Martin Kabrhel, one of the most obnoxious players in poker, returned for another final table at the BSOP Millions in Sao Paulo. But his high octane talking couldn't keep up with fellow Czech Zdenek Zizka, who closed out a final table chip lead for $1,200,000 in the Super High Roller Main Event on Sunday without saying much at all.
It's another chapter in what has been a coronating year in poker for Zizka, who is also a world-renowned backgammon genius. He won his first WSOP bracelet this summer and followed it up with a win at the Ultimate Backgammon Championship in Monte Carlo just a few weeks later.
The $100,000 BSOP Millions buy-in drew 36 entries, enough to pay six players from a prize pool of just over $3.3 million. From those 36, six returned on Sunday with Zizka in the lead after a big hand with pocket aces near the end of Day 2. He was followed by $50K winner Felipe Bioanovsky in second and Renan Bruschi was right behind. Kabrhel, meanwhile, was ahead of Ottomar Ladva and Gabriel Tavares on the second half of the returning leaderboard.
Temporary setbacks
Zizka's lead, however, evaporated quickly after Boianovsky won an early flip to take it from him. Shortly after, Kabrhel sent Tavares to the rail for the first elimination of the day. Ladva followed soon after, finishing in fifth to close out a Super High Roller Series with three final tables: one win, one runner-up and one fifth-place finish.
Boianovsky and Zizka had made some separation in four-handed play, leaving Kabrhel and Bruschi to chase from far behind. Bruschi soon doubled and then clashed with Kabrhel while holding pocket jacks. Kabrhel had shoved with pocket nines, but the board was no help and he ducked off the stage in fourth.
Three-handed chaos
Three-handed play got wild. Bruschi doubled with a flush to take the lead from Zizka before Boianovsky grabbed it for himself from the same Zizka with a straight-versus-straight. Bruschi doubled again, this time off Boianovsky, and Zizka was the new short stack until a three-way hand changed his fortunes.
Zizka had shoved with pocket sevens and Boianovsky went in with nines before Bruschi called them both with Big Slick. The board dropped a seven on the river, handing Zizka a flush and a new shot at the chip lead. Boianovsky grabbed the rest of it while Bruschi picked up his things and hit the door in third place.
Boianovsky started heads-up play with a small lead and handed it over to Zizka after a double with a pair of aces. Zizka used the opportunity to pull away, this time for good.
The largest-ever Latin American poker series continues in Sao Paulo, where the end of the Super High Roller Series has given way to the $6,000 BSOP Championship. The second flight wrapped up on Sunday, bringing the total number of entries to 305. They'll play two more opening flights before all of the surviving players return for Day 2 on Wednedsay.
In the mean time, you can tune into BSOP English for daily livestreams throughout the rest of the series hosted by Jeff Gross, Maria Ho, and Brian Rast.
Images courtesy of BSOP.
