Luc Greenwood Wins 2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas $25,750 High Roller for $779,268
The 2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas $25,750 High Roller began two days ago with 159 entrants, and today Luc Greenwood finished as the last man standing to capture a $779,268 prize. In heads-up play, Greenwood defeated Nick Petrangelo, who secured $740,032 thanks to the duo striking a deal.
The win is more than ten times Greenwood’s previous best cash of $75,000 that came when he finished 21st in the 2010 PCA. Greenwood, who also finished 66th in the Main Event earlier this week, joins his brothers, Sam and Max, as poker millionaires with more than $1.2 million in lifetime earnings.
Day 3 of the $25,750 High Roller saw nine players return to action. Bryn Kenney was the first to go after his king-queen failed to get there against Petrangelo’s ace-jack. The cash was the latest in a great week for Kenney. It started when he placed seventh in the $100,000 Super High Roller for $275,060, and three days later won the $50,000 High Roller for $969,075. The next day he took fourth in the $2,000 Hyper Turbo Win the Button for $6,020, and a day after that won the $25,000 Shot Clock High Roller for $392,876.
Petrangelo then picked up pocket kings to send Mark Radoja, who held ace-queen, to the rail in eighth place, and he was followed out the door by Stephen Chidwick, whose Big Slick failed to get there against the pocket queens of Michael Rocco.
Argentina’s Jose “Nacho” Barbero bowed out in sixth place at the hands of Petrangelo, who turned right around and eliminated Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu. It happened when “Kid Poker” got his stack in holding ace-jack and ran it smack dab into the ace-queen of Petrangelo.
A deal was briefly discussed among the final four players, but play continued when they couldn’t come to terms. It was at that point Byron Kaverman got his stack in holding pocket nines against Greenwood’s eights. Kaverman held on both the flop and turn, but Greenwood hit his pure two outer on the river.
To remind you of Kaverman’s results this trip, he finished fifth in the $100,000 Super High Roller event for $445,320, before hopping into the $5,300 Main Event during late registration. There he lasted until Day 4, finishing 28th for $19,000, before running to third in the $50,000 Single Re-Entry event for $452,220. He's just wrapped up his week by pushing his winnings up to over $1.2 million.
"I had a poor 2016, but this more than makes up for it,” he told PokerNews after his elimination. “I'm just glad that I managed to hold it together throughout. I'm not really sure how."
Meanwhile, Rocco exited in third place – he got it in with top pair and a flush draw against Petrangelo’s ten-high flush – and that sent the final two players into heads-up play nearly even in chips. They decided to do an ICM deal while leaving $30,000 and the trophy to play for. They also agreed to up the blinds and shorten the levels, though it only took a few hands for things to come to a head.
It happened when a king on the turn paired the board and Petrangelo shoved holding pocket jacks. Greenwood held a king, the river was a blank, and that was all she wrote. Petrangelo headed for the payout desk while Greenwood headed over to the rail to celebrate with his parents, who had been sweating him the entire final table.
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luc Greenwood | Canada | $779,268* |
| 2 | Nick Petrangelo | US | $740,032* |
| 3 | Michael Rocco | US | $409,020 |
| 4 | Byron Kaverman | US | $335,020 |
| 5 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | $268,780 |
| 6 | Nacho Barbero | Argentina | $208,400 |
| 7 | Stephen Chidwick | UK | $154,260 |
| 8 | Mark Radoja | Canada | $113,360 |
| 9 | Bryn Kenney | US | $90,380 |
*Denotes heads-up deal
Congratulations to Luc Greenwood, the 2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas $25,750 High Roller champion.