Dan “mrGR33N13” Colman Wins €1,539,300 and European Poker Tour SHR Title
The Final Table of the EPT SHR
Yesterday saw Dan “mrGR33N13” Colman survive and prosper in the PokerStars European Poker Tour SHR final table that ended up running for longer than most of us in the know had expected. Colman needed to get at least 7th place in order to turn just a €7,000 profit as he had entered the event three times for €300k.
In all, 50 players had entered 62 times to generate a prize pool of €6,015,240, with first prize being in the region of €1.8 million.
The day started a little late, but then again, who really expects a table full of super high rollers to kick off on time? The first session saw no eliminations but the first two levels were certainly not devoid of action.
With the blinds at 15k/30k and a 4k ante, the players started with stacks looking like this:
Seat 1: Dan “Jungleman” Cates – 2,341,000
Seat 2: Richard Yong – 1,301,000
Seat 3: Olivier Busquet – 1,038,000
Seat 4: Lo Shing Fung (Rono Lo) – 4,558,000
Seat 5: Daniel “mrGR33N13” Colman – 1,398,000
Seat 6: Igor Kurganov – 261,000
Seat 7: Ole Schemion – 2,818,000
Seat 8: Paul Phua – 1,785,000
Igor Kurganov
The biggest story at the start of the day was the rise of Igor Kurganov from tournament shortstack to the chip lead, and he did it through hands like this:
The 32nd hand of the day saw Lo Shing Fung (also known as Rono Lo) open the action with a limp during the second level of play with 6h6c. Kurganov looked down and saw ThTc, which saw his remaining 765k slid into the middle. Schemion looked down at AsKd and asked the question “How Much?” Once he had his answer, he pushed his much bigger 3.17 million stack into the middle with Igor’s. Rono Lo’s sixes hit the much is quick fashion, and the deck was flipping a coin for Kurganov’s tournament life.
The flop was spread showing 5h8s8d, leaving ole searching for an Ace or a King to eliminate the Russian high stakes regular. The turn card didn’t change anything as it came showing the 3s, and the river saw Igor double up to just over 1.6 million when it fell as the 9d.
Kurganov didn’t grab the chip lead until the third level. The level had started slowly, but hand 63 was anything but slow. Lo opened the button with 5h2h, raising the action to 130k. Igor made the call from the big blind with Ac6c. The dealer spread the 6dQsKh flop in the middle of the felt and Igor checked. Rono fired out a continuation bet of another 130k but couldn’t get rid of Kurganov, who called.
The turn was flipped over to make the board more than a little sweaty. The 6h gave Igor trips, and Lo the flush draw. Playing in flow, Kurganov checked to Lo’s aggression, and he complied again firing out 400k into the middle. Igor called once again, and the pot was standing over 1.3 million with just the river to come.
That river didn’t change much as it was the 4s. Kurganov checked once more, and after a short think, Lo continued his line, this time betting 600k. This time, Igor took his time as well, and two minutes later his remaining stack entered the pot. Lo didn’t Hollywood, and his card went into the muck pretty quickly, giving Kurganov the chip lead with 3.7 million! Not bad considering he started the day with not much more than 10 big blinds!
Olivier Busquet
The last hand of the level saw Olivier Busquet wave goodbye to the majority of his chip stack. Hand 68 saw Ole Schemion open to 110k from the hijack with KcJs and Paul Phua three bet in the cutoff to 210k holding Pocket Rockets. Busquet was in the big blind with TsTd, and shoved his remaining stack over the line. Ole quickly folded, and Phua snapped off the call for an extra 810k.
The board ran out 9s9hJh3d7s to leave Olivier with just 120k in his stack.
In the first hand following the break between levels, we saw our first elimination.
Igor started off the action by min plus raising to 125k with AsKc. Dan “jungleman” Cates made the call with TdTs in the cutoff. Busquet saw an opportunity to get his remaining stack in from the small blind with 9s8d. The three players waited for the flop, and Busquet’s chances of survival radically improved with the Jc9hJd flop. Jungleman fired out a 135k bet follow Igor’s check, only to see the Russian make the call to bring the turn card. The 7s turn card saw both of the active players check to bring the Tc river. Igor check folded to Cates’ bet to take tha hand to showdown. Before the cards were turned over, Olivier, obviously knowing exactly where his hand was, asked Jungle, “Do you have a full house?”
Cates’ Tens full of Jacks was enough to send the Frenchman to the rail for a €241,000 payday.
Ole Schemion Reaching for the Stars
Following a slow start, the next elimination was only 3 hands away as Ole Schemion was eliminated during Hand 72.
Colman opened his button, by betting to 125k holding JsJh. Ole was in the big blind with 9c9d, and three bet to 335k. Colman shoved his stack over the line, and Schemion called to put his tournament life at risk. He took the situation well though, pointing out that at least his suits were live!
The flop pretty much crushed the dreams of young German as it fell JcThQs to give Colman a set. Ole was left hoping for his straight draw to come in, but the Turn of 7d and river of 7c only helped his opponent achieve a full house.
Schemion left the final table with an extra €307,000 in his pocket, cursing a cold deck.
The action didn’t slow down and chips were flying all over the place, however it took until Hand 114 for our next elimination.
With the blinds up to 50k/100k with a 10k ante, Phua put all of his chips at risk under the gun, holding 8d7d. Colman, in the small blind, asked for a count before making the call. Colman was ahead with AcJs but Phua’s cards, and suit, were live.
The TcJc4h flop improved Colman’s lead, and Phua’s chances may have been buoyed by the 7c turn, but the Kd river ended his day at the table, all be it with a €385,000 cheque.
The man with two names, Lo Shing Fung/Rono Lo was the next to go. Hand 124 saw Cates opening with a min bet to 200k while sitting under the gun with Ts7s. Lo pushed his 12 big blind stack into the middle with Kh9h from the button. Igor was sitting in the big blind with AsJh and made the call, bringing a fold from the Jungleman.
The flop brought a sweat as it came leaving Ah3h6d staring up from the middle of the table. Igor was ahead with a pair of aces, but Lo had the flush draw, but the 4d turn and Qs river changed nothing, and Lo was confirmed as the 5th place finisher for €493,340.
Richard Yong with Dan Cates
This left Richard Yong as the only Macau player left amongst a sea of poker sharks, and to top it all, he only had 14 big blinds left as well. He lasted another 10 hands as he was busted in 4th place in hand 134.
“mrGR33N13” Colman opened the action with a min raise under the gun, holding 5s5d. It folded round to Yong in the big blind who defended with KhJd. The dealer exposed the flop, adding 7s3c5c to the middle of the felt. Yong checked, but Colman wanted value from his flopped set. He bet another 200k, only to see Yong give him the best value possible by shoving. Dan snap called, and Yong was left with just a 2% chance of a chopped pot. It didn’t come as the 9h turn ended his hopes, and the 3s river closed the hand.
Yong departed in 4th place with an extra €637,600 to add to his Hendon Mob profile.
After a single hand with only three players at the table, deal discussions broke out.
Igor Kurganov put on a virtual top hat and became the ringmaster of this three ring circus of a deal negotiation. Those of us watching had a hard time keeping up with the numbers on Igor’s little scrap of paper, but it all seemed to work out well as a deal was signed with the players leaving €241,000 for first place and €115,400 for second. The players however locked up the following amounts based on their chip stacks.
Dan “mrGR33N13” Colman – €1,298,300
Dan “Jungleman” Cates – €1,168,300
Igor Kurganov – €1,128,300
After most deals at a SHR table, bust outs follow at a fast a furious rate. Not yesterday, as it was another 45 hands before we entered heads up.
In the intervening hands, chips had not been stationary and Hand 179 saw Kurganov with just 1.715 million left in chips. Colman had a few more in his stack, but that didn’t stop him shoving them all in from the small blind holding Qs8d. Igor made the call holding Ac2c, and was a 58% favourite before the flop to double up.
The flop improved his lead as it came AhQhTh, but the 9c brought Colman more outs. The 8s river was one of them, and Igor Kurganov left in 3rd place with €1,128,300.
The event stopped at Hand 202, but had already seen Colman battle back to a sizable chip lead.
The last hand saw Cates move all in for his remaining 2.275 million stack, and it didn’t take too long for Colman to call the 11 big blind bet.
Jungle had QdTc while Colman had made the right call as his Kh6h was slightly ahead.
The flop was dealt and showed 3c9d6d improving Colman’s lead, but still leaving Cates looking for a queen or a ten. The 3h river didn’t fit the bill, and unfortunately for Jungleman, nor did the Ah river.
Dan Cates was eliminated in 2nd place for a very tasty €1,283,700 result to add to his collection.
This was Colman’s biggest ever Live cash, and his first major live title.
EPT Grand Final SHR Champion Dan Colman
The PokerStars European Poker Tour will continue with the main event this week, with every day being streamed live on PokerStars.tv. You can join in the action by tweeting using the hashtag #EPTLive to ask questions of the commentary team.
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