Lukas Pazma Claims First Bracelet of 2023 WSOPE in Event #1: €350 NLH Opener (€110,000)

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Oct 31, 2023 5 min read

The first gold bracelet at the 2023 World Series of Poker Europe has been awarded at the King's Resort in Rozvadov. For the sixth time, Europe's biggest poker arena hosts the series, which is set to award 15 WSOP gold bracelets and Lukas Pazma has been crowned the first champion of the festival.

Event #1: €350 NLH Opener drew an overall field of 3,503 entries, which represents a significant increase to the 2,554 entries of the previous edition. Only 378 players had survived their respective starting days to lock up a portion of the €1,048,272 prize pool, and 23 returned for the final day.

Pazma becomes the third player from Slovakia in consecutive years to etch his name in the history books, following in the footsteps of Samuel Stranak and Lubos Laska. Pazma defeated Andras Balogh in heads-up to earn the €110,000 top prize, while Balogh had to settle for a consolation prize of €66,000 for his runner-up finish.

Pazma entered the unofficial final table with two times as many chips as his nearest follower after a card rush propelled him into a commanding lead and he never looked back en route to victory. The Slovakian came fresh off a deep run in the WPT Prime Liechtenstein Main Event, in which he earned 169,700 Swiss Franks for a very respectable third place finish. He also had several big results at King's Resort and locked up his third WSOP Europe Main Event ticket to continue a hot run throughout the last six months.

For Balogh, it was yet another close call for the gold bracelet. One year ago, he finished seventh for €37,997 in Event #5: €550 COLOSSUS in which aforementioned Laska triumphed. The only bracelet winner in contention was Emil Bise, who finished in ninth place. On top of their cash prizes, the top 12 finishers also earned an entry to the 2023 WSOP Europe Main Event worth €10,350.

Final Table Result Event #1: €350 NLH Opener

* Top 12 finishers also received an entry to 2023 WSOP Europe €10,350 Main Event

Pazma had scored a crucial double in the late stages of Day 2 and returned second in chips, trailing only Stefan Drusca. Both remained near the top of the leaderboard until the Main Event ticket bubble but Pazma then went on an incredible hot streak to separate himself from all other contestants.

When all was said and done, all the pressure fell off the Slovakian and he was all smiles.

"Like, I am really surprised, like, wow, I made it. I have no words. Really. I am happy, so happy," Pazma said shortly after his victory. Despite having such a large lead, he was aware of runner-up finisher Balogh, who he described as a "really tough, really good player". But at the right time, he picked up a strong hand and held when his dominating ace-queen came out on top versus ace-seven.

Pazma was the centre of action for most of the day and confirmed this as a pivotal part of his strategy.

"When I have chips, I am a very dangerous player because I push with my chips like I make so much pressure," he mentioned.

And while the six-figure prize will certainly be a great addition to his bankroll, he didn't so much care about the money but about keeping the streak going for players from Slovakia to win a bracelet. Fellow countryman Stanislav Koleno was also in the mix to make that happen but had to settle for third place after two clashes with Balogh.

"This means so much for me. Maybe somebody doesn't believe it. But this is for me. I am proud of myself and like I was not thinking about money but about this," Pazma acknowledged when asked about the third Slovakian win in as many years at King's Resort.

One thing is for certain: he will be back for the 2023 WSOP Europe Main Event and perhaps also enter further gold bracelet events in the days to come.

Action of the Final Day

Only 23 players returned to their seats, and that number was cut down almost immediately when Hristofor Kolev was eliminated in a three-way all-in. William Kang was also involved in the hand and never recovered from losing a flip with Queens to become the next casualty.

Frank Leykauf tangled at the wrong time with Stanislav Koleno and hero-called to get shown a flush, and he was joined at the payout desk by Jiri Kun moments later. Schakeri flopped a set of tens, but Iman Ghashayar turned the nut straight. The eliminations of Marcin Kacprzak and Scottie Howington brought the field down to the final two tables.

With cards barely back in the air thereafter, Mikkel Plum picked the wrong time to jam five-deuce as Pazma called with his limped pocket kings. The Dane then returned to his seat in Event #2: €550 Pot Limit Omaha 8-max to try and run up a stack, already secured another in-the-money finish.

For Pazma, that hand was the start of a hot streak as he picked up numerous premium hands to become the runaway chip leader. Roland Schweinstetter was among his victims when he ran with nines into kings, and that led the ticket bubble burst. Alfredo Vega Meister followed in the same footsteps, and Stefan Pezzarossa then bubbled the unofficial final table against Florin Bilan.

Emil Bise made the final redraw of the tournament, albeit with a severe short stack of just six blinds and became the first casualty thereafter, as Koleno notched up another elimination. The next three seats open were all caused by Pazma before fellow Slovakian Koleno dispatched Stephan Glausch. Florin Bilan outflopped Pazma with queen-ten suited but couldn't hold as the field was already down to the final three.

Koleno and Balogh were fighting for survival and the ladder up with the better end for Balogh. However, there was no stopping the dominant performance of Pazma, who needed around one hour of heads-up play to wrap up the victory.

• Tags WSOPE23 Lukas Pazma Alessandro De Michele Alfredo Vega Meister Andras Balogh Emil Bise William Kang World Series of Poker Iman Ghashayar Lubos Laska Hristofor Kolev
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• Related Players Alfredo Vega MeisterEmil BiseWilliam KangAlessandro De MicheleIman GhashayarAndras Balogh