WSOP Europe Diamond High Roller Bracelet Won by Martin Kabrhel for $580,000

Czech player Martin Kabrhel won his third World Series of Poker bracelet as he took down the €50,000 ($54,860) No Limit Hold’em Diamond High Roller event in Rozvadov. Triumphing heads-up against the opening day’s chip leader, Sirzat Hissou, Kabrhel, who is a player who has courted controversy throughout his career split opinion as he won against in his homeland of the Czech Republic in the border town that plays host to the WSOP Europe festival.

Foxen and Chidwick Go Close but Miss the Money

With 30 total entries in the Diamond High Roller event, players such as Daniel Rezaei, Sergi Reixach, King’s owner Leon Tsoukernik and Alex Foxen all busted before the final dozen players remained. Only five places were paid and with almost $1.5m in the prizepool, others such as Roman Hrabec (11^th) and Stephen Chidwick (9^th) also departed outside the money places.

Down to eight players, Kristen Foxen moved all-in from the button for around 13 big blinds with . She was snap-called by the eventual winner Kabrhel, who had and with Bulgarian Fahredin Mustafov folding an ace in the big blind, only two outs other than running cards. A flop of gave Foxen no help, and after a and a river, she hit the rail as Kabrhel climbed further away from the short stacks.

Daniel Dvoress was the next to go. The Canadian shoved with but was called by Kabrhel’s and a ten on the flop and no help for Dvoress meant he missed out on the money after falling in seventh place.

Five Paid as Astedt Bursts the Bubble

Soon, the bubble burst as one of two Swedes to make the last six missed out on the latter stages of the bracelet event. All-in with pre-flop, Niklas Astedt was not favorite to double when Mustafov turned over . The eight-high board was no help to the at-risk Astedt and he missed out on the money places.

With one Swedish player on the rail for nothing, soon there were two, but this time Viktor Blom cashed for $145,800. All-in with jack-deuce, Blom was hoping that one of his two live cards would hit as Sirzat Hissou turned over a suited king-queen. A king on the flop was joined by a ten and seven. On the turn, the chance of a straight or flush opened up but an insignificant fell on the river to bust him in fifth place.

Out in fourth was the Italian Enrico Camosci, who won $175,000 when his lost to Sirzat Hissou’s pocket kings. A jack did arrive on the flop and after the turn, Camosci had the chance of  wheel straight too but once again, the at-risk player bricked the river and left with just three remaining.

Kabrhel is King

With three players left, there was an almost immediate elimination. Mustafov was short and called off his stack with but would have to hit against the . A flop of was a dream flop for the Bulgarian and Kabrhel had no flush draw. A on the turn made no difference and Mustafov was only one card from a vital double-up… before the landed on the river and he departed in third place for $243,600.

Heads-up, Kabrhel had a better than 2:1 chip lead but blew it when a series of bluffs eventually ran out of luck and Hissou grabbed a 60:40 lead. Two hands won by Kabrhel moved the ticker across again however, as the momentum swung to the home country player, two-pair crucial in giving Kabrhel a lead of 19 million to Hissou’s 11 million.

Rash play from Kabrhel when Hissou turned a straight saw him lose the lead yet again and Hissou had almost three-quarters of the chips in play. But a series of small pots all went the Cech player’s way before a bluff that was called with a worse hand gave the champion-in waiting a better than 2:1 chip lead once more. In the next hand, Hissou’s ace-eight was all-in against Kabrhel’s pocket fives and while an eight landed on the flop, so did a five and the Czech Republic’s most successful poker player, Martin Kabrhel had won his third WSOP bracelet in his local casino, King’s Resort – his first bracelet win in six years.

The Champion Opens Up

“I get that some moments with me might not be so pleasant. I’m just trying to have fun at the table.” ~ Martin Kabrhel, three-time WSOP champion.

Speaking to PokerNews, Kabrhel was candid afterwards about his reputation as one of poker’s bad boys.

“I think I’m both [a hero and a villain],” he told the site. “Most people really enjoy playing with me, especially in Vegas. But I understand that in higher-stakes situations, some players can feel a bit nervous, and I get that some moments with me might not be so pleasant. I’m just trying to have fun at the table for everyone involved, and hopefully, I’m succeeding at that.”

Kabrhel is a family man, and while he admitted that he is not likely to be ‘father of the year’, he told PokerNews that he was trying to ‘show them some values and teach them things – that’s basically my role.’

Kabrhel is a high achiever in poker and no-one has won more in ranking tournaments from his native Czech Republic. His interest may be varied but he intends to stick around in the game of poker.

“I do a little bit of eSports and crypto, but I’m passionate about whatever I do, whether [that is] poker or business.”

Anyone who thought Kabrhel might be going somewhere is dead wrong. The player they love to hate is hanging around in poker, and in WSOP events, he just keeps on winning.

PHotogrpahy by Tomas Stahca for PokerNews, the home of live reporting for the WSOP.