Looking Back at the 2017 World Series of Poker Europe

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Oct 05, 2018 8 min read Last updated Oct 06, 2018

The 2018 World Series of Poker Europe is only a couple of days away and will see thousands of poker players from around the world descend on the King’s Casino in Rozvadov all hoping to get their hands on one of the 10 gold bracelets on offer.

When the WSOPE last took place in the Czech Republic, 12 events played out, 11 of which awarded coveted WSOP gold bracelets. Join us as we go back in time and take a look at the big winners from the 2017 WSOP Europe festival.

2017 World Series of Poker Europe Results

Event #1: €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em MONSTER STACK

The €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em MONSTER STACK kicked off the 2017 WSOPE in style as 561 players exchanged €1,100 for the chance to become the first champion of the 11-event series.

Among those starters were some of the most recognizable names in poker, a handful of who made it into the top 84 places where the €538,280 prize pool was distributed.

Ivo Donev (76th for €1,640), Mike Leah (62nd for €1,868), James Akenhead (57th for €1,868), Allen Kessler (51st for €2,065), Jan Bendik (29th for €2,697), Ismael Bojang (8th for €9,934), and Walter Treccarichi (5th for €24,787) were some of the big names to cash in the MONSTER STACK.

The man of the hour was Ukraine’s Oleksandr Shcherbak who defeated Bulgaria’s Viliyan Petleshkov heads-up for the title, the bracelet, and €117,708 in cash.

Event #2: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha

Play switched to Pot-Limit Omaha for the second event of the festival and again some of the world’s elite grinders turned out in force for the €550 buy-in tournament.

The likes of Roberto Romanello, Erik Cajelais, Phil Hellmuth, Barny Boatman, Pierre Neuville, and Brandon Cantu all navigated their way into the money.

It was a battle between Germany and Greece when only four players remained: two players called Germany home, the other two were representing Greece. The Greeks, Theodoros Aidonopoulos and Georgios Zisimopoulos busted in fourth and third-place to leave Nico Ehlers and Andreas Klatt to lock horns for the title.

Klatt won the battle of the Germans to get his hands on €56,400 and his wrist is now adorned by a bracelet.

Event #3: €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo Bounty Hunter

Martin Kabrhel locked up the first Czech bracelet of the series when he topped a field of 325 entrants in the €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo Bounty Hunter event, a result worth €53,557. Kabrhel would go on to cash three more times.

Kabrhel found himself up against some top talent as the tournament progressed to the latter stages with Phil Helmuth falling in 11th place and Mike Leah busting the final table bubble with a ninth-place finish.

Former World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up John Racener looked set to win his second bracelet of the year, but ran out of steam to bust in sixth-place.

Everyone who crashed out after Racener banked a five-figure score, with Kabrhel netting the most after beating Finland’s Philipp Caranica heads-up.

Event #4: €1,650 No-Limit Hold’em 6-handed

The first short-handed event of the festival drew in a crowd of 240 in what was an exciting tournament.

Serial crusher Anthony Zinno busted in eighth-place for €8,608, the same sum Ognjen Sekularec got his hands on when he exited in seventh place.

Maksim Shulga and Petr Steka were the final table’s first casualties and they were joined on the rail by Sweden’s Jerry Odeen. Andrej Desset, a regular at King’s Casino and ranked sixth in the Slovakian all-time money listings, followed right after.

Desset busting left Jan Bednar of the Czech Republic and France’s Theodore McQuilikin to play one-on-one for the bracelet and the not so small matter of the €88,043 top prize. The Frenchman emerged victorious, leaving Bednar to collect a €54,410 consolation prize.

Event #5: €550 No-Limit Hold’em – THE COLOSSUS

COLOSSUS by name, colossus by the sheer number of entrants in the €550 buy-in fifth event of the 2017 WSOPE; 4,115 players bought in and created a €2,078,075 prize pool.

Czech grinder Matous Skorepa was the last player standing, which meant he not only won his first WSOP bracelet but also a massive €270,015 cash prize. Skorepa’s previous largest cash before this colossal score weighed in at €7,000, his reward for finishing 18th in a €2,200 buy-in event at King’s Casino a couple of months prior.

Event #6: €2,200 Pot-Limit Omaha

A second PLO event took place at the 2017 WSOPE, one with a €2,200 buy-in that saw 191 players compete for a slice of the €366,529 prize pool.

Maligned pro Chris “Jesus” Ferguson of Full Tilt Poker infamy was the first player to cash after he busted in 29th place for a €3,215 score. Mike Leah, John Racener, and Erik Cajalias also busted in the money places but couldn’t get near the final table.

All eyes were on rounder Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler as he bulldozed his way to heads-up against Czech Republic’s Lukas Zaskodny. Kessler has several dozen cashes on the live tournament circuit, including three runner-up finishes in WSOP events. Kessler made if four bridesmaid finishes after he lost heads-up to his Czech opponent who claimed €93,677, the biggest haul of his career.

Event #7: €1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo

A compact field of 92 players took to the felt in the €1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo event and they were all outlasted by Chris “Jesus” Ferguson who claimed his sixth WSOP bracelet and his third in an Omaha hi-lo event.

Ferguson triumphed over Ukraine’s Stanislav Wright in the one-on-one battle to decide the tournament’s champion, avoiding the low draw to win with two pairs kings and jacks.

Event #8: €1,100 No Limit Hold’em Little One for One Drop

The €1,100 No Limit Hold’em Little One for One Drop had a €500,000 guaranteed prize pool that was smashed by €366,654 after a massive 868 entries were made into the event.

Such luminaries as Gianluca Speranza, Allen Kessler, Marcel Luske, Barny Boatman, William Kassouf, and Maria Lampropulos navigated their way into the money places to show some profit for their efforts, but none of them won anywhere near as much as Albert Hoekendijk, the tournament’s eventual champion.

Hoekendijk got his hands on his first WSOP bracelet and his first six-figure live score when he scooped the €170,764 first-place prize after sending Switzerland’s Thomas Hofmann to the rail in second-place. Hofmann was the only other player in the event to secure a six-figure payday as second-place was worth €105,532.

Event #9: €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller

A star-studded crowd descended on the €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller event, as you would expect from such a prestigious tournament. A total of 113 players created a €2,651,545 prize pool that was shared among the top 17 finishers.

The in-the-money players read like a who’s who of international poker, with Philipp Gruissem, Timothy Adams, Nick Petrangelo, Dario Sammartino, and Bryn Kenney being a quintet of players who bust before the final table.

Ole Schemion was the first player to exit the final table and he was joined on the rail by Antoine Saout, Stefan Schillhabel, Andrew Leathern, Sylvain Loosli, former WSOP Main Event champion Ryan Riess, and Claas Segebrecht.

Heads-up saw talented Frenchman Benjamin Pollak and Scottish pro Niall Farrell play for what was essentially a €285,000 heads-up sit ‘n’ go, although with a WSOP bracelet up for grabs there was much more at stake.

Pollak crashed out in second-place to bank €460,622 leaving Farrell to net €745,287 and his first WSOP bracelet, which completed the coveted Triple Crown of live poker titles.

Event #10: €111,111 No Limit Hold’em High Roller for One Drop

The biggest buy-in event of the 2017 WSOPE was the €111,111 No Limit Hold’em High Roller for One Drop that had a huge €12,980,000 prize pool.

As not unusual, the Germans dominated proceedings with eight of the 20 players who cashed calling Germany home, including four of the final table players and the winner.

Four players became millionaires in this event due to the massive prizes on offer. Thomas Muehloecker exited in fourth-place for €1,096,206 with Mikita Badziakouski collecting €1,521,312 for his third-place finish.

Germany’s Andreas Eiler busted in second-place for €2,155,418 meaning Dominik Nitsche scooped the €3,487,463 top prize, the largest of his illustrious career so far, and his fourth WSOP bracelet.

Event #11: €10,400 No Limit Hold’em Main Event

A field of 529 players ensured the €4,000,000 guarantee of the 2017 WSOPE Main Event was obliterated; €5,025,500 was played for.

Again, the lure of such a big tournament attracted some of the biggest pros in the business with the likes of Dominik Panka, Anatoly Filatov, Maria Lampropulos, Rainer Kempe, Kristen Bicknell, Michael Zhang, Vlad Darie and Kevin MacPhee all making their way into the money place, the latter bursting the final table bubble.

Established pros Jack Salter and Maria Ho exited in seventh and sixth-place respectively, with €25,000 High Roller champion Niall Farrell busting in fifth-place for €239,639. Robert Bickley who only a year previously was playing in £30 buy-in tournaments, busted in fourth-place for €355,089 and Netherlands’ Mathijs Jonkers, another low-stakes player, exited in third-place for €476,585.

Jonkers’ exit left Gianluca Speranza and Marti Roca de Torres to play heads-up for the title and a seven-figure score. Speranza busted in second-place to leave an overwhelmed de Torres, who qualified for the Main Event in a €200 satellite on 888poker’s Spanish site, to walk away with a bracelet and €1,115,207 in cold, hard cash.

2018 WSOP Europe Begins Oct. 9

The PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on the ground in Rozvadov for all 10 bracelet-awarding events of the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe.

Although the WSOPE usually has many more European players competing in it, for obvious reasons, this festival could see some big American and Canadian players taking part as the 2018 WSOP Player of the Year race is still open.

Shaun Deeb is the man in pole position right now but he could be caught by players such as Ben Yu, John Hennigan and Joe Cada, while the likes of Scott Bohlman, Paul Volpe, and Eric Baldwin are still not out of the running either.

2018 World Series of Poker Europe Schedule

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• Tags Big One for One Drop Chris Ferguson Dominik Nitsche Joe Cada Maria Ho Ole Schemion Phil Hellmuth Player of the Year Tournament Results Shaun Deeb Ryan Riess WSOP WSOPE World Series of Poker
• Related Tournaments World Series of PokerWorld Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE)
• Related Players Phil HellmuthChris FergusonShaun DeebMaria HoJoe CadaDominik Nitsche