Filip Lovric Rises With the Sun at the €10,000 Grand Big Wrap Platinum High Roller
The sun was already peeking over the horizon in Rozvadov by the time the final river card of the €10,000 Platinum High Roller was dealt, and with it came the crowning of Filip Lovric as the newest champion at the Grand Big Wrap festival.
Around 5:15 a.m. local time, Lovric showed a flopped straight against Veselin Karakitukov’s top set and held on to capture the trophy and €261,250 top prize, the biggest score of his poker career and his first live tournament win.
Lovric is no stranger to competing in high-roller Pot-Limit Omaha events. His previous biggest cash was from May 2022 in a €25,000 event, where he battled against the likes of Tom Dwan, Jeremy Ausmus, and Patrik Antonius at that final table on his way to finishing in fifth place. He also cashed in two Omaha high rollers in Las Vegas this summer. While he didn’t get the title on those occasions, he wasn’t to be denied again today.
Final Table results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Filip Lovric | Sweden | €261,250 |
| 2 | Veselin Karakitukov | Bulgaria | €185,725 |
| 3 | Tomas Ribeiro | Portugal | €121,600 |
| 4 | Florian Langmann | Germany | €93,575 |
| 5 | Aku Joentausta | Finland | €74,100 |
| 6 | Jan-Peter Jachtmann | Germany | €57,950 |
| 7 | Hossein Ensan | Germany | €45,600 |
| 8 | Vadim Zakharyan | Israel | €35,625 |
Day 2 Action
Day 2 began with 32 players returning out of 60 total entries. They would be joined by 35 more players over the course of the first three levels, bringing the field up to 95.
The top 11 would make the money, and Joni Jouhkimainen, Diamond High Roller champion Quan Zhou, Alex Livingston, Omar Eljach, and Eelis Parssinen were among those who fell short. Anton Suarez was eliminated on the bubble in 12th place when he ran into the aces of Tomas Ribeiro.
Jonas Kronwitter, the chip leader at the start of the day, fell in 11th place, while the polarizing Martin Kabrhel shoved into Lovric’s aces as he was sent to the rail in 10th.
Ribeiro held the lead at the start of the nine-handed unofficial final table with 1,650,000, followed by Florian Langmann (1,625,000) and Lovric (1,410,000). Leonid Yanovski was the first to fall, missing the nut flush draw against Karakitukov’s pair of kings to finish in ninth place.
Ribeiro then found himself all in for 1,170,000 against Vadim Zakharyan, but the former chip leader wasn’t too much at risk as he showed top set of nines against Zakharyan’s set of sevens. Zakharyan was knocked down to a short stack and Ribeiro finished him off a few hands later, hitting a straight on the turn to bust Zakharyan in eighth place.
Hossein Ensan then moved all in for 260,000 but the 2019 world champion bowed out in seventh when Lovric hit a set of kings. Jan-Peter Jachtmann, making his second final table of the festival after a seventh-place showing in the Diamond High Roller, was down to just 325,000 when he got his chips in the middle in a three-way all in against Karakitukov and Lovric. Karakitukov made two pair to bust Jachtmannn and double up off Lovric.
Ribeiro had a big lead over the five remaining players until tangling with Karakitukov. Ribeiro flopped trip eights against Karakitukov's aces, but the Bulgarian turned another ace to make a full house and win a massive pot to narrow the gap. Aku Joentausta and Lovric then took turns doubling up, Joentausta when he hit a lucky seven on the flop against Langmann’s two kings and finishing with a flush.
Lovric then moved all in for 1,250,000 on a king-high flop and Ribeiro called with top pair, but Lovric had a set of kings and doubled up into the chip lead. Joentausta eventually got his last 725,000 in the middle with a set of nines, but Lovric rivered a straight to send him to the rail in fifth place.
Langmann followed to the exit shortly after as Lovric again hit the river, completing a straight draw to beat Langmann’s two queens. For Langmann, a WSOP bracelet winner from nearly a decade ago, his fourth-place finish marked his first recorded tournament cash in more than seven years.
Ribeiro then got involved in another pivotal pot against Karakitukov when Karakitukov made the nut straight on the turn. Ribeiro was left with just 200,000 and was eliminated the next hand as Karakitukov led Lovric 6,660,000 to 2,840,000 at the start of heads-up play.
Lovric doubled up with top set when he dodged a flush draw on the river, then moved all in again for 2,620,000 on the turn. Karakitukov had a flopped set of fives, but Lovric had turned a set of sevens to double back atop the leaderboard.
On the last hand, Lovric flopped a straight against Karakitukov’s top set, and, more than 15 hours after the day began and seven hours after the final table was set, he got to celebrate with his rail. Eljach was there to present him with a celebratory glass of champagne, and the party that was going to reverberate all the way back to Sweden had begun.
The road to the title was long and arduous but for Lovric, well worth it. It was a marathon day here at King’s Resort, and Lovric proved to be the one who could cross the finish line.
That concludes PokerNews’ coverage of the Platinum High Roller. Stay tuned as just one more event remains in Rozvadov, the conclusion of the Main Event.