Sergi Reixach Wins the Third €25,550 Single-Day High Roller for €217,550

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Dec 16, 2016 4 min read

What started as a pitch by Steve O'Dwyer at the end of a long day of poker in the scheduled €25,550 Single-Day High Roller, ended in two more of those events in the two days to follow for the European Poker Tour.

The third and last single-day high roller attracted 16 players. The eight reentries made for a total field of 24 entries, just one shy of the previous edition which attracted a field of 25.

In the end, Spaniard Sergi Reixach lifted the trophy, beating Ali Reza Fatehi from Iran heads up. O'Dwyer cashed in the event for the third time in a row, this time settling for bronze and €95,550.

While the second edition of the event the previous day had plenty of action early on, the third edition started out a lot slower. Not a whole lot of players sat down and the two different tables were constantly shorthanded and on the verge of getting merged into one. When the registration period was nearing its end, a burst of players decided to hop in, bumping the field to 24 entries.

Daniel Dvoress was the first player to make his definite departure. He had no more reentry option after losing pocket sixes toNick Petrangelo. Adding insult to injury, Petrangelo needled him when he made his exit. While the buy-in for the tournament of €25,500 was even unheard of just a couple of years ago, here today the needling and constant banter made it look like it was your regular €5 rebuy in the local pub. There was constant laughter and not an annoyed face was seen all day.

That did not change as the bubble got closer. Still, play was friendly and fast, the atmosphere amicable. All the players were in it to win it, but it stayed as friendly a game as ever. The fierce recreational players and the pros both seemed to have a good time, reason enough for the organization to consider adding these kind of events to future PokerStars Championships.

In the end, Isaac Haxton would end up bubbling. After having won the first €25,500 Single-Day High Roller event for a staggering €559,200, he went home empty-handed in the third edition. He got it in good against the eventual winner Reixach, but failed to dodge the dangler three and departed in sixth place.

After that, things went real quick. In consecutive hands, Jean-Noel Thorel and Alexandros Kolonias exited. Thorel, long time chip leader in the event, finished in fifth place after running jacks into ace-queen on a queen high board. Thorel, who took second in the second edition of the event, went home with €55,860.

Kolonias was short and needed to make a move with king-four suited. O'Dwyer waited for him with aces and found no trouble on the board. Kolonias went home in fourth place for €69,100.

O'Dwyer had long been one of the shortest stacks, but was underway making a comeback when he got hero called by Fatehi. The Iranian called a big bet in an even bigger pot with ace-high, rightfully putting O'Dwyer on a missed straight and flush draw. The fact that Reixach was still left to act when Fatehi made the call will probably only give O'Dwyer even more nightmares in the coming days.

That set O'Dwyer back considerably, and he lost the remainder of his chips not much later in a hand against Reixach. They got it in with ace-eight (O'Dwyer) against ace-five (Reixach) but a five hit the board. Just like in the hand against Haxton on the bubble, Reixach hit his kicker to send one home. O'Dwyer pitched the idea of adding the events to the schedule and it would turn out a profitable one for him. He finished sixth in the first event for €124,050, fifth for €58,200 in the second, and third in the last event for another €95,550.

The heads-up play between Reixach and Fatehi didn't last long. Fatehi paid off Reixach who had hit two pair on the turn and was getting real short when the last hand started. Fatehi would bluff shove on the turn with an open-ended straight draw and an over card. Reixach called with top-pair and the same over card and made trips on the river to send Fatehi home in second place.

With that, the third edition of the €25,500 Single-Day High Roller was on the books and so was our impromptu coverage. Next up: a regular €10,000 High Roller event. PokerNews.com will be on the floor to bring you updates. And, it goes without saying that we're also bringing you everything you need to know about the Main Event where High Roller David Peters leads the final 65 players.

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