WSOP Europe Awards Several Bracelets as Day 10 Finishes

Written by Jennifer Newell

Last updated on November 29th, 2021

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Day 10 of the 2021 World Series of Poker Europe appeared to have gone off without a hitch. There were no dramatic schedule changes, and everything seems to be on track. Of course, the Czech Republic’s new Covid-related capacity limitations remain concerning, King’s Casino is managing it.

And still, so far, the 2021 WSOP Europe events are exceeding guarantees. New warnings about a new Covid-19 variant could impact attendance going forward, but the numbers have been solid thus far.

Let’s catch up on the latest winners and potential winners in ongoing tournaments before a new week begins.

Event 3: €1,350 Mini Main Event

The final nine players were finally able to play out their action on Saturday.

Action started with Pablo Finini tripling up and Vivian Saliba ousting Omid Kamali Novin in ninth place. Several players doubled or tripled up, but Finini finally busted to Alessandro Pichierri. Jack Sinclair doubled through Saliva, who departed in seventh. Van Brug kept chipping up, while former chipleader Ciro Perna lost ground, ultimately busting in sixth place to Van Brug. After former WSOPE Main Event winner Sinclair left in fifth, Pichierri followed.

Marius Gicovanu held a significant lead, but Emil Bise doubled through him twice. Gicovanu did oust Van Brug in third place and took the lead into heads-up. Bise doubled into the lead quickly, though, and it took only a few minutes for Gicovanu to risk it all and finish as the runner-up.

Bise claimed the third bracelet in WSOP history for Switzerland and his personal first. He did win a WSOP Circuit Main Event several years prior, but he wanted the bracelet. “It’s beautiful,” he said. “It’s a beautiful feeling, and I am very happy.”

 

🥇🏆🥇 Announcement of the Winner 🥇🏆🥇
Our congratulations go to Emil Bise from 🇨🇭 Switzerland 🇨🇭 who has won the 2021 WSOP Europe Mini Main Event and took home €260,525! 💰👏🎊🎉 pic.twitter.com/8T0adI1mg6

— King's Resort (@PokerroomKings) November 28, 2021

Event 5: €550 NLHE Colossus

This was the tournament with the most changes – times, dates, and even flight cancellations. But it finally did combine first flight survivors, and the resulting prize pool surpassing the guarantee. On that Day 2, the field thinned greatly. By the time just a few tables remained, Martin Kabrhel busted in 22^nd place for €4,673, denied a shot at a third bracelet. And ultimately, the 11^th place elimination of Nicolae Modrea for €10,747 stopped play with 10 competitors bagging chips.

 

Event 6: €1,650 NLHE/PLO Mix

Several hundred players tried out their skills at mixing Hold’em and Omaha, but only ten of them finished Day 2 with a chance of winning the bracelet. Moncef Karoui had the initial lead, but several initial double-ups and well-timed plays changed some of the leaderboard. The initial action also saw Mikkel Plum gain ground and oust Danny Covyn in tenth place. Claudio Di Giacomo busted Julien Sitbon in ninth and took over the chip lead. Karoui climbed back, though, by eliminating Manuel Fritz and taking a lot of Di Giacomo’s chips. Karoui took out Plum, and eventually Di Giacomo in fourth place and Carter Newhof in third.

Antoine Vranken doubled through Karoui as heads-up play began, and it didn’t take long from there for Karoui to push all-in. Vranken and his full house in an Omaha hand was good enough for the win. Afterward, Vranken told PokerNews that he only started playing Omaha a week ago. But he played his best and won. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “It’s real now.”

 

🇳🇱 Antoine Vrankem became the second dutch player to pick up a WSOP bracelet at the 2021 @WSOP Europe after his win in the €1,650 PLO/NLH Mixed Event.

Vrankem beat Macef Karoui to win the €113,000 first place prize and his maiden WSOP title. https://t.co/MPlQneYiWt

— PokerNews (@PokerNews) November 28, 2021

Event 7: €5K PLO

This quick tournament started with a somewhat limited field of fewer than 200 entries and played down until just 62 remained. Maximilian Klostermeier took a third-place chip stack into that second and final day, following Didier Rabl and chipleader Dorel Eldabach.

Day 2 found Eldabach out before the money bubble, though. A bit later in the day, Dario Alioto busted in 16^th place for €11,293, the same amount Rabl won for his 15^th-place finish. Bjorn Verbakel departed in ninth place, just a few spots short of winning his second bracelet.

Klostermeier was the chipleader at the start of the final table, and Joni Jouhkimainen was close behind. Those two battled for the top spot, but when Klostermeier busted Jaroslav Peter in sixth place, his lead grew. The leader ousted Mikola Minkov in fifth, Armando D’Avanzo in fourth, and ERmanno Di Nicola in third. Jouhkimainen had only 2.82M chips to the 15.58 of Klostermeier when heads-up began, and the short stack wasted little time jamming with a solid hand. Klostermeier rivered a flush, though, to win it. He later said that he normally plays tournaments only for fun and as a break from cash games, but this was an “extra bonus.”

 

Event 8: €2,500 Short Deck

Fewer than 100 players joined in the Short Deck fun, and only 20 of them made it through the first day with chips. Only the top 15 will make any money, and Day 2 will determine who they are. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier is one of the most famous faces in the final 20, though Roland Israelashvili is in there, too. The aforementioned Emil Bise holds the third-largest stack, with Julien Martini in fourth, but all will have to fend off Didier Rabl and his current chip lead.