Besim Hot Wins Event #10: €25,500 Mixed Games Championship for €385,911; Denies Phil Hellmuth his 16th Bracelet
A new World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner has been crowned at the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe and it was Besim Hot that has become the second-ever Swiss champion after taking down Event #10: €25,500 Mixed Games Championship. Hot had to defeat mixed game specialists and big names of the international poker scene on his road to victory and came out on top of a heads-up battle with none other than 15-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.
The event drew a total of 45 entries to create a prize pool of €1,068,750 and Hot received a top prize of €385,911, while Hellmuth missed out on number 16 and had to settle for €238,509. It was the second 8-Game final table of the series at the King's Resort in Rozvadov for Hellmuth, who finished 3rd in Event #5: €2,500 8-Game Mix and narrowly missed out on further cementing his status in WSOP history and came runner-up for the 11th time.
Hot, who describes himself as his own boss, was born in Macedonia and moved to Switzerland at a young age where he currently resides in Zurich. It is the biggest live cash for Hot so far, who has now accumulated more than $2.1 million in live tournament earnings and taken over the number one spot on the Swiss all-time money list ahead of online crusher Linus "LLinusLLove" Loeliger.
He was one of many Day 2 entries and entered the final day with more than one-third of the chips in play as he dominated the late action with sheer relentless aggression. That would not change for the final table either, as he remained in the driver's seat and maintained the top spot for all but a few minutes. He was not intimidated by the big names he was facing and kept to his usual strategy.
"I played my game from the start, like always, and kept building pots. I didn't play my cards but the opponents. Most of my hands were bluffs as you could see, especially in the big pots, and I forced my opponents to fold. It didn't really matter who was sitting at my table, I just play my game against Phil Ivey, Isildur, and all the others."
When asked what the bracelet means to him, Hot had the following to say.
"It is actually a long story. Some six or seven years I was one of the best Swiss players and went to Las Vegas to win a bracelet for Switzerland. But because of my stupidity, I lost my entire bankroll on the first night and had to fly back home. They were all laughing at me."
Hot doesn't plan on flying to Las Vegas to win another WSOP bracelet and instead stick to tournaments in Europe where he is a well-known name in High Roller tournaments. It was also his final tournament at the 2019 WSOPE as he already had a family vacation in Dubai planned for the next few days no matter what the outcome of the final table.
"I don't really know yet what I will play next. If there is something interesting coming up, I always decide on short notice and based on gut feeling.
Daniel Negreanu also reached the final table and finished sixth to take over the lead in the 2019 WSOP Player of the Year race, notching up another cash in Event #11: €2,200 Pot-Limit Omaha as he multi-tabled his way to a 20th place. In the breaks and during long hands he was not involved in, Negreanu would jump out of his seat and play a few hands in the PLO tournament to reach the final three tables.
Dzmitry Urbanovich finished third in "his Main Event" as he specifically traveled to Europe's biggest poker arena at the King's Resort in Rozvadov for this tournament and cashed for €162,463, while the final table also featured three-time WSOP bracelet winner Benny Glaser, one-time WSOP bracelet winner Julien Martini and 2019 WSOP Main Event 3rd place finisher Alex Livingston.
Final Result Event #10: €25,500 Mixed Games Championship
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in EUR) | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Besim Hot | Switzerland | €385,911 | $428,361 |
| 2 | Phil Hellmuth | United States | €238,509 | $264,745 |
| 3 | Dzmitry Urbanovich | Poland | €162,463 | $180,334 |
| 4 | Benny Glaser | United Kingdom | €111,689 | $123,975 |
| 5 | Julien Martini | France | €77,502 | $86,027 |
| 6 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | €54,287 | $60,259 |
| 7 | Alex Livingston | Canada | €38,389 | $42,612 |
When the final table kicked off, Besim Hot held more than one third of the chips in play and remained comfortably ahead of the six big names that were all eying for more WSOP glory. Daniel Negreanu needed at least sixth place to take over the 2019 WSOP Player of the Year top spot and he would get exactly that as the two Canadians on the final table were the first two to bust.
Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo hands provided spectacular showdowns and it would take more than two full levels before Alex Livingston was sent to the rail when his set of aces was no good against the ten-high straight of eventual champion Hot. All shorter stacks were at risk sooner or later but somehow escaped, and it was Negreanu that had to settle for sixth.
Phil Hellmuth had promised late on Day 2 to punish Negreanu and he would eventually be the one that dealt the final blow in a Razz hand after Negreanu had been left short and was drawing dead with a double pair against an eight.
With increasing limits and short-handed action it didn't take long to reduce the field further and Hellmuth was able to pull into a comfortable place, he even took over the lead for a brief period of time. Julien Martini saw his hopes of a second WSOP bracelet vanish against Dzmitry Urbanovich and Benny Glaser, who endured a roller coaster day, didn't get there with a gutshot against the pocket pair of Hot in No-Limit Hold'em.
Down to the final three, Hot immediately assumed control to take down big pots against Hellmuth and Urbanovich. Throughout the final table, Hellmuth had been winning a lot of chips during Razz and it came as no surprise that he would eliminate Urbanovich in Razz when he made an eighty-seven and entered heads-up with just a minor disadvantage.
However, it wouldn't take long for Hot to establish a commanding lead and Hellmuth was ready to throw in the virtual towel.
Before another round of Razz hands started and down 1-7 in chips, Hellmuth said "It this was a fight, I'd stop it," prompting a simple "running hot" from his Swiss opponent.
It would be all over in a PLO hand in which both flopped trips nines. Hot had a straight redraw and turned a full house to leave Hellmuth with yet another runner-up finish on the WSOP resume.
That wraps up the PokerNews updates from Event #10: €25,500 Mixed Games Championship, but another four gold bracelets are up for grabs at the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe throughout the next two weeks.
Pictures courtesy of Katerina Lukina / King's Resort