Benjamin Pollak has been grinding one of the shorter stacks ever since the final two tables were formed. He found one double up when he picked up aces and he was looking for another one. Pollak opened to 1,000,000 from under the gun and Matthias Eibinger shoved all in from the big blind. Pollak thought for a moment and then called off his stack of 7,700,000.
Benjamin Pollak:
Matthias Eibinger:
The flop came and Pollak still held a dominating lead with his ace-high. The on the turn left Eibinger drawing dead to the on the river as Pollak doubled his way back into contention.
Christian Rudolph raised from the cutoff and Jean-Noel Thorel called in the big blind.
The flop came , Thorel check-called the 1,000,000 continuation-bet of Rudolph.
The turn was the , Thorel now check-shoved on the 2,000,000 continuation-bet of Rudolph for 8,375,000 and Rudolph called.
Jean-Noel Thorel:
Christian Rudolph:
Rudolph had turned the full house, Thorel needed the queen to split the pot but the river was the for Thorel to be eliminated in 11th place for €59,176.
He's not there just yet. But it would take something miraculous to deny Shaun Deeb the WSOP Player of the Year title.
Mathematically these things are never certain. But with only two other players in the current top ten travelling to Rozvadov for the WSOP Europe - the closest of whom being Anthony Zinno almost 2,500 points behind - it's fair to say that it's going to take something extraordinary to deny Deeb the title.
With over $6m in lifetime earnings, $4.2m which has come at the WSOP, Deeb says that he always thought he had a chance of making it every year that he's played the WSOP.
“When you look at the last six to eight years and the people that have won, three or four are my closest friends and most of my buddies are near the top of the leaderboard year on year. It’s a small group of players that have a good shot every year. Most of us play together, we’ve dealt with each other day in day out, so it’s just fun to finally join them. It’s still not going to sink in until I see the picture.”
Shaun Deeb
Deeb doesn’t strike you as a player motivated by an oversized banner on the wall of the Rio, but the more you talk to him about the Player of the Year race you realise that it’s the culmination of a career spent honing his skills at mixed game tournaments.
“The banner is important,” reiterates Deeb. “I was given a threat by Frank Kassela. Basically, when I was second or third he said that no matter where I finished, he was going to get a banner with my eventual place on it. And if I didn’t win he was going to put it up at his house all summer.
“And Frank doesn’t do anything small! So when he says he’s going to buy a banner, I imagine one that would cover his entire house. And if I didn’t win he’d have gotten this banner and every day when I got home [Deeb stays at Kassela’s house] I’d have seen this ginormous banner with ‘Shaun Deeb – WSOP POY Third Place’ written on it.”
Having played every WSOP since he turned 21 – he’s 32 now – is 2018 Deeb’s most successful summer?
“Yes and no,” he says. “This year it’s my first year where I’ve played zero hands of cash. After a week or two I just decided I wanted to put up a really good tournament year so I did. People who try to juggle both get no sleep, they’re exhausted, they skip tournaments you want to play and cash games you definitely shouldn’t miss. So it’s important to focus on one or the other because it’s a struggle to do both and you just end up hurting your equity a lot.”
And the consequence of no cash? Deeb’s most successful summer, at least when it comes to tournaments.
“I’ve had summers where I’ve won more money playing Open-Faced Chinese and winning the One Drop satellite, but two bracelets are more than I’ve won in any other year, and they were two really good ones as well so I enjoyed it.
“I mean they’re two events that I have a very low edge in – if any – but things fell my way. Just having a very good table draw and coming across fortuitous situations throughout the whole tournament.
“And they were huge payouts - $800,000 and $1.4m – so I know I’m very lucky to win events that pay so much and yet have a smaller field size.”
Ben Yu - Shaun Deeb
There are many instances of players and Players of the Year winning multiple tournaments in one year, so does Deeb think that a second is on the cards if a player wins a first.
“It depends on whether you’re a fish or a top guy,” says Deeb. “Once you win one, you’re going to want to play more events and there were definitely some spots where people were like ‘Oh shit, this guy just won $1.4m. He’s not going to care; he’s going to bluff me and call me and whatever’. So I got away with some spots because of that.
“But people who knew me from before know that I’m going to be playing similar to that no matter what. I’m not old and washed up; I mean I am, but not as bad as some may think.”
Are there any regrets from a successful summer?
“There’s always a sour point for a mixed game player and that’s the $50,000 Players Championship. I got 10th in an insanely tough field. But the year before I final-tabled and finished sixth. It’s just the event you want to do well in as a mixed game player – it’s our Main Event! Looking back on the summer and how I wish it could have gone better, it’s that event.”
Shaun Deeb
The race involved several big names that are consistently competing for the WSOP Player of the Year title and Deeb says that although it was a lot of fun keeping tabs on one another’s performances, he’s glad to have all but won it.
“So often in tournaments, people are disappointed because they’re losing. But obviously, the people going for Player of the Year had a very profitable summer, having won a bunch of high buy-in tournaments. We’re all upbeat and happy and well aware that it’s a statistical anomaly.
“I know we’ll all look back and remember fondly on this year. I’ve had friends win it in the past and I’ve seen their banners for winning Player of the Year and laughed because back then I played most of the events and I played better than them.
Christian Rudolph raised to 800,000 from under the gun and action folded all the way to Vladimir Troyanovskiy in the big blind who shoved for 3,925,000. Rudolph snap-called.
Vladimir Troyanovskiy:
Christian Rudolph:
The flop came for Troyanovskiy to pair of aces to jump ahead.
The turn was the for Troyanovskiy to stay ahead but the gave Rudolph the set of kings to eliminate Troyanovskiy in 12th place for €59,176.
Christian Rudolph raised to 850,000 from the hijack and Jean-Noel Thorel called in the small blind with . Rainer Kempe shoved in the big blind for 4,225,000. Rudolph looked at his cards again and decided to call while Thorel quickly folded.
Rainer Kempe:
Christian Rudolph:
The flop came to not help Kempe much.
The turn was the so Kempe only had the aces left as an out but the on the river wasn't that as he was sent to the payout desk in 13th place before he could pick up a pay jump.
Over on the outer table, Asaf Berman pushed all in from late position for around 3.6 million and Timothy Adams on the button asked for a rough count, then opted to call.
"Now I have a sweat," Benjamin Pollak with even fewer chips in the big blind said and peeked at his cards. He mucked the face up and the following showdown took place.
Asaf Berman:
Timothy Adams:
"Now I have a really good feeling about this," Berman said in table chat. He picked up a gutshot on the flop, but the turn and the river were both blanks to send the businessman from Switzerland to the rail in 14th place for €49,951.
Mikita Badziakouski raised to 500000 from the early position and was called by Joni Jouhkimainen in the big blind.
The flop came for Jouhkimainen to pick up the flush draw and Badziakouski was sitting on an open-ended straight draw. Jouhkimainen checked, Badziakouski continued with a bet of 450,000. Jouhkimainen checked his cards again, tanked for over a minute and then decided to shove. Badziakouski asked the dealer for a count and the dealer confirmed Jouhkimainen had shoved for 4,260,000 in total and Badziakouski called.
Joni Jouhkimainen:
Mikita Badziakouski:
The turn was the which didn't change the situation and kept Jouhkimainen ahead but the on the river meant the end of Jouhkimainen's tournament as he was sent to the rail in 15th place.
Martin Kabrhel was eliminated in 16th place in the last hand before the redraw. In a battle of the blinds, Kabrhel pushed for around 2 million with and was called by Joni Jouhkimainen in the big blind with . The superior hand preflop held up and Kabrhel was eliminated in 16th place.
Romain Lewis recorded a total of four top-three finishes in WSOP events in Las Vegas and Rozvadov, and was challenging for Player of the Year for a short while before a certain Shaun Deeb took the race by the scruff of its neck.
But with a WSOP that included three of his first four six-figure scores in the space of two months, does Lewis himself consider his 2018 WSOP a breakout one?
"I think that during every period or year of your life when you play professionally, there are different breakout moments and successes. It's just when you get to the higher buy-in end they become more relevant. Breakouts happen at lower buy-ins or stakes, and they were as important as the recent successes at higher buy-ins."
2018 was Lewis' second trip to the World Series of Poker, after amassing just under $40k in cash in 2017.
"I wasn't too happy or sad about my first one," said Lewis. "It went average. I'd heard all the stories of people coming back broke; bad stories about spending a lot of money and dealing with playing for thirty days straight."
"It was important in my first year to really go to what is essentially the World Cup of poker and be there ready from the first day to the last with one goal in mind - to perform well. That's what I did and I'm pretty happy about it."
This year, along with his fellow Winamax Team Pros, Lewis prepared accordingly; setting out objectives and aiming to be in the best possible conditions to do well. And it instantly paid off.
Romain Lewis
In his first WSOP tournament of the year he finished second in Event #13: $1,500 No Limit Hold'em for $194,837, almost quintupling his cashes from the previous year. Lewis said it certainly took the pressure off.
"It just meant that even if I busted 50-60k in tournaments, it would have been a really positive summer. When I set out my objectives for the summer, it was hard to imagine actually making two final tables like I wrote down. It's not that I didn't think I was able to go deep in the tournament, but it's very dependent on a lot of circumstances.
"Also I knew that for subsequent tournaments after a big win it's not easy to be as focused as I was before or be in the same mindset, so the objective from that moment on was to take every tournament that was coming up as seriously; even more seriously than the first one."
Lewis said that despite the early win that he says meant no more pressure of 'having a good Vegas,' he played every tournament that he set out to play.
"As the Series was going, I was really positive about what was going on, who I was with and the whole rhythm and routine. Even when I busted the Main Event, I didn't regret my little high variance play; I was ok with myself and just raring to go for the tournaments afterwards.
"Switching to Pot-Limit Omaha was like a breath of fresh air after a month of No-Limit Hold'em. I finished 23rd and suddenly was like 'Wait, hey. PLO is fun! Maybe I can play the $3,000 6-Max PLO?' That was probably the only tournament I wasn't set out to play at the start of the summer."
Romain Lewis - Benjamin Moon Heads Up
Following his cash in the first event of the summer, Lewis followed up that result with another second-place finish in Event #69: $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha 6-Max for $293,553.
"I remember coming second in the $3k PLO and checking out the points I would get if I won the $10k 6-Max. I said to my friend "All I need to do is win the $10k 6-Max and I have a great shot at winning POY."
Lewis said that between the two events he had five hours of sleep, but that didn't stop him adding another six-figure result finishing third in Event #74: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max for an additional $325,842.
"I finished 15th in the $10k 6-Max last year, and I can remember exactly how I was feeling; my emotions at the time and my level of stress at different moments in the tournament. The progression from last year to this year was insane. I was really calm right up until the end. Everything that happened before that tournament helped, but I understood what it takes to get in the correct mindset.
"That was one thing I was really happy with over the summer, running deep over a lot of different buy-ins levels. That was something I had trouble with before. I didn't play any tournaments higher than $10,000 buy-in. I think that $25,000+, especially at the WSOP are that next level and that's not for me right now; I don't want to rush things."
Romain Lewis
With a few different results - perhaps a first bracelet - Lewis could be staring at a tasty Player of the Year battle between him and Shaun Deeb. He admits that there is a huge difference in points between a runner-up finish and a bracelet, so does he feel like he missed out on any larger prize?
"I've seen pictures and video of the World Series since I was 14 or 15 years old, and it's not something I pictured, having my face up there. But it was something that I kept open and followed all summer.
"The three left in the $10k 6-Max were me, Paul Volpe and Shaun Deeb who were already high up in the whole thing, so I mean there was a chance of it happening if I had won it and Deeb came third."
But there was still a chance with more POY points on offer at the World Series of Poker Europe at King's Casino, Rozvadov.
"I came to Rozvadov and said to myself 'Alright, Deeb is here but I'm absolutely allowed to win one of these first tournaments' and if I win one, then all I need to do is win another and then finish top three in the main! There was still a distant possibility and it was fun to give it a shot.
And just like in Vegas, Lewis came roaring out of the gate finishing third in Event #3: €550 Pot Limit Omaha 8-Max for €59,625.
"If I won that first tournament then I could have put the pressure on [Deeb]. There was one funny moment at that final table when I was coming back to my room, and he asked me where I finished in the PLO.
"I said third and he looked at me and said 'Good.' That could have been a fun one!"
Romain Lewis
With it still being so young in his poker career, Lewis says that he's happy to have the year he's had after so few years of playing and that his objectives for subsequent years are "way easy to set" because of what's happened this year.
"I mean it was only my second year in Vegas; what if I won a bracelet and maybe became POY? Things would have been different and maybe less motivated going forward. My goals would be harder to get tougher next year. I tend to spend less energy thinking on what could have been, and more on resetting my objectives and trying to be satisfied with what's going on.
"Poker is a game of being frustrated all the time, and if I can't be happy with top 10 in the POY standings, then I'll never be happy!"
But having been so close - four times now - how does Lewis balance the setting of objectives with the dream to one day obtain a WSOP gold bracelet?
"If I can put myself these situations where I'm going to be in the best condition possible to run deep during the WSOP, then it's impossible for me to think that there will not be other opportunities. I think it's hard to dream of a bracelet when it's been so close three or four times. It's not like the dream was there and I missed out on it. I've aready been in top three situations, and I'm already so grateful for that.
"The dream I had four or five years ago is definitely here right now. It's just about resetting those dreams. The thing is, when you become more professional as a poker player, those dreams become more like objectives. Because your objective is to fulfill those dreams."
and Pollak still held a dominating lead with his ace-high. The 
on the turn left Eibinger drawing dead to the 
on the river as Pollak doubled his way back into contention.
, Thorel check-called the 1,000,000 continuation-bet of Rudolph.
, Thorel now check-shoved on the 2,000,000 continuation-bet of Rudolph for 8,375,000 and Rudolph called.
for Thorel to be eliminated in 11th place for €59,176.
for Troyanovskiy to stay ahead but the 
gave Rudolph the set of kings to eliminate Troyanovskiy in 12th place for €59,176.
so Kempe only had the aces left as an out but the 
on the river wasn't that as he was sent to the payout desk in 13th place before he could pick up a pay jump.
flop, but the 
for Jouhkimainen to pick up the flush draw and Badziakouski was sitting on an open-ended straight draw. Jouhkimainen checked, Badziakouski continued with a bet of 450,000. Jouhkimainen checked his cards again, tanked for over a minute and then decided to shove. Badziakouski asked the dealer for a count and the dealer confirmed Jouhkimainen had shoved for 4,260,000 in total and Badziakouski called.
and was called by Joni Jouhkimainen in the big blind with 
for Addamo to stay ahead with the pocket pair of sevens.
for Loosli to keep looking for the ace to double up but the 
