Wiktor Malinowski Wins Super High Roller Bowl Europe ($3,690,000)
Wiktor Malinowski has won the Super High Roller Bowl Europe Main Event for $3,690,000.
He topped a field of 41 players and defeated Ivan Leow in a tense and gruelling five-hour heads-up at the Merit Hotel & Casino in Cyprus.
The former professional handball player started out playing freerolls in 2014, and worked his way up the cash game stakes before transitioning to High Roller tournaments.
From the Triton Super High Roller Series to EPT Monte Carlo, Malinowski was a regular in some of the biggest Super High Roller tournaments. He now has a victory in one of them on his poker resume, and a coveted SHRB ring to go with it.
Super High Roller Bowl Europe Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wiktor Malinowski | Poland | $3,690,000 |
| 2 | Ivan Leow | Malaysia | $2,460,000 |
| 3 | Zhuang Ruan | United States | $1,640,000 |
| 4 | Timothy Adams | United States | $1,127,500 |
| 5 | David Peters | United States | $820,000 |
| 6 | Viacheslav Buldygin | Russia | $512,500 |
There was a seven-figure payday for 20-year-old Zhuang Ruan in third, ahead of Timothy Adams in fourth place.
Adams was looking to win a third live Super High Roller Bowl in a row after victories in Australia and Russia, but would have to settle for $1,127,500.
Winner's Reaction
This was Malinowski's first live Super High Roller Bowl appearance and he came into the final day as the chip leader. The high stakes online cash grinder now has his first live tournament win under his belt.
"It was a hell of a lot of fun," Malinowski told PokerNews. "The final table took two hours and then played heads-up for five more.
"I haven't played very well, and then I got ace-king. It was a great tournament. It's good to have live poker back, so I'm looking forward to more action!"
Read More: Malinowski Wins $842K Pot Off Addamo in Biggest-Ever Online NLHE Cash Game Hand
Final Table Recap
It was a frenetic start to the final table, with short-stack Viacheslav Buldygin watching on as both David Peters and Zhuang Ruan scored doubles.
However, Ruan's double came at the expense of Buldygin, which pushed him closer to the exit, before he was eliminated by Leow. The Malaysian then cracked kings to double through Peters and into the chip lead.
Although Wiktor Malinowski would regain the chip lead, Leow's elimination of Peters in fifth place would see him move ahead once more.
Timothy Adams had been looking to join Justin Bonomo as the only player with three Super High Roller Bowl titles, and to win his third live SHRB in a row, but fell in fourth place after shoving into the aces of Malinowski.
And after the pair returned from break, it was Ruan with the aces who shoved into Leow. He called and rivered a gutshot straight to crack aces and send Ruan to the rail in third.
Heads-Up Play
The flurry of all-ins over the course of the opening 90 minutes was nothing compared to the barren and desolate landscape of heads-up. Both players spent time feeling each other out, content to check flop and take it to the streets.
Leow began heads-up in the chip lead, but it was Malinowski who was in the lead for large portions of the contest.
The pair bantered back and forth, revealing their hole cards after a hand and speculating as to whether the opponent bluffed them.
"You play very good," Malinowski said to his opponent as the heads-up match approached five hours, and shortly after Leow folded to Malinowski's shove - the first of the heads-up match.
With the blinds getting steadily higher, there was always going to be an instrumental moment. And so it proved with Leow shoving ace-four into the ace-king of Malinowski for the Pole to double, and Malinowski sent Leow to the rail shortly afterwards.
Super High Roller Bowl Results
| Year | Event | Entrants | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul-15 | Super High Roller Bowl I | 43 | Brian Rast | $7,525,000 |
| Jun-15 | Super High Roller Bowl II | 49 | Rainer Kempe | $5,000,000 |
| Jun-17 | Super High Roller Bowl III | 56 | Christoph Vogelsang | $6,000,000 |
| Mar-18 | Super High Roller Bowl China | 75 | Justin Bonomo | $4,823,077 |
| May-18 | Super High Roller Bowl IV | 48 | Justin Bonomo | $5,000,000 |
| Dec-18 | Super High Roller Bowl V | 36 | Isaac Haxton | $3,672,000 |
| Sep-19 | Super High Roller Bowl London | 12 | Cary Katz | $2,610,317 |
| Nov-19 | Super High Roller Bowl Bahamas | 51 | Daniel Dvoress | $4,080,000 |
| Feb-20 | Super High Roller Bowl Australia | 16 | Timothy Adams | $1,446,112 |
| Mar-20 | Super High Roller Bowl Russia | 40 | Timothy Adams | $3,600,000 |
| Jun-20 | Super High Roller Bowl Online | 50 | Justin Bonomo | $1,775,000 |
| Sep-21 | Super High Roller Bowl Europe | 41 | Wiktor Malinowski | $3,690,000 |