Mikita Badziakouski Leads SHRS Europe Event #2: $50,000 Short Deck Final Table
The first Short Deck tournament of the 2022 Super High Roller Series Europe took center stage at the Merit Royal Hotel Casino & Spa in North Cyprus with Event #2: $50,000 Short Deck attracting a 42-entrant field that created a prize pool of $2.1 million.
Belarusian Mikita Badziakouski finished Day 1 as the dominating chip leader having amassed a chip stack of 5,660,000 – over double his nearest rival, and good for nearly half the chips in play. Sitting second in chips overall is Jason Koon, while rounding out the final table is Phil Ivey who currently sits ninth on the PGT leaderboard. The final six players have all locked up $105,000 in prize money, but all eyes are on the $756,000 first-place prize when the final table concludes on Saturday, April 9, with all the action being live-streamed on PokerGO’s YouTube channel.
As Event #1 of the Super High Roller Series was concluding at the TV table, the first of two Short Deck tournaments were underway. Many of the players that played and cashed in the two Triton Cyrpus Short Deck events were in the field in Event #2. PGT regulars including Ali Imsirovic and Chris Brewer, along with recent Triton Cyprus final tablists Mike Watson, Danny Tang, Ivan Leow, Sam Greenwood, Paul Phua, Elton Tsang, and Winfred Yu all succumbed to the rail.
Down to the final table of seven players, play was now on the money bubble, and after Ivey doubled, it would be Cary Katz being eliminated on the money bubble when his ace-king was outdrawn by the jack-nine of Badziakouski to end play for the evening.
Badziakouski looks to parlay his dominating chip lead into another high roller victory that will push his lifetime tournament earnings over the $32 million mark as he eyes Fedor Holz in 11th place with $32.72 million. With a fifth-place or better result, Koon can move into second place on the Short Deck All-Time Money List behind Paul Phua, but the player he will be looking to leapfrog is Ivey who currently leads the Super High Roller Series Europe championship standings with 1,039 points with this being his fourth cash of the series.
Malaysia’s Lee Wai Kait and Lun Loon will look to score the first victory in Cyprus for Malaysia with Kiat fresh off a second-place finish to Ivey in the Triton Cyrpus Event #3: $75,000 Short Deck. A win for Kiat will push him into eighth place on the Malaysia All-Time Money List. Rounding out the final table is PGT regular Stephen Chidwick who can climb ahead of David Peters and Erik Seidel into fourth place on the All-Time Money List if he is victorious.
SHRS Europe Event #2: $50,000 Short Deck Final Table |
|||
| Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Lee Wai Kiat | Malaysia | 1,215,000 |
| 2 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 1,110,000 |
| 3 | Lun Loon | Malaysia | 515,000 |
| 4 | Jason Koon | United States | 2,620,000 |
| 5 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 5,660,000 |
| 6 | Phil Ivey | United States | 1,480,000 |
The final six players will return to the Merit Royal Hotel Casino & Spa on Saturday, April 9, at 1 p.m. local time with the final table airing on the PokerGO YouTube channel at 7 a.m. ET / 4 a.m. PT with David Tuchman and Brent Hanks on commentary.
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End-of-Day 1 Chip Counts
Seat 1: Lee Wai Kiat
Seat 2: Stephen Chidwick
Seat 3: Lun Loon
Seat 4: Jason Koon
Seat 5: Mikita Badziakouski
Seat 6: Phil Ivey
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Mikita Badziakouski | 5,660,000 | - |
| Jason Koon | 2,620,000 |
-130,000  |
| Phil Ivey | 1,480,000 |
120,000  |
| Lee Wai Kiat | 1,215,000 |
15,000 |
| Stephen Chidwick | 1,110,000 |
-190,000 |
| Lun Loon | 515,000 |
-150,000
|
Cary Katz Bubbles the $50,000 Short Deck Event
Action folded to the cutoff, where Mikita Badziakouski pushed forward enough to cover Cary Katz’ stack of 1,800,000 or so.
Katz peeled a strong hand and paused for a moment. Then he tossed in calling chips.
“I don’t give a f*** about the min-cash,” he said, showing the [AdKd]. Badziakouski, who was trying to apply the ICM pressure, tabled the [Jc9h].
The flop of [Qs7h7h] was safe for Katz, but the [9s] turn and [9d] river changed the outcome of the hand, which could have pushed him into the chip lead.
With the chips going to Badziakouski, the Short Deck event has been paused as Cary Katz exited in 7th place, on the stone bubble.
The remaining players will return on Saturday, April 9, at 1 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET), to play it out for the title and $756,000 top prize.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Mikita Badziakouski | 5,660,000 |
2,510,000 |
| Cary Katz | Busted |
-1,800,000 |
Phil Ivey Doubles on the Bubble
Phil Ivey was all in for 605,000, having peeled the [QdQh]. Jason Koon was up against him with the [Ac6d]. The board came down [Jc6s8s9dQs] and Ivey survived.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Jason Koon | 2,750,000 |
-550,000 |
| Phil Ivey | 1,360,000 |
710,000 |
Unofficial Final Table
Seat 1: Lee Wai Kiat
Seat 2: Stephen Chidwick
Seat 3: Lun Loon
Seat 4: Jason Koon
Seat 5: Mikita Badziakouski
Seat 6: Cary Katz
Seat 7: Phil Ivey
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Jason Koon | 3,300,000 | - |
| Mikita Badziakouski | 3,150,000 |
200,000
|
| Cary Katz | 1,800,000 |
-450,000 |
| Stephen Chidwick | 1,300,000 |
-200,000 |
| Lee Wai Kiat | 1,200,000 |
-250,000 |
| Lun Loon | 1,200,000 |
-310,000 |
| Phil Ivey | 650,000 |
-200,000
|
Winfred Yu Eliminated by Jason Koon in 8th Place
Winfred Yu open-shoved from the cutoff for around 500,000 and Jason Koon snap-called.
Yu: [AcQd]
Koon: [JcJh]
It was a lopsided race as Koon flopped the top set on [9cJs6d]. The [9s] sealed the deal and the [8s] river was irrelevant.
Yu was knocked out in 8th place and the remaining players are now taking seats at the unofficial final table. Play will resume on the money bubble.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Jason Koon | 3,300,000 |
750,000
|
| Winfred Yu | Busted |
-600,000 |
Stephen Chidwick Stays in the Hunt
At the same time when Badziakouski scored the K.O., Lee Wai Kiat came close to eliminating Stephen Chidwick.
Wai Kiat had [Ac8s] and pulled ahead of Chidwick’s [AdKs] on the [Qd8cTd] flop, but the [Kh] turn restored Chidwick as a favorite and he doubled his 720,000 after the [Qc] landed on the river.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Chidwick | 1,500,000 |
700,000 |
| Lee Wai Kiat | 1,450,000 |
-900,000 |
Elton Tsang Dismissed in 9th Place
Three players limped before Elton Tsang moved all in for 765,000 from the cutoff. First limper Mikita Badziakouski reshoved and the rest of the players folded.
Tsang: [KdJh]
Badziakouski: [AdAc]
Tsang didn’t get any help on the [9s8h8s6d7c] runout and left the tournament in 9th place.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Mikita Badziakouski | 2,400,000 |
950,000
|
| Elton Tsang | Busted |
-1,125,000 |
Winfred Yu Scores a Double
Stephen Chidwick and Winfred Yu were all in preflop. Chidwick had the [KcQs] but Yu’s [As8c] won the contest on the [QcJcThKs8s] board.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Chidwick | 800,000 |
-500,000 |
| Winfred Yu | 600,000 |
168,000 |
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