flop come down 4♦4♣2♣. Lebedev checked, Kornuth bet 120,000, Holz called, and Lebedev folded.
The turn was the 2♦ double pairing the board. Kornuth bet 325,000, Holz called, and the dealer delivered the 7♦ on the river. Kornuth and his stack of a reported 2.9 million had Holz's 1.2 million covered, and he shoved all in. Holz tanked before he eventually made the call. Kornuth showed the Q♣2♠ for a full house and, per the rules of the tournament, Holz showed the Q♥10♥ for just queen high. That meant Holz was out in fourth, and Kornuth moved to over 5.6 million in chips.
After Holz's bust, Kornuth (5.6 million), Philipp Gruissem (2.83 million), and Lebedev (2.605 million) agreed to a deal that saw Kornuth lock up the title. Both Gruissem and Lebedev scored just under the original second-place money per the agreement.
For Kornuth, the score marked his fourth big six-figure cash of 2016. He started 2016 off with a bang, winning $192,780 for a seventh-place finish in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller down in the Bahamas. From there, Kornuth's next big bang came from Australia when he won the AU$25,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions for AU$790,560 ($547,874). Just a couple weeks after that, Kornuth hit another continent with a splash, taking second in the EPT Dublin €25,750 High Roller for €360,150 ($407,405).
Prior to 2016, Kornuth's best year on the live felt was 2014, when he banked $843,176. He's now nearly doubled that amount in the first four months of 2016 and is showing no signs of slowing down. All told, Kornuth now boasts career live tournament winnings of over $4 million.
The EPT Grand Final €10,300 Single Reentry High Roller paid the top 31 places, with familiar faces Ole Schemion (29th), Bryn Kenney (25th), Dan Shak (21st), Adrian Mateos (17th), and Isaac Haxton (14th) all finishing in the money.
More Big Buy-Ins In Monte Carlo
There is still more big buy-in action to come from Monte Carlo, as the EPT Grand Final rolls on through May 6. PokerNews began its coverage of the €100,000 Super High Roller on Thursday, with Belrus' Mikita Badziakouski topping the 38 survivors from Day 1.
On April 30, the €5,300 Main Event will kick off, running through May 6. PokerNews will have coverage of this event, plus the €50,000 Single-Day Super High Roller on May 1 and the €25,750 High Roller that runs May 4-6.
*Photo courtesy of the EPT.
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