It was a day filled with emotions at the King’s Resort in Rozvadov during The Wolf Millionaire Main Event, where the Romanian Mousa was crowned champion of this edition.
It was a clear-cut victory that left little room for complaints from one side: the best player won, if we may venture to say, or rather, the one who managed to play a fantastic final table, taking full advantage of the opportunities that fortune offered him.
The 9 finalists
1. 🇭🇺 David Kozma 25,600,000
2. 🇩🇪 Bali4two 24,600,000
3. 🇺🇦 Vladyslav Pohribnyi 21,025,000
4. 🇩🇪 Cristian Jaeger 15,500,000
5. 🇮🇹 Arturo Paduano 11,600,000
6. 🇨🇿 Alex Zeleny 9,475,000
7. 🇷🇴 Mousa Awad 8,325,000
9. 🇩🇪 Harekrishna 5,900,000
Final Table
Crucial for Mousa’s final victory was the call against Vladyslav Pohribnyi when five players left. Both dominated the table with just over 40 big blinds each (Mousa was ahead by just two big blinds over Pohribnyi), while the short stacks were forced to play with between 10 and 15 big blinds.
After Pohribnyi opened from the early position, Mousa 3-bet from the button. After the blinds folded, Pohribnyi put all his chips in the middle, finding a super-fast call from the Romanian. Despite a small scare at the sight of the flop (K-Q-9), Mousa won a pot worth 90 big blinds and 3/4 of the tournament.
Suppose this could be considered a risky move by the Ukrainian player, especially from an ICM perspective, more than a cooler in favour. In that case, it falls into this category with the hand that eliminated David Kozma, the chip leader at the start of the day. After an open from the button, Mousa 3-bet with Q-Q, and Kozma from the big blind with about 20x went all-in, finding Mousa’s winning call.
Zeleny's fairy tale
The Czech player Ales Zeleny was the story of the tournament. He patiently waited for the right moment to push his stack to the center of the table while watching his opponents knock each other out. However, to talk about him, we must also mention the fourth-place finisher, “PistolPete,” against whom Zeleny doubled up in a blind war, hitting one of his two outs on the river.
“PistolPete” from the small blind went all-in with Q-9, and Zeleny called with 5-5. The flop was immediately favourable to the German as he hit a queen. The turn didn’t change anything, leaving the Czech with just two fives left in the deck, one of which appeared on the river, leaving “PistolPete” stunned.
It was a harsh blow after he had managed to stay in the game until that moment, winning a crucial showdown against Arturo Paduano (A-7 > K-Q), which condemned the only remaining Italian to the 5th position. As Mousa eliminated the last of the four Germans who made it to the final table, Christian Jaeger (Q-6 > J-6 with a queen on the river on an A-K-6-6 board), Zeleny was gearing up for a comeback despite starting with a considerable disadvantage.
First, an ace on the river with A-5 against Mousa’s Q-Q, and right after that, a check-raise all-in with 5-7 on a 10-5-4 board, with the future champion snap-calling with A-10 after isolating on the opponent’s limp. A three and then a six gave him a straight, returning him to a 2:1 chip disadvantage.
Mousa seemed shaken, mainly because no deal had been discussed due to the stack difference, and the prize gap between first and second place was around €70,000. Zeleny believed in his comeback, managing to equalize their stacks with a value bet on the river thanks to runner-runner trips with deuces, but over time, he couldn’t hold up, and Mousa relentlessly won pot after pot.
Another lost showdown that brought Zeleny back to 20 big blinds was a clear signal that he shouldn't play it preflop if he wanted to win this tournament. So, when the Czech player bluffed all-in after checking behind on a K-6-3 flop and betting on the turn and river with a six and an ace, Mousa was driven crazy with his K-2.
Knowing that the opponent could have an ace or a better hand quite often, Mousa felt it was the moment to take centre stage by winning the tournament with a gutsy hero call, and he lifted the Wolf Millionaire Main Event trophy high in the air!
Final Payout
1. 🇷🇴 MOUSA, Romania - € 143,000 + WSOPE Main Event Ticket
2. 🇨🇿 Ales Zeleny, Czech Republic - € 77,500 + WSOPE Main Event Ticket
3. 🇩🇪 Christian Jaeger, Germany - € 53,900 + WSOPE Main Event Ticket
4. 🇩🇪 PistolePete, Germany - € 38,600 + WSOPE Main Event Ticket
5. 🇺🇦 Vladyslav Pohribnyi, Ukraine - € 30,900 + WSOPE Main Event Ticket
6. 🇮🇹 Arturo Paduano, Italy - € 24,700 + WSOPE Main Event Ticket
7. 🇭🇺 David Kozma, Hungary - € 18,900 + WSOPE Main Event Ticket
8. 🇩🇪 Bali4Two, Germany - € 13,300 + WSOPE Main Event Ticket
9. 🇩🇪 Harekrishna, Germany - € 10,200 + WSOPE Main Event Ticket
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