Phil Ivey takes down first event of Super High Roller Bowl Europe; Tom Dwan crushes Hellmuth in latest High Stakes Duel episode

This week’s results take us back to the 2000s as decade-long icons Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan hit poker news headlines once again with their most recent successes. Ivey, who previously won the $25,000 World Poker Tour Heads-Up Championship, bagged another $400K score when he claimed the Super High Roller Bowl Europe’s first event. Dwan on the other hand, triumphantly ended top bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth’s seven-win streak in the High Stakes Duel series. Read on more below as Somuchpoker brings you the latest news on the smashing duo.

Ivey secures first Super High Roller Bowl Europe trophy

2021 looks to be a strong year for legendary Phil Ivey, having claimed yet another $25,000 buy-in tournament for a sweet six-figure paycheck. The Super High Roller Bowl Europe is among the most prestigious tournament series in the industry with high buy-ins only catered to those with heavy pockets or those definitely at the top of their game. The 9-event schedule kicked off last August 23rd at Merit Royal Hotel Casino & Spa in North Cyprus and will run through the end of the month to complete the five Short Deck Hold’em and four No Limit Hold’em tournaments.

Event#1: $25,000 Short Deck – Phil Ivey – $408,000

The first event of the SHRB Europe series attracted a total of 48 entries with each posting the minimum $25,000 buy-in to generate the $1.2 million prize pool. A star-studded cast came to join in on the action which included well-known pros Timofey Kuznetsov, Ali Imsirovic, Cary Katz, and Richard Yong, all of whom missed to make the money.

Seven players made up the final table with Stephen Chidwick holding the chip lead to start Day 2, followed by Chris Brewer then Phil Ivey closely behind. First to go was recent WSOP winner Erik Seidel, who ran Queens into Ihor Shkliaruk’s pocket Aces. China’s Santi was next to be eliminated by Chidwick for sixth place which left the last five players battling for over an hour before Brewer exited.

Sitting with the chip lead after scooping Brewer’s stack, Ivey continued to dominate the table, sending Shkliaruk and Baziakouski to the rail soon after. The formidable Ivey then held a 4:1 chip advantage coming into heads up play and eventually secured the win, leaving Chidwick to settle for the runner-up finish and US$ 264,000 in winnings.

Final Table Results

1st Phil Ivey – United States – US$ 408,000
2nd Stephen Chidwick – United Kingdom – US$ 264,000
3rd Mikita Badziakouski – Belarus – US$ 180,000
4th Ihor Shkliaruk – Ukraine – US$ 132,000
5th Chris Brewer – United States – US$ 96,000
6th Santi – China – $72,000
7th Erik Seidel – United States – US$ 48,000

With a week of high roller action left on schedule including the $250,000 SHRB Main Event, Ivey has marked the start of what could be a very profitable series. Aside from the SHRB Europe, next month’s events continue to be a busy line up of worthwhile events as the SHRB returns to the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas beginning September 27th.

The annual World Series of Poker at the Rio is also fast approaching where Ivey had previously mentioned that he would 100% play the games should he be in town. With Ivey’s personal issues aside, we can expect to see more of the ten-time bracelet winner’s impressive feats in the near future.

Tom Dwan wins $200,000 as he ends Hellmuth’s seven-win streak in High Stakes Duel

Defending champion Phil Hellmuth has finally succumbed to his first loss after sweeping through the first seven matches in the series – three against Antonio Esfandiari, three against Daniel Negreanu, and one against Nick Wright. With Fox Sports host Wright forfeiting the challenge after round one, feared pro Tom “durrrr” Dwan has taken his place for the second round in the third series of High Stakes Duel.

The long awaited match recently went down after over a decade since the duo’s first heads up clash which resulted in Hellmuth’s early elimination in the 2008 National Heads-Up Championship with pocket Aces. Interestingly, the concluded second round ended in the same finish with the fifteen-time bracelet winner’s rockets, again cracked.

The lead between the pair shuffled back and forth with the victory still anyone’s game after five hours of play. However after a few missed bluffs, Hellmuth found himself sitting with a short stack of roughly 10-20 big blinds as his opponent began pumping up the aggression. Left at an 8:1 disadvantage, the final hand saw Poker Brat Hellmuth limp in his pocket aces with Dwan checking back his nine-three. The flop showed a three and saw all of Hellmuth’s final chips in the middle. A nine, unfortunately came on the turn to give Dwan the overall victory and Hellmuth failing to secure an eight-streak win.

With Hellmuth on the losing side, the ball now remains in his hands should he want to play for round 3 for a higher price tag of $400,000 on the line. “I’m not sure if I’m going to challenge”, he commented to PokerGO President Mori Eskandani. “I need to go watch the match, and then I’ll decide.”

Dwan, with the win, appeared to have enjoyed the match and its modern take on heads up matches. “I like new formats and trying new stuff, I think it’s neat when you try something new and see what happens, and see if people like it. And I think it’s a neat format for now. I think it’s interesting”, the American pro revealed after the match. Whether the duo will be back for a rematch or not, poker fans are thrilled to finally see the two icons battle it out on the felt as they patiently wait for what’s to come next.