MARTIN KABRHEL BECOMES WSOP

Martin Kabrhel wins the one-day turbo bounty hunter event to capture €53K and his first gold bracelet.

ROZVADOV, Czech Republic (Oct. 26, 2017) – Martin Kabrhel was awarded his first career WSOP gold bracelet in the early hours Thursday morning at King’s Casino. Kabrhel defeated a 325-player field over the course of a 15 hour day to earn the top prize of €53,557. The turbo bounty hunter event awarded €300 per bounty. Kabhrel earned the final seven bounties of the tournament to add another €2,100 to his total. He also eliminated Mike Leah on the final table bubble to capture a bounty.

“I made some good laydowns,” said Kabrhel.  “I am pretty happy how I played.”

Knocking Leah out in the 10th propelled Kabrhel to the chip lead. However, he relinquished the chip lead early at the final table and found himself in danger of elimination after a failed bluff against runner-up finisher Philipp Caranica. It didn’t take long for Kabrhel to bounce back though. Just three hands after the failed bluff, Kabrhel eliminated Bernd Gleissner in 7th place, which was the start of his KO streak.

Kabrhel then scored a double KO.  Yves Kupermunz moved all-in from the cutoff with    and then John Racener called for less from the small blind with   . Having both players covered, Kabrhel called with    from the big blind. The flop and turn each brought an ace and Kabrhel’s kicker held up to win the pot. Racener was eliminated in 6th place for €7,609. It was a strong finish for Racener, who is currently in a heated Player of the Year race. Racener moved up from 4th place to 3rd place in the standings, but is still 50 points shy of current leader, Chris Ferguson. Eight bracelet events remain for Racener to collect points in.

Despite being a turbo event, heads up play lasted a long time. Kabrhel was heads up for the title against Germany’s Caranica. The two battled it out for about 90 minutes, which amounted to four levels of play on the clock. The players took turns doubling up before Kabrhel finally won an all-in pot with more chips behind. Caranica’s runner prize amounted to €33,094. Kabrhel said that he doesn’t generally prefer turbos over a slower structured tournament, but enjoyed this one.

Kabrhel continues to be one of the most successful players at King’s Casino. In addition to this bracelet, Kabrhel has won two Circuit gold rings at King’s since the start of 2016. Kabrhel’s most recent Circuit victory came less than a year ago. In November of 2016 he won the €8,888 Super High Roller for €84K and his second gold ring. Including Circuits, this was Kabrhel’s 19th career WSOP cash. The €53K top prize pushed his earnings to just shy of $400K lifetime at the WSOP.

“I think it’s a great poker room and the venue where we played the final table is beautiful. I really enjoy my time here,” said Kabrhel about King’s Casino.

Kabrhel said that he is looking forward to playing most of the remaining bracelet events in the series, especially 111,111 the  High Roller for One Drop and the Main Event. The High Roller for One Drop will be the biggest event in King's Casino history. The tournament already has over 80 players committed to play. The full list of committed players can be seen here.

The turbo bounty hunter saw a handful of notable players make deep runs including 14-time WSOP champion Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth just missed out on the final table after being eliminated by Racener in 11th place. Other notables to cash in the event include Mike Leah (10th), Marc MacDonnell (19th), Felipe Ramos (23rd), Brandon Cantu (24th) Roberto Romanello (30th),  Kristen Bicknell (32nd), Chris Ferguson (36th), and Vivian Saliba (46th).

WSOP Europe Event #3 - Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em Stream

Final Table Results:

1st: Martin Kabrhel - €53,557
2nd: Philipp Caranica - €33,094
3rd: Salvatore Camarda - €22,159
4th: Liran Twito - €15,168
5th: Yves Kupfermunz - €10,620
6th: John Racener - €7,609
7th: Bernd Gleissner - €5,582
8th: Georgios Koliofotis - €4,195
9th: Viktor Kovachev - €3,232