Sergi Reixach wins Poker Masters Event #8 for $369,000

With just two events of the 2019 Poker Masters remaining, Spanish high roller Sergi Reixach won the $25,000 NLHE Event #9, getting the better of George Wolff heads-up in what could yet prove a pivotal moment in the race for the Purple Jacket.

With Sam Soverel hot on the heels of Chance Kornuth going into Event #8, Kornuth’s fourth-worst fears came true as Soverel scored enough points to clamber over Kornuth in the standings after 80% of the high roller series. That Soverel took only 4th place instead of the win may ultimately help Kornuth, as might the win over Wolff for Reixach.

It was a huge day in the course of the 2019 Poker Masters in Las Vegas.

The final day of Event #8 began as it meant to go on, with not one but two bust-outs in the $25,000-entry no limit hold’em action. It was the eventual winner Sergi Reixach who was the benefactor, eliminating Sean Winter and Andras Nemeth in one hand, leaving just four around the suddenly over-sized oval table.

If the chip magnet seemed to be behind Sergi Reixach’s seat, then it certainly wasn’t near Sam Soverel. The 2019 British Poker Open champion had his eyes on laddering at the very least, but he had to make do with 120 points when he went all-in for just eight bigs with queen-ten, and Reixach’s call with king-five, good enough to see the Spaniard save Chance Kornuth falling further behind in the Series standings.

Orpen Kisacikoglu would fall before heads-up play, moving all-in with pocket jacks and being called by Reixach by pocket eights. That Kisacikoglu would flop a set of jacks and lose tells you how spectacular his exit really was, with Reixach making quad eights on the river to draw gasps from the rail and send the commentary team into raptures, possibly at the viewing figures spike that such a viral hand might produce.

Heads-up against George Wolff, Reixach managed to get it all-in with pocket aces after the flop gave Wolff a pair of sixes and he committed his stack.

For Sergi Reixach, it was another stunning victory in a year which has already seen him bank $3 million in tournament winnings alone. For Sam Soverel and Chance Kornuth, the results of Event #8 may well be the ones they look back on as fundamental to their eventual success in pursuing the Purple Jacket.

2019 Poker Masters Event #8 final table results:

Soverel’s 4th place finish gives him a 60-point lead over Chance Kornuth with two events left, the same amount as the deficit by which he trailed just 24 hours earlier. Elsewhere, while Sean Winter and Kahle Burns will retain feint hope of rising above all others by the end of Event #10, George Wolff is in closer range, sitting as he does just 270 points behind Soverel – one event win as long as Soverel cashes no more.

2019 Poker Masters Leaderboard after Event #8: