€1,700 Main Event
Day 4 Completed
€1,700 Main Event
Day 4 Completed
The next major festival in Europe's biggest poker arena at the King's Resort in Rozvadov has crowned a winner. After a short-lived final day in the marquee event of the 2022 WSOP International Circuit Rozvadov Spring Edition, Germany's Volkan Alkan came out on top of a 648-entry strong field despite entering the final table as the shortest stack.
It only took just over six hours to distribute the lion's share of the €1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool in the WSOP Circuit €1,700 Main Event and Alkan walked away with a cash prize of €160,500. On top of that, he received the coveted WSOP Circuit gold ring, an entry into the 2022 WSOP Europe €10,350 Main Event and seat in the WSOP Circuit Tournament of Champions during the 2022 WSOP in Las Vegas.
Kosovo's Besnik Lalinovci, who resides in Switzerland, entered the final day as the chip leader and was responsible for the vast majority of the table action. He ultimately fell short of victory and had to settle for a consolation prize of €100,900 after a heads-up duel that lasted all but seven hands. The final table wrapped up in 138 hands on the King's Resort Twitch channel.
Among the finalists was also Israel's Tom Cohen, won took down the Dutch Classics €230 Main Event in September 2021 at the same venue. Cohen's bid for another victory at King's Resort was cut short in third place while Czech WSOP bracelet winner Lukas Zaskodny had to settle for fifth place despite being responsible for the first four eliminations on the final table.
Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in EUR) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Volkan Alkan | Germany | €160,500* |
2 | Besnik Lalinovci | Kosovo | €100,900 |
3 | Tom Cohen | Israel | €72,300 |
4 | Nedeljko Todorovic | Slovenia | €56,900 |
5 | Lukas Zaskodny | Czech Republic | €44,700 |
6 | Rama Mulaj | Kosovo | €34,900 |
7 | Ruslan Volkov | Ukraine | €26,300 |
8 | Luc Ta | Germany | €18,300 |
9 | Vincent De Neve | Germany | €14,500 |
* the top 12 finishers also received an entry into the 2022 WSOP Europe Main Event worth €10,350 each
The third edition of the WSOP International Circuit within seven months awarded 12 coveted gold rings. Unlike the last two stops, the flagship tournament came up short of surpassing the ambitious seven-figure guarantee this time and the top 71 spots were paid.
Italy's Fausto Tantillo finished in 13th place to miss out on the additional 2022 WSOP Europe Main Event ticket but had won the €2,200 High Roller Ring Event earlier in the series to unlock his entry to the WSOP Circuit Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas. Ciprian Paunescu, Rene Crha and Symeon Alexandridis fell short of the final table but will be back in fall to compete in the most prestigious tournament of the year at the King's Resort.
Right from the start, the fireworks kicked off and it was former WSOP Circuit Main Event finalist Vincent De Neve who became the first casualty on the final day. He started with the second-shortest stack and found a premium hand in pocket kings to get it in with. Despite flopping top set, De Neve ended up second-best as the ten-nine suited of Lukas Zaskodny rivered a straight.
Luc Ta was one of the bigger stacks when the cards went back in the air but never got much going. Eventually, he entered one of the most classic flips with jacks versus ace-king and Zaskodny peeled an ace on the turn. The Czech then also won a flip to knock out Ruslan Volkov and he made it four in a row when his kings nailed a full house against the ace-nine suited of a short-stacked Rama Mulaj.
Zaskodny took the lead into five-handed action when he profited from the aggressive playing style of Besnik Lalinovci but the wheels then came off in a span of one hour. He first lost two pots to Lalinovci and was then on the wrong end of a trips versus trips cooler to double Tom Cohen. It was all over soon after for Zaskodny and what followed thereafter can only be described as a frantic frenzy.
Despite an average of more than 40 big blinds, it took fewer than one hour to determine a champion. Volkan Alkan doubled through Cohen to take the lead, who then doubled through Nedeljko Todorovic and finished the job shortly after. Only a few hands later, the two big stacks collided and Cohen's ace-queen suited were no match to the ace-king suited of Alkan. Seven hands of heads-up play culminated in the preflop shove by Lalinovci with queen-nine and Alkan prevailed with ace-ten.
One day prior when he had bagged up the shortest stack, Alkan had bemoaned the fact that he has to stay another day and may potentially bust in the first few hands. However, the comeback story turned into the biggest success of his poker career so far and wrapped up the festival at the King's Resort. The next stop of the WSOP International Circuit is already underway at the Casino Barrière Cannes Le Croisette and will head to Venlo in the Netherlands next in May 2022.
First to act Besnik Lalinovci bet 500,000. Volkan Alkan three-bet to 1.5 Million which prompted Lalinovci to move all-in for 9.4 million immediately, Alkan snap-called.
Besnik Lalinovci:
Volkan Alkan:
The flop didn't help Lalinovci. An inconsequential did not help and the on the river was enough to knockout Lalinovci in second place and a six-figure payday. Volkan Alkan is the champion and the recipient of the coveted WSOP Circuit Ring.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Volkan Alkan |
32,000,000
9,000,000
|
9,000,000 |
Besnik Lalinovci | Busted | |
|
Besnik Lalinovci with the defended his big blind against a button raise to 450,000 by Volkan Alkan, who held the . Lalinovci check-called for 500,000 and the turn was checked by both. Lalinovci also checked the river and Alkan checked it back to see Lalinovci win the pot.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Volkan Alkan |
23,000,000
-1,000,000
|
-1,000,000 |
Besnik Lalinovci |
9,400,000
1,300,000
|
1,300,000 |
|
Besnik Lalinovci won the first hand of heads-up. Volkan Alkan then raised to 450,000 with the and Lalinovci defended the . On the flop, Lalinovci checked and Alkan bet 425,000 only for Lalinovci to raise it up to 1,000,000. Alkan folded and the pot was shipped to Lalinovci.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Volkan Alkan |
24,000,000
-600,000
|
-600,000 |
Besnik Lalinovci |
8,100,000
600,000
|
600,000 |
|
Volkan Alkan raised it up to 400,000 on the button and Tom Cohen three-bet to 1,600,000 in the big blind. Alkan then clicked it back to 5,000,000 and Cohen shipped it in for 12 million in a battle of the two chip leaders. Alkan instantly called and had the slightly superior stack.
Tom Cohen:
Volkan Alkan:
Nothing changed on the flop as both players were out of their chairs. The followed on the turn which left Cohen with three outs. He missed them on the river and the stacks were counted. With Cohen covered by a notch, the Israeli had to settle for third place and receives a payday of €72,300.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Volkan Alkan |
24,600,000
12,600,000
|
12,600,000 |
Tom Cohen | Busted |
Besnik Lalinovci raised to 450,000 on the button holding the and he was called by Tom Cohen in the big blind with the . Both checked through the flop and Cohen led the turn for 625,000, which Lalinovci called after he mulled it over for a short while.
Neither player improved on the river and Cohen bet 750,000 and Lalinovci paid it off with queen-high.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Tom Cohen |
12,000,000
2,000,000
|
2,000,000 |
Besnik Lalinovci |
7,500,000
-2,400,000
|
-2,400,000 |
|
Tom Cohen raised to 450,000 and Volkan Alkan called on the button with the . Nedeljko Todorovic then jammed in the big blind for 2,200,000 and Cohen isolated
Nedeljko Todorovic:
Tom Cohen:
The flop gave Todorovic a pair and gutshot to increase his outs. However, the turn and river brought no further help and that sent Todorovic to the rail in 4th place for €56,900.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Volkan Alkan | 12,000,000 | |
Tom Cohen |
10,000,000
5,700,000
|
5,700,000 |
Nedeljko Todorovic | Busted |
Nedeljko Todorovic bet 650,000 under the gun. Tom Cohen from the button moved all-in for 3.5 million. The blinds folded and Todorovic made a quick call.
Nedeljko Todorovic:
Tom Cohen:
Cohen looked incredulous that Todorovic would call so easily with his holding. Fortunately for Cohen, the board ran to complete the double-up and put Todorovic in the danger-zone
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Nedeljko Todorovic |
2,400,000
-3,800,000
|
-3,800,000 |
Volkan Alkan raised to 450,000 with the on the button and was called by Besnik Lalinovci in the big blind with the . The flop brought a bet worth 475,000 by Alkan and Lalinovci raised it up to 950,000 for Alkan to immediately shut down.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Volkan Alkan |
12,000,000
-1,000,000
|
-1,000,000 |
Besnik Lalinovci |
9,900,000
1,400,000
|
1,400,000 |
|