€25,000 6+ No-Limit Hold'em (Short Deck)
Day 2 Completed
2019 PokerStars.es EPT Barcelona
€25,000 6+ No-Limit Hold'em (Short Deck)
Day: 2
Event Info
Level 21
Mikhail Rudoy battled through a turbulent final day of the €25,000 6+ Hold'em High Roller here at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona festival to win the very first short deck tournament held on the tour.
Rudoy takes home €213,210 which is his biggest cash to date, beating the €77,600 he won for a tenth-place finish in the 2014 EPT Barcelona Main Event.
He defeated short deck regular Chin Wei Lim heads-up. Lim takes home €146,940.
Results
| Place | Name | Country | Prize (EUR) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mikhail Rudoy | Russia | € 213,210 | $237,064 |
| 2 | Chin Wei Lim | Malaysia | € 146,940 | $163,380 |
| 3 | Yake Wu | China | € 93,640 | $104,116 |
| 4 | Isaac Haxton | United States | € 67,710 | $75,285 |
| 5 | Mike Watson | Canada | € 54,740 | $60,864 |
"There's Lots of Action!"
"It was a really tough heads-up battle," said Rudoy after his victory. "I'm glad to get through it. I started playing Short Deck last year. There's lots of action.
"If you look in the PokerStars lobby there are a lot of Russian players [playing short deck]. It started to Macau so most of the Asian guys like to play this game. Over the last couple of years, Russian players have also started playing this game."
Rudoy said that he started playing short deck last year and that the game has a lot of action.
"The edge is very small because the structure in this tournament is so good. There's a lot of action so it's never easy to win. But to make my first cash in a tournament like this and to win it, I didn't even dream.
"I've played so many tournaments and sometimes you just stop believing that it's possible to cash. But I caught a very good run on the second day and it helped me to win."
Final Day
The 12 players that advanced from Day 1 were joined by a single re-entry at the start of Day 2, with Australian Sam Higgs jumping back into the field.
Rudoy chipped up early, doubling through Mike Watson, with the Russian having trebled his stack by the end of the first level.
However, overnight chip leader Lim was also going well, eliminating Cary Katz and Michael Soyza in the same hand to become the first player over a million in chips.
Final Table and Money Bubble
Seven players made it through to the final table, knowing that just two would miss out on a min-cash of €74,740. Dario Sammartino was the winner of the very first EPT 6+ Hold'em tournament back in May, but would miss out here after being eliminated by Isaac Haxton in seventh place.
Sammartino's shove was for less than five big blinds and, after having failed to chip up since entering at the start of the day, Higgs was in a similar predicament.
He thought he had picked up the perfect spot with pocket kings to run his stack back up, but sadly he ran into the pocket aces of Mike Watson to bubble the tournament.
In the Money
Watson was next to go, cashing in his third short deck tournament this month. Both Watson and Rudoy flopped two pair, only for the Canadian to come out second best.
The three-way tussle behind chip leader Lim finally came to a head as Haxton doubled through him, promoting Wu to the chip lead moments after Yake Wu had doubled through the American.
However, no sooner had Wu tasted what it was like to lead the final four, Lim regained the chip lead, the Malaysian cracking kings to regain the top spot, and following that up with the elimination of Haxton in fourth (€67,710) to sit with over two-thirds of the chips in play.
It looked like the writing was on the wall for Rudoy at the start of three-handed play, as Wu doubled up to leave the Russian with just four blinds.
However, Rudoy tripled and then doubled up in back-to-back hands to move into second in chips. The rejuvenated Rudoy then ousted Wu in third (€93,640) to bring the tournament to heads-up.
Heads-Up Play
Just three big blinds separated the two opponents heading into heads-up play, but that gap soon widened in the favour of Lim after the opening exchanges.
However, after Lim called Rudoy's river shove, the Russian turned over a rivered straight to double into the lead. Moments later, Lim doubled back, rivering a straight of his own to level the stacks once more.
This time it was Rudoy's turn to open up a gap, and eventually, almost inevitably, the big hand came. It was a classic race; queens into ace-king.
And it was Rudoy's queens that held to crown him king of the €25,000 6+ Hold'em High Roller here in Barcelona.
Level 21
Mikhail Rudoy moved all in and Chin Wei Lim called.
Mikhail Rudoy: 
Chin Wei Lim: 
"Nice," said Rudoy.
"Classic," said Lim.
The board came 
and the start of day chip leader was eliminated in second place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,600,000
1,355,000
|
1,355,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 21
Chin Wei Lim had won some back, but Mikhail Rudoy check-called 60,000 on the 
flop and 160,000 on the 
turn from Lim.
The river was the 
and both players checked. Rudoy showed 
for a straight and that was good enough to win the pot and move back above 2,000,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,245,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
|
1,355,000
-45,000
|
-45,000 |
Level: 21
Ante: 40,000
Button Blind: 80,000
Level 20
Both players put 60,000 chips in pre-flop and Chin Wei Lim bet 50,000 on the flop. Mikhail Rudoy called.
The turn was the 
and Lim bet 125,000. Rudoy again called.
The river was the 
. Both players checked and Lim showed 
for a straight and won the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,200,000
-120,000
|
-120,000 |
|
|
1,400,000
120,000
|
120,000 |
Level 20
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,320,000
610,000
|
610,000 |
|
|
1,280,000
-610,000
|
-610,000 |
Level 20
Mikhail Rudoy moved all in and Chin Wei Lim called on the button for his last 945,000.
Mikhail Rudoy: 
Chin Wei Lim: 
Rudoy looked in a good position to double up as the flop came 
. The turn gave Rudoy a pair and Lim an open-ended straight draw, and the 
completed Lim's straight draw as he doubled back to even stacks.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,890,000 | |
|
|
1,710,000 |
Level: 20
Ante: 30,000
Button Blind: 60,000
Level 19
Chin Wei Lim called a pot-sized bet of 200,000 from Mikhail Rudoy on a 
turn. Rudoy then moved all in on the 
river for 965,000. Lim tanked and used his last time extension before calling.
Rudoy showed 
for a rivered straight and Lim flashed before mucking.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,530,000
990,000
|
990,000 |
|
|
1,070,000
-990,000
|
-990,000 |