Philipp Gruissem wins the €25k High Roller at the European Poker Tour (EPT) Grand Final in Monte Carlo after defeating the American Scott Seiver in heads-up action.
Just how good is Philipp Gruissem?
I’m guilty of throwing the word ‘superstar’ around like rice at a wedding, so I am going to call Gruissem a megastar instead.
The young German has just topped another high quality field, to take the €25,000 High Roller title away from Monte Carlo, and he is fast becoming the best proponent of this type of format the world has ever seen.
What is so impressive about Philbort’s $9.4m live tournament earnings, in the past five years, is his win rate.
This kid doesn’t just take home the bacon; he takes the pig, the sty and the land that the farm is built on.
His victory in Monte Carlo is his seventh in this format, and that is incredible when you consider that the felts he rolls contain some of the greatest poker players of recent times.
Ivey, Esfandiari, Negreanu, Seidel, Trickett…you keep racking them up and Gruissem keeps knocking them down, and at the same time smiles break out on people’s faces after the German recently told poker fans that he was committed to donating at least 10% of his winnings to charitable causes.
His $1,378,059 first-prize – his third seven-figure score since Oct 13 – came after he outlasted a field of 159 entrants (55 rebuys) and overcame a final table that housed the likes of Scott Seiver, Davidi Kitai, John Juanda, Byron Kaverman, Martin Finger, Stephen Chidwick and Pascal Lefrancois.
Now that’s what I call a cast.
Whereas praise rightly falls at the feet of Gruissem, special mention also has to go to the American Byron Kaverman, who followed up his World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship runner-up finish, with a fifth place finish, in this event, earning over $1.1m in the past nine days.
The heads-up encounter fell between Gruissem and Scott Seiver and after the pair negotiated a settlement figure they decided to move all-in blind with the German picking up pocket queens, and Seiver the lowly looking [3h] [2h].
“Alright, now you have to stay here and deal with all this stuff,” said Seiver referring to the intrusive cameras, flashes and waiting press.
I don’t think Gruissem cared one little bit.
After all, he’s used to it.
Final Standings
1st. Philipp Gruissem – €993,963*
2nd. Scott Seiver – €857,637*
3rd. Davidi Kitai – €526,400
4th. John Juanda – €426,800
5th. Byron Kaverman – €337,650
6th. Martin Finger – €256,400
7th. Stephen Chidwick – €187,200
8th. Chenxiang Miao – €136,900
9th. Pascal Lefrancois – €113,250
* Denotes heads-up deal
