Julian Stuer Wins the 2017 PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® €25,750 High Roller (€1,015,000)
The third and final day of the 2017 PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® €25,750 High Roller saw 27 hopefuls out of a 187-entry strong field return to the tables of “Le Sporting” at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort, and each of them guaranteed a portion of the €4,581,500 prize pool.
The bubble had burst late the previous night and it took less than five hours to reduce the field to the last nine hopefuls with Julian Stuer in charge, holding a decent lead over Charlie Carrel and John Juanda. After Stuer watched the first three eliminations as an onlooker, the German then knocked out all other five opponents that stood between him, a seven-figure score and the shiny golden PokerStars Championship High Roller trophy.
It is by far the biggest career score for the 27-year-old German and Vienna-based poker pro, who earned €1,015,000 for his victory in the principality of Monaco. Stuer had already come close to victory in a PokerStars-sponsored event last September, finishing second to Isaac Haxton in one of the €25,500 Single-Day High Rollers at the EPT13 Prague festival last September for a payday of €397,550.
Juanda finished second to Stuer in this event, helping him break through $20 million in live tournament cashes, further cementing his spot in the top five of the all-time money list.
€25,750 High Roller Final Results
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julian Stuer | Germany | €1,015,000 |
| 2 | John Juanda | Indonesia | €683,900 |
| 3 | Thomas Muehloecker | Austria | €471,400 |
| 4 | Dario Sammartino | Italy | €384,340 |
| 5 | Javier Gomez Zapatero | Spain | €306,500 |
| 6 | Charlie Carrel | UK | €235,400 |
| 7 | Ekrem Sanioglu | France | €171,300 |
| 8 | Julian Thomas | Germany | €124,150 |
The first two casualties at the start of Day 3 included Timothy Adams and Maxi Lehmanski before Joao Simao failed to get there with king-queen against the ace-king of Juanda. PokerStars Team Pro Igor Kurganov was the next casualty once the final three tables were set, four-bet shoving pocket queens into the pocket kings of Julian Stuer. A king on the flop left Kurganov in desperate shape and a meaningless queen on the river was of no help.
Daniel Dvoress already final-tabled three High Roller tournaments during the festival in the Principality of Monaco, but the fourth time was not a charm. After combined scores of more than $1,500,000, Dvoress this time had to settle for €50,400 when his ace-six was no good against the king-queen of Sylvain Loosli.
Martin Jacobson followed soon after in 19th place. The 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event champion raised for most of his stack with ace-three suited and called the shove of Charlie Carrel, who held queen-jack. Despite flopping an ace, Jacobson was drawing dead on the turn as a fourth diamond fell to give Carrel an unbeatable flush. The last two tables were then set after the elimination of Philipp Gruissem. The German High Roller regular, who won a €25,500 Single-Day High Roller for €485,135 just a few days ago, raised and called the three-bet shove of Felipe Ramos with king-queen suited. Ramos had ace-eight and a king on the turn was followed by an ace on the river.
Loosli and [Removed:17] joined the rail within two minutes and it took another half an hour to reduce the field to the last 13. EPT11 Deauville High Roller champion Josip Simunic raised for almost all of his stack with pocket fives and called the shove of Murad Akhundov. The latter flipped over ace-jack and an ace appeared on the flop.
€50,000 Single-Day High Roller champion Adrian Mateos was the next to join the rail after his pocket queens were no match against the pocket kings of Thomas Muehloecker, and Ramos then lost a big flip to bow out in 12th place. Ramos three-bet out of the small blind and Stuer four-bet before calling the five-bet jam of the last standing PokerStars Team Pro with pocket jacks. Ramos had ace-king and the board ran out ten-high to give Stuer a commanding lead over the rest of the field.
Vlado Banicevic also lost a flip after getting his short stack in with pocket tens. Dario Sammartino isolated with ace-queen and made the nut flush thanks to four diamonds on the board. Murad Akhundov's kicker problem with ace-jack against the ace-king of John Juanda would prove fatal, and the runner-up of the €10,300 had to settle for 10th place this time.
This set up the following unofficial final table lineup:
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ekrem Sanioglu | France | 800,000 | 40 |
| 2 | Thomas Muehloecker | Austria | 1,250,000 | 62 |
| 3 | Dario Sammartino | Italy | 750,000 | 37 |
| 4 | Julian Thomas | Germany | 370,000 | 18 |
| 5 | Jimmy Guerrero | France | 317,000 | 15 |
| 6 | Charlie Carrel | UK | 1,360,000 | 68 |
| 7 | John Juanda | Indonesia | 1,420,000 | 71 |
| 8 | Julian Stuer | Germany | 2,590,000 | 129 |
| 9 | Javier Gomez Zapatero | Spain | 635,000 | 31 |
Jimmy Guerrero, who finished third in the Main Event in Monte Carlo in 2016 when the festival was still running as the European Poker Tour, was coolered by Muehloecker and finished in ninth place. Guerrero was one of the short stacks going into the last table and three-bet pocket jacks, then called the four-bet shove of Muehloecker only to get shown pocket aces.
Julian Thomas also fell victim to the early hot run of Muehloecker at the final table. After the German defended his big blind with eight-six suited on a king-high all diamond flop, Thomas check-raised all in. Muehloecker called with ace-jack for a gutshot and nut flush draw, and instantly found another diamond on the turn to reduce the field by another player.
Sammartino became the second biggest stack after eliminating Ekrem Sanioglu. A raise by Sammartino from under the gun was called by Sanioglu in the small blind, who then check-shoved with queen-jack for top two pair. Sammartino had king-ten for the flopped straight and the turn and river were both blanks.
What followed was a rampage by Stuer, who sent four players in a row to the rail to enter heads up with an overwhelming lead. First to go was Charlie Carrel, who four-bet shoved with the queen-seven suited and found no help against Stuer's aces.
Javier Gomez Zapatero took fifth place after a battle of the blinds saw the Spaniard call three barrels of Stuer with the ace-eight. There were two eights on the flop, but Stuer managed to snag a runner-runner straight with jack-ten and shoved the river to pick up the call he wanted.
Sammartino's exit in fourth place was an especially cruel one. After having dropped back into the pack of shorties, he Italian High Roller regular four-bet shoved with pocket aces and Stuer[/B] called with pocket jacks. Two hearts on the flop were followed by the ace of hearts on the turn, giving Sammartino top set, and another heart on the river completed a four-card flush for Stuer.
Muehloecker opted for the three-bet shove out of the small blind with jack-nine suited and Stuer called with pocket eights. Ultimately, the German ended with up with an eight-high straight and entered heads-up with a more than seven-to-one lead.
Juanda doubled once and closed the gap to a two-to-one lead only, but after having paid off a straight of Stuer, Juanda was back down to a mere 20 big blinds. The last hand saw Stuer three-bet shove with king-jack and Juanda called with ace-ten. The German-speaking rail asked for picture cards and their wish was granted with a king in the window.
That wrap's up the PokerNews live reporting of the PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino®, and the next live events are already around the corner.