Andreas Klatt Wins WSOPE Event #2: €550 Pot Limit Omaha for €56,400
Andreas Klatt bested a field 523 players to win his first WSOP gold bracelet at the 2017 World Series of Poker Europe in Event #2: €550 Pot-Limit Hold'em. He takes home €56,400 for his efforts.
It is Klatt's sixth WSOP cash of the year, following five in Las Vegas earlier this summer. It caps off a stellar year for Klatt, coming six months after he bagged himself two six-figure cashes in Monte Carlo.
In second place was fellow German Nico Ehlers, who recorded his first WSOP cash, taking home €34,860 for his runner-up finish.
| Position | Name | Country | Payout (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andreas Klatt | Germany | € 56,400 |
| 2 | Nico Ehlers | Germany | € 34,860 |
| 3 | Georgios Zisimopoulos | Greece | € 23,979 |
| 4 | Theodoros Aidonopoulos | Greece | € 16,809 |
| 5 | Sergio Fernandez | Spain | € 11,985 |
| 6 | Krysztof Magott | Poland | € 8,700 |
| 7 | Michal Maryska | Czech Republic | € 6,433 |
| 8 | Vasile Stancu | Romania | € 4,847 |
However Klatt said that it was "unbelievable" to win a bracelet; his first and Germany's fourth of the year after the successes of Christopher Frank, Jens Lakemeier and Sebastian Langrock in Las Vegas this summer.
"I would say it's like a dream of every poker player to win a bracelet," said Klatt following his victory, "These days money is sometimes more important, but a bracelet is still a bracelet.
"My goal at this year's WSOPE is to win as much money as possible, but it's always nice to win a tournament!"
Klatt, who is predominantly a Hold'em tournament player, says that he plays in a lot of Pot-Limit Omaha cash games. Coming back today with just 31 players, he admitted to hardly ever looking at the payouts or the number of players left on his way to victory.
"I just focussed on my game. I just tried to play every hand perfectly. There was this turning point with six or seven left and I lost a big pot to Georgios Zisimopoulos, and I lost my mood and thought 'It's over; I'm going to lose.'
"But then I won another pot and was like: 'Maybe I can turn this around.' That was a couple of key hands there."
The day started with a bang with start-of-day chip leader Fahredin Mustafov (pictured above) eliminated early on, after a bluff went wrong against eventual runner-up Nico Ehlers. Mustafov held the nut-flush blocker, but Ehlers called him down with the second-nut flush to knock him out of the tournament.
This gave Ehlers the chip lead which he held for most of the afternoon. He was chip leader at three tables and two tables, with Ehlers the first player over one million in chips.
Two-time bracelet winner Kristen Bicknell enjoyed a blistering start to the day, but she was sent to the rail in a double elimination when her Aces were cracked by the flush ofVasile Stancu.
By the time the official final table of eight was reached, Ehlers was joined by Sergio Fernandez in the seven-figure stack club. Fernandez is enjoying a stellar WSOPE, with the festival only just begun, after he finished third in the Monsterstack yesterday.
With players relatively short at the final table of eight, it wasn't long until Vasile Stancu and Michal Maryska were sent to the rail by Ehlers and Georgios Zisimopoulos respectively.
Zisimopoulos enjoyed a hot period, taking chips from Klatt to add to his chips from the elimination of Maryska, and moving into the overall chip lead. The Greek player would benefit from the elimination of Krzysztof Magott in sixth place to take his stack within touching distance of two million chips.
However, after Ehlers eliminated Sergio Fernandez in fifth place, there were just 200,000 chips separating Zisimopoulos, Klatt and Ehlers, with Theodoros Aidonopoulos bringing up the rear.
The Germans soon pressed on, pushing their stacks up over two million chips, and putting the pressure on their Greek opponents. Aidonopolis was soon eliminated by Ehlers, whose stack was almost identical to Klatt's.
Zisimopoulos was one of the most experienced players at the final table, finishing 2nd in a WSOP bracelet event in 2016 and a 4th place finish earlier this year. This was his 15th WSOP cash, and first in Europe.
As was the case throughout the final table, there was not much to separate the two Germans. The average was only 23 big blinds, so it was inevitable that a conclusion was going to be reached soon. And it was, with Klatt turning a straight and fading his opponent's flush draw to seal the deal before the clock reached midnight.