Event #12: €100,000 Diamond High Roller No-Limit Hold'em
Day 3 Completed
2019 World Series of Poker Europe
Event #12: €100,000 Diamond High Roller No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 3
Level 22
: 500,000/1,000,000, 1,000,000 ante
The final day of Event #12: €100,000 Diamond High Roller No-Limit Hold’Em came to a quicker conclusion than anyone expected, even Chin Wei Lim who ended up winning thought he’d be there for a long time. Lim claims his first gold WSOP bracelet and €2,172,104 by defeating Jean-Noel Thorel heads-up who cashed for €1,342,459. The second-biggest buy-in event of the World Series of Poker Europe attracted 34 unique players for a total of 72 entries by the end of the registration period here at the King's Resort.
This is Lim’s biggest win ever after finishing second in the €250,000 Super High Roller behind James Chen for €1,757,857. When the PokerNews live reporting team spoke to him just after the winner photos were taken, he said: “To be honest, it feels pretty weird. I am just used to losing, and losing, and losing. And then, I’m just pretty lucky on this trip. I can’t complain. The field was hard in the €250,000 and to be able to finish second, I really can’t complain, even though I didn’t win it, it gave me a good confidence boost.”
“Today everything went my way, I was running good I think, a lot of these guys are better than me. It was smooth sailing, no tough spots. I came into the day fourth in chips and we were all pretty deep. I thought it would be a long day but apparently, we only played for six hours. So that was quite surprising.”
Lim has become a regular fixture in the High Roller fields all over the world and is part of the Triton Poker group, sporting one of their hoodies today at the final table. The close-knit group is always supporting each other: “We talk a lot about hands with each other, me, Danny (Tang), and (Michael) Soyza. I ask them a lot for advice, they helped my game a lot. I have to thank them and my backer, Ivan Leow too of course!”
This is the second bracelet for Malaysia as Junzhung Loo had won the first in 2014 during the World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific in the A$2,200 No-Limit Hold’Em event and Lim was still star-struck: “I still can’t believe it,” while Danny Tang was taking photos of Lim during the interview.
“Breakout player of the year!” Tang commented and Lim waved the compliment away. “I’m serious!” Tang himself won the €50,000 No-Limit Hold’em in Las Vegas this summer for his first bracelet. “Team Asia is taking over!”
Event #12: €100,000 Diamond High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chin Wei Lim | Malaysia | €2,172,104 | $ 2,395,244 |
| 2 | Jean-Noel Thorel | France | €1,342,459 | $ 1,480,370 |
| 3 | Anatoly Filatov | Russian Federation | €907,301 | $ 1,000,508 |
| 4 | Christoph Vogelsang | Germany | €633,336 | $698,399 |
| 5 | Matthias Eibinger | Austria | €457,107 | $504,066 |
| 6 | Ole Schemion | Germany | €341,510 | $376,593 |
| 7 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | €264,440 | $291,606 |
| 8 | Phil Ivey | United States | €212,504 | $234,335 |
Before the first break
Ten-time bracelet winner, Phil Ivey was eliminated in the first hand of the day when he shoved his ace-five into the sixes of Christoph Vogelsang. A mere 30 minutes later, Tang would be leaving the final table when he shoved with ace-king after Matthias Eibinger had raised with pocket jacks. Eibinger called and held throughout the board. Ten minutes later, Ole Schemion was all-in with ace-nine and Anatoly Filatov looked him up with kings. No help came on the board as the German was sent to the rail in sixth place.
Lim doubled up through Vogelsang when he was short and held pocket sixes. Vogelsang had turned two pair while Lim had hit a set on the flop to get him into second place in the chip counts before the first break of the day.
Thorel and Lim Domination
Thorel decided to run riot after getting some headspace in the first break. With a combination of bluffs, random bets and raises, getting the right hands, hitting the board at the right times, the French high roller regular kept adding chips to his stack to become the clear chip leader.
The only person to come close to Thorel was Lim after he eliminated Eibinger when he put the pressure on him from the small blind. Eibinger called for his last chips and the board did not help in any way. By the time the second break came, Vogelsang was down to around twelve big blinds. They all went in shortly after the intermission with ace-three. Lim called with ace-jack and held on to the lead throughout the board to bring the field down to three.
Day 2 chip leader, Filatov had been bleeding chips all day, not really being able to shake things up. In the end, he shoved with ace-trey. Thorel called with king-ten and while they both flopped a pair, Thorel remained ahead during the turn and river to send the Russian away in third place.
Heads-up Commotion
Heads-up play only lasted four hands, while they started with similar stacks, Lim quickly built a lead in the very first hand to then end the tournament in a sort of anti-climactic way:
“I raised the button, he defends. The flop was eight-four-deuce, two clubs. I had eight-four off with the four of clubs. I bet 60% of the pot, he calls. The turn was the trey of clubs, completes the flush. I bet half pot, he calls. The river was the four of spades, he checked, and then I just bet half pot again. He goes all-in, but I heard him say something but didn’t really clearly hear anything. And then it was kind of a mess, we had to wait for the floor to come. I was sitting there with second-nuts and was hoping that it was going to be ruled an all-in. And then they ruled it as all-in and it was over!”
Thorel’s eleventh heads-up match didn’t go to plan as he finishes as the runner-up once more while the mainly Malaysian rail came up to congratulate Lim for this amazing result.
Level 22
: 500,000/1,000,000, 1,000,000 ante
Chin Wei Lim raised to 2,400,000 on the button with 
and Jean-Noel Thorel called with 
in the big blind. The flop fell 
and Thorel check-called a bet of 4,000,000 from Lim.
The 
on the turn gave Thorel the larger of the two flush draws and a straight draw. He checked again and Lim dropped in a bet of 6,800,000. Thorel made the call and the 
paired the board on the river.
Thorel checked for the third time and Lim announced a bet of 19,000,000. Thorel check-raised all in for around 45,000,000. There was a bit of controversy due to the language barrier but the final ruling was that Thorel was all in. Lim confirmed that Thorel was all in before making the call with a full house.
Just like that, the tournament finished after just four hands of heads-up action. Thorel will still pocket over €1.3 million for his runner-up finish and Lim has earned his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet. A full recap and winner's interview will be posted shortly.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
144,000,000
51,400,000
|
51,400,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 22
: 500,000/1,000,000, 1,000,000 ante
Jean-Noel Thorel made it 2,000,000 on the button with 
in the first hand of heads-up. Chin Wei Lim called with 
and the flop came 
. Lim checked to Thorel who bet 3,000,000 and Lim just called.
The turn was the 
and Lim checked again. Thorel fired another 4,000,000 and Lim just called again. The 
completed the board and Lim pushed out a bet of 13,000,000. Thorel made the call and Lim picked up a big pot with two pair.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
92,600,000
22,000,000
|
22,000,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
51,400,000
-22,000,000
|
-22,000,000 |
Level: 22
Blinds: 500,000/1,000,000
Ante: 1,000,000
Level 21
: 400,000/800,000, 800,000 ante
The action was on Anatoly Filatov in the small blind who ripped all in for 12,500,000. Jean-Noel Thorel asked for a count in the big blind and gave a little laugh as Filatov just relaxed, eating his food. Thorel eventually made the call and Filatov's tournament life was on the line.
Jean-Noel Thorel: 
Anatoly Filatov: 
The flop came 
to give Filatov a pair of threes but Thorel hit a pair of kings. The on the turn was no help to Filatov and the 
on the river sealed the deal. Filatov was ousted in third place and the final two players will take a quick break before heads-up action begins.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
73,400,000
6,700,000
|
6,700,000 |
|
|
70,600,000
17,800,000
|
17,800,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level 21
: 400,000/800,000, 800,000 ante
Anatoly Filatov raised it up to 2,900,000 in the small blind with 
and Jean-Noel Thorel defended from the big blind with 
. The flop came 
and Filatov led out for 3,400,000. Thorel called with top pair and the 
landed on the turn.
Filatov checked this time and Thorel pushed out a bet of 5,000,000. Filatov used a time bank before making the call. The river was the 
and both players quickly tapped the table. Filatov's pair of deuces was not going to cut it against Thorel's pair of tens.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
66,700,000
8,500,000
|
8,500,000 |
|
|
14,100,000
-12,700,000
|
-12,700,000 |
|
|
||
Level 21
: 400,000/800,000, 800,000 ante
Jean-Noel Thorel raised to 1,600,000 on the button with and was called by Chin Wei Lim in the small blind with and Anatoly Filatov in the big blind with . The flop came 
and the action checked around to the on the turn.
Lim checked again and Filatov tossed in a bet of 1,700,000. Thorel called and Lim quickly folded. The river was the and Filatov checked this time. Thorel made a small bet of 1,500,000 and Filatov paid him off. Thorel showed his rivered two pair and Filatov's cards hit the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
58,200,000
9,100,000
|
9,100,000 |
|
|
52,800,000
-5,000,000
|
-5,000,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
26,800,000
-7,200,000
|
-7,200,000 |
|
|
||
Level 21
: 400,000/800,000, 800,000 ante
Chin Wei Lim limped in from the small blind with 
and Anatoly Filatov checked his option holding the 
. The flop came 
and Lim led out for 1,200,000 which Filatov called.
The turn was the and Lim fired out another bet of 3,000,000. Filatov still called and the completed the board. Lim announced a bet of 7,000,000 this time and Filatov instantly mucked his cards.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
57,800,000
2,700,000
|
2,700,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
34,000,000
-5,800,000
|
-5,800,000 |
|
|
||
Level 21
: 400,000/800,000, 800,000 ante
Anatoly Filatov limped in on the button with and Chin Wei Lim opted to check with . The flop came 
for Lim to pick up the flush draw while Filatov hit a pair of eights. Lim check-called the 1,000,000 bet of Filatov. The turn was the 
, Lim now bet 2,300,000 and Filatov called. The river completed the board with the to give Lim the flush. Lim checked and Filatov quickly glanced at his own stack and then opted to check it back for Lim to scoop the pot.
Jean-Noel Thorel raised to 1,600,000 from the button with 
and Filatov defended with 
. The flop came 
for Filatov to hit bottom pair. Thorel bet 1,600,000 and Filatov called. The turn was the , Filatov checked and Thorel did the same to see the complete the board. Filatov made trip nines and bet 4,500,000. Thorel folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
55,100,000
4,100,000
|
4,100,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
49,100,000
-5,200,000
|
-5,200,000 |
|
|
39,800,000
1,100,000
|
1,100,000 |
|
|
||