Event #1: €350 NLH Opener
Day 3 Completed
2023 WSOP Europe
Event #1: €350 NLH Opener
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 3
2023 WSOP Europe
Buy-in
€350
Prize Pool
€1,048,272
Entries
3,503
Level
39
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
800,000
Entries
23
Players Left
1
Level 39
: Blinds 400,000/800,000, 800,000 ante
The first gold bracelet at the 2023 World Series of Poker Europe has been awarded at the King's Resort in Rozvadov. For the sixth time, Europe's biggest poker arena hosts the series which is set to award 15 WSOP gold bracelets and Lukas Pazma has been crowned the first champion of the festival.
Event #1: €350 NLH Opener drew an overall field of 3,503 entries, which represents a significant increase to the 2,554 entries of the previous edition. Only 378 players had survived their respective starting days to lock up a portion of the €1,048,272 prize pool and 23 returned for the final day.
Pazma becomes the third player from Slovakia in consecutive years to etch his name in the history books, following in the footsteps of Samuel Stranak and Lubos Laska. Pazma defeated Andras Balogh in heads-up to earn the €110,000 top prize, while Balogh had to settle for a consolation prize of €66,000 for his runner-up finish.
Pazma entered the unofficial final table with two times as many chips as his nearest follower after a card rush propelled him into a commanding lead and he never looked back en route to victory. The Slovakian came fresh off a deep run in the WPT Prime Liechtenstein Main Event, in which he earned 169,700 Swiss Franks for a very respectable third place finish. He also had several big results at King's Resort and locked up his third WSOP Europe Main Event ticket to continue a hot run throughout the last six months.
For Balogh, it was yet another close call for the gold bracelet. One year ago, he finished seventh for €37,997 in Event #5: €550 COLOSSUS in which aforementioned Laska triumphed. The only bracelet winner in contention was Emil Bise, who finished in ninth place. On top of their cash prizes, the top 12 finishers also earned an entry to the 2023 WSOP Europe Main Event worth €10,350.
Final Table Result Event #1: €350 NLH Opener
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lukas Pazma | Slovakia | €110,000* |
| 2 | Andras Balogh | Hungary | €66,000 |
| 3 | Stanislav Koleno | Slovakia | €48,000 |
| 4 | Florin Bilan | Romania | €35,000 |
| 5 | Stephan Glausch | Austria | €26,500 |
| 6 | Iman Ghashayar | Netherlands | €20,000 |
| 7 | Alessandro De Michele | Italy | €15,500 |
| 8 | Stefan Drusca | Romania | €12,000 |
* Top 12 finishers also received an entry to 2023 WSOP Europe €10,350 Main Event
Pazma had scored a crucial double in the late stages of Day 2 and returned second in chips, trailing only Stefan Drusca. Both remained near the top of the leaderboard until the Main Event ticket bubble but Pazma then went on an incredible hot streak to separate himself from all other contestants.
When all was said and done, all the pressure fell off the Slovakian and he was all smiles.
"Like I am really surprised like, wow, I made it. I have no words. Really. I am happy, so happy," Pazma said shortly after his victory. Despite having such a large lead, he was very aware of runner-up finisher Balogh who he described as a "really tough, really good player". But at the right time, he picked up a strong hand and held when his dominating ace-queen came out on top versus ace-seven.
Pazma was the centre of action for most of the day and confirmed this as a pivotal part of his strategy.
"When I have chips, I am a very dangerous player because I push with my chips like I make so much pressure," he mentioned.
And while the six-figure prize will certainly be a great addition to his bankroll, he didn't so much care about the money but about keeping the streak going for players from Slovakia to win a bracelet. Fellow countryman Stanislav Koleno was also in the mix to make that happen but had to settle for third place after two clashes with Balogh.
"This means so much for me. Maybe somebody don't believe. But this is for me. I am proud of myself and like I was not thinking about money but about this," Pazma acknowledged when asked about the third Slovakian win in as many years at King's Resort.
One thing is for certain, he will be back for the 2023 WSOP Europe Main Event and perhaps also enter further gold bracelet events in the days to come.
Action of the Final Day
Only 23 players returned to their seats and that number was cut down almost immediately, when Hristofor Kolev was eliminated in a three-way all-in. William Kang was also involved in said hand and never recovered from losing a flip with queens to become the next casualty.
Frank Leykauf tangled at the wrong time with Stanislav Koleno and hero-called to get shown a flush, and he was joined at the payout desk by Jiri Kun moments later. Schakeri then flopped a set of tens but Iman Ghashayar turned the nut straight. The eliminations of Marcin Kacprzak and Scottie Howington brought the field down to the final two tables.
With cards barely back in the air thereafter, Mikkel Plum picked the wrong time to jam five-deuce as Pazma called with his limped pocket kings. The Dane then returned to his seat in Event #2: €550 Pot Limit Omaha 8-max to try and run up a stack, already secured another in-the-money finish.
For Pazma, that very hand was the start of a hot streak as he picked up numerous premium hands to become the run-away chip leader. Roland Schweinstetter was among his victims when he ran with nines into kings, and that led the ticket bubble burst. Alfredo Vega Meister followed into the same footsteps and Stefan Pezzarossa then bubbled the unofficial final table against Florin Bilan.
Emil Bise made the final redraw of the tournament albeit with a severe short stack of just six blinds and became the first casualty thereafter, as Koleno notched up another elimination. The next three seat open were all caused by Pazma before fellow Slovakian Koleno dispatched Stephan Glausch. Florin Bilan outflopped Pazma with queen-ten suited but couldn't hold as the field was already down to the final three.
Koleno and Balogh were fighting for survival and the ladder-up with the better end for Balogh. However, there was no stopping to the dominant performance of Pazma who needed around one hour of heads-up play to wrap up the victory.
This concludes the PokerNews live coverage for Event #1: €350 NLH Opener but another 14 WSOP gold bracelets will be awarded in the next two and a half weeks here at King's Resort in Rozvadov.
Level 39
: Blinds 400,000/800,000, 800,000 ante
Lukas Pazma raised to 2,000,000 on the button, Andras Balogh jammed for 17,000,000 in the big blind and Pazma snap-called as he instantly turned around to a friend on the rail and then paced back and forth.
Andras Balogh: A?7?
Lukas Pazma: A?Q?
The kicker problem of Balogh was never solved on the A?4?4?5?3? runout and that ended the run of Balogh in second place for €66,000. For Pazma, it was the first WSOP gold bracelet and he earned a top prize of €110,000.
A recap of today's action is to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
70,050,000
20,050,000
|
20,050,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level: 39
Blinds: 400,000/800,000
Ante: 800,000
Level 38
: Blinds 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante
Upon completion of level 38, the two remaining players agreed on a short ten-minute break. Lukas Pazma remains the chip leader while Andras Balogh has recently gained some momentum despite facing a chip disadvantage of two and a half to one.
Level 38
: 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante
Andras Balogh limped in with the K?J? on the button and Lukas Pazma checked the J?4? from the big blind.
The 7?7?5? flop was checked. Pazma check-called for 1,000,000 on the J? turn and another 2,300,000 on the 9? river to get shown the bad news.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
50,000,000
-5,000,000
|
-5,000,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
20,000,000
5,000,000
|
5,000,000 |
Level 38
: 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante
The next limped pot went all the way to the Q?8?7?10?9? river on which Andras Balogh bet 1,20,000 with the 7?4?. Lukas Pazma called with J?3? for the inferior flush and lost another small pot, as Balogh continued his momentum.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
55,000,000
-3,000,000
|
-3,000,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
15,000,000
3,000,000
|
3,000,000 |
Level 38
: 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante
Lukas Pazma limped in with the 10?5? and Andras Balogh checked the Q?9?, which led them to the 9?6?4? flop. Balogh checked and Pazma checked it back, as they saw the K? turn for free. Another check by Balogh prompted Pazma's bet of 1,000,000 and Balogh called.
The 4? river saw Balogh check once more and Pazma now bet 3,000,000, which represented nearly half of the short stack of his opponent. Balogh made a stand and called to drag in an urgently needed pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
58,000,000
-5,000,000
|
-5,000,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
12,000,000
4,300,000
|
4,300,000 |
Level 38
: 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante
In a limped pot to the 9?7?2?8? turn, Lukas Pazma bet 900,000 with the 10?8? in the big blind. Andras Balogh called with the 8?6? and failed to improve on the 3? river.
Pazma checked his option and Balogh then bet 1,200,000 was looked up by the Slovakian, who stormed further ahead.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
63,000,000
3,000,000
|
3,000,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
7,700,000
-2,300,000
|
-2,300,000 |
Level 38
: 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante
Lukas Pazma raised to 1,500,000 on the button with the 6?4? and Andras Balogh defended the J?8? to the 6?5?2? flop. Balogh checked and Pazma bet 1,300,000 only for the Hungarian to pull off a check-raise to 3,200,000.
Pazma moved all-in a few seconds later and Balogh folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
60,000,000
3,000,000
|
3,000,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
10,000,000
-4,000,000
|
-4,000,000 |