Event #8: €1,111 Little One for One Drop No-Limit Hold'em

Only two gold bracelets remain to be awarded at the 2017 World Series of Poker at the King's Casino in Rozvadov after Albert Hoekendijk emerged victorious in Event #8: €1,111 Little One for One Drop No-Limit Hold'em, defeating Thomas Hofmann after a hard-fought heads-up duel of almost three hours. Hofmann would have been only the second player from Switzerland to lift the coveted bracelet for a winner shot, but instead if was Hoekendijk who walked away with the first-place payout of €170,764.

Before the final day of the €1,111 Little One for One Drop and Day 2 of Event #10: €111,111 High Roller for One Drop got underway, the 1 Million buyin BIG ONE FOR ONE DROP was confirmed to return in 2018 in Las Vegas, starting July 15, and King's Casino owner Leon Tsoukernik was the first player to put down his deposit to become the 1st official entrant for the event.

Hoekendijk became the fifth WSOP bracelet winner in Dutch poker history, after Rob Hollink, Marc Naalden, Marcel Vonk and Vincent van der Fluit. "All old geezers, including me," Hoekendijk said with a thunderous laugh.

About the length of the heads-up, which clocked in at nearly three hours, Hoekendijk said. "Now I feel happy. He started the heads-up with a chip lead and I was tired. But more and more, I got the feeling that I wanted to win it. We had a nice heads-up and I'm very happy with the result."

"I had no hands, for two hours! interfered Hofmann, who was listening as Hoekendijk was being interviewed. Both shared a laugh about it. "It was very nice. I was glad I was heads-up with him."

Key hand at the final table was Hand #77 in which Hoekendijk called start-of-the-day chipleader Abdelhakim Zoufri with just a pair of aces on an ace-queen-queen-king-ten board. Hoekendijk moved up to second place after the hand, while Zoufri was never able to recover and eventually bowed out in fourth place.

Asked about the call, Hoekendijk said: "I had the ace in the big blind and I just called his raise. I figured he didn't suspect me to have an ace. And.. well, to be honest, it just felt right. Maybe it's not the best call in the world, but it felt right at the time."

When asked about the money and the bracelet, Hoekendijk's smile widened. "The money is nice, because I can just play now. I love to play tournaments, especially the Main Events. And when I wake up tomorrow, and I see that bracelet, I know they'll never take it from me. A great feeling!"

Hoekendijk ended the interview with specifically thanking King's Casino in Rozvadov. "I want to especially thank the organization here. It's very good." Hoekendijk said. "It's a very well organized tournament and I really like it here."

The Dutchman and runner-up Hofmann exchanged plenty of banter at the tables and it was yet another close call for the Swiss, who already finished 17th in THE COLOSSUS a few days ago. Hofmann, who works in telecommunication back home in Zurich, has visited the King's Casino for the fourth time and previously won a non-ring Side Event of the WSOP International Circuit in Europe's biggest poker arena. "If I cash for at least €20,000, I told myself to play in the Main Event," Hofmann added and will join the action for Day 1b on Sunday November 5th 2017.

Event #8: €1,111 Little One for One Drop Final Result

Throughout the two starting days, the event drew a total of 868 entries and prize pool of €866,654, which was split among the top 131 spots. The money bubble burst early on Day 2 and among those to cash but fail to make it to the final day were Allen Kessler (118th, for €1,660), Roland Israelashvili (112th, for €1,660), Besim Hot (99th, for €1,738), Mike Leah (98th, for €1,738), Paul Michaelis (85th, for €1,855), Marcel Luske (81st, for €2,016), Barny Boatman (77th, for €2,016), William Kassouf (75th, for €2,016), Maria Lampropulos (68th, for €2,231), Sebastian Langrock (64th, for €2,231), Michael Eiler (42nd, for €3,362), David Urban (23rd, for €4,812) and Willem de Jong (15th, for €7,351).

Action of the Final Day

Only 11 hopefuls returned in the hopes of joining the WSOP champion's club and it was Stanislav Koleno who missed out on the unofficial final table. After just having doubled up his short stack, the Slovakian three-bet shoved with ace-ten into the pocket kings of Albert Hoekendijk and had to settle for €9,306.

Vlado Banicevic also fell to the Dutchman when his jack-ten suited was no good against Hoekendijk's ace-king and that vaulted the Dutchman into a top three stack. Hoekendijk was also involved in the third casualty of the day and knocked out Przemyslaw Klejnowski in 9th place in a three-way pot with king-queen versus pocket fives and the ace-king of Oleh Haisiuk.

Artan Dedusha started the final day among the chip leaders but lost most of his stack against a straight. Right after the Brit moved all in with queen-jack and Johannes Toebbe isolated successfully with ace-king, then dodged the two live cards and straight draw of Dedusha. After the very next hand there were only six players left as Serghei Lisiy stood no chance with ace-eight versus ace-king.

The other two short stacks would bow out in quick succession as Jonas Lauck with seven-six suited against the pocket deuces of Thomas Hofmann and Oleh Haisiuk with ace-five against the pocket sevens of Johannes Toebbe failed to improve. Four-handed play lasted for quite some time and start-of-the-day chip leader Abdelhakim Zoufri was left short after the aforementioned failed bluff attempt against Hoekendijk. He eventually got it in with ace-three versus pocket tens and Hofmann turned a full house to leave Zoufri drawing dead.

Only three hands later it was all over for Johannes Toebbe. The German came back from a break as far shortest stack and three-bet shoved with ace-three. Hoekendijk called with king-jack suited and spiked a king on the flop right away. Only 99 hands were played on the final table by then, and the battle for the title lasted more than 130 hands thereafter. Ultimately Hofmann was grinded down to ten big blinds, doubled twice before shoving with queen-three into the ace-ten of Hoekendijk. An ace on the flop gave the Dutchman the lock on the hand and Hofmann was officially eliminated after a blank on the turn.

The PokerNews live reporting team will continue to provide all the action from Rozvadov until a WSOP Europe Main Event champion is crowned on Friday November 10th 2017.

Hand #229: Albert Hoekendijk moved all in from the button and Thomas Hofmann called for just shy of 10 big blinds.

Thomas Hofmann:   
Albert Hoekendijk:   

The board of       improved both players on each straight and Hofmann eventually doubled for 1,470,000 with a straight. "How can I break this guy? Unbelievable," Hoekendijk added.

Hand #230: Hofmann raised to 400,000 and Hoekendijk called. The     flop was checked. On the   turn, Hoekendijk bet 400,000 and Hofmann folded.

Hand #231: Hofmann received a walk.

Albert Hoekendijk	14,800,000	-1,020,000
Thomas Hofmann	2,570,000	1,020,000

Hand #215: Thomas Hofmann moved all in and Albert Hoekendijk mucked the   .

Hand #216: Hofmann received a walk.

Hand #217: Hoekendijk received a walk and showed   .

Hand #218: Another walk for Hofmann.

Hand #219: Hofmann moved all in and Hoekendijk asked for a count, then called when it was deemed to be for 1,545,000 with the words "well let's gamble."

Thomas Hofmann:   
Albert Hoekendijk:   

The board came       and Hofmann doubled.

Hand #220: Hoekendijk raised to 430,000 and forced a fold.

Albert Hoekendijk	14,470,000	-1,600,000
Thomas Hofmann	2,900,000	1,600,000

Hand #203: Albert Hoekendijk raised to 400,000 and Thomas Hofmann called. On the     flop, Hofmann checked and called to a bet of 400,000.

Hand #204: Hofmann raised to 400,000 and Hoekendijk moved all in, forcing a fold in quick succession.

Hand #205: Hoekendijk raised to 400,000 and Hofmann defended the big blind. The flop fell     and Hofmann checked, then folded to a bet of 650,000. Hoekendijk flashed the   .

Hand #206: Hofmann's raise to 380,000 was called by Hoekendijk. The duo checked down the board of       and Hofmann showed   , Hoekendijk chopped with    and the Swiss sighed. "How do I get nine high all the time?"

Hand #207: Hoekendijk moved all in and Hofmann mucked the  .

Hand #208: Hofmann raised to 380,000 and Hoekendijk called. There was no betting action on the board of       and Hoekendijk won the pot with   .

Albert Hoekendijk	15,000,000	1,540,000
Thomas Hofmann	2,370,000	-1,530,000

Hand #188: Albert Hoekendijk raised to 400,000 and showed    after the fold of Thomas Hofmann.

Hand #189: Hofmann raised to 400,000 and Hoekendijk called. Both players checked the     flop and the   turn. After the   river, Hoekendijk bet 500,000 and Hofmann called to win the hand with   , Hoekendijk was bluffing with the   

Hand #190: Hoekendijk raised to 400,000 and Hofmann called. The Swiss check-folded the     flop to a bet of 700,000.

Hand #191: A walk for Hoekendijk.

Hand #192: Hoekendijk limped in and Hofmann checked. On the     flop, Hofmann check-called a bet of 200,000 and did so again for 300,000 on the   turn. The   river was checked and Hoekendijk said "show me your six," which Hofmann did with   . Hoekendijk had that beat with    and raked in the pot.

Hand #193: Hofmann's raise to 400,000 was met by a three-bet to 1.3 million by Hoekendijk and that ended the hand.

Hand #194: Hoekendijk limped in. The flop came     and both players checked. After the   turn, Hofmann bet 200,000 and won the pot.

Hand #195: Hofmann raised to 400,000 and showed   .

Hand #196: Hoekendijk limped in and Hofmann raised to 475,000. Hoekendijk reraised to 1,260,000 and Hofmann reluctantly folded, he was shown the    by the Dutchman.

Albert Hoekendijk	12,200,000	930,000
Thomas Hofmann	5,170,000	-930,000

Hand #173: Thomas Hofmann raised to 360,000 and Albert Hoekendijk called. Both checked the     flop and Hoekendijk bet the   turn for 450,000, Hofmann called. The   on the river was checked again and Hoekendijk shrugged showed   . Hofmann checked his cards again and mucked.

Hand #174: A limped pot brought the flop of     and Hofmann's bet of 200,000 won the pot.

Hand #175: Hofmann raised to 260,000 and Hoekendijk called. A flop of     was checked by the Dutchman and Hofmann's bet won the pot.

Hand #176: Hoekendijk made it 360,000 to go and Hofmann called. There was no action on the     flop and Hofmann bet the   turn for 360,000, Hoekendijk called. Hofmann also bet the   river and Hoekendijk quickly folded.

Hand #177: Hofmann raised to 260,000 and Hoekendijk called to see a flop of    , on which the Dutchman check-called a bet of 300,000. After the   turn, Hoekendijk checked and let go when facing a bet of 475,000.

Hand #178: Hoekendijk raised to 260,000 and Hofmann defended his big blind. There was no action on the     flop and the   turn, Hofmann bet the   river and Hoekendijk folded.

Hand #179: A walk for Hoekendijk.

Hand #180: A walk for Hofmann.

Hand #181: Hofmann raised to 260,000 and folded to a three-bet by Hoekendijk.

Hand #160: Albert Hoekendijk raised to 260,000 and Thomas Hofmann called. The flop fell     and Hofmann check-called a bet of 300,000. On the   turn, Hoekendijk bet 400,000 out of turn and Hofmann elected to check and fold.

Hand #161: Hoekendijk received a walk.

Hand #162: Hoekendijk raised to 360,000 and Hofmann called. The flop came     and both players checked. After the   turn, Hofmann bet 400,000 and was called before the   river was checked again. Hofmann briefly flashed his cards including the   and Hoekendijk mucked.

Hand #163: Hofmann's raise to 360,000 won the pot.

Hand #164: Hoekendijk made it 520,000 to go and forced a fold.

Hand #165: Hofmann raised to 360,000 and Hoekendijk called, but quickly check-folded the     flop to a bet.

Hand #166: Hoekendijk made it 360,000 to go and Hofmann let go.

Hand #167: Hofmann's raise to 360,000 was called. After the     flop was checked, Hoekendijk checked the   turn and folded to a bet of 500,000.

Hand #168: Hofmann received a walk.

Albert Hoekendijk	11,400,000	-960,000
Thomas Hofmann	5,970,000	970,000

Hand #150: Thomas Hofmann received a walk.

Hand #151: Hofmann raised to 260,000 and Albert Hoekendijk called. On the     flop and   turn, both players checked. Hoekendijk bet the   river for 400,000 and Hofmann folded, he was shown the   .

Hand #152: Hoekendijk raised to 260,000 and Hofmann called. On the     flop the action went check, check. Hofmann check-raised the   turn from 200,000 to 625,000 and Hoekendijk folded.

Hand #153: Hofmann raised to 260,000 and a Dutch rail arrived, cheering for their countryman. Hoekendijk raised to 920,000 and Hofmann quickly folded. Hoekendijk flashed the   .

Hand #154: Hoekendijk opened to 260,000 and Hofmann called. A flop of     brought no action before the   turn saw Hofmann check-call a bet of 300,000. After the   turn, Hofmann bet 450,000 and Hoekendijk min-raised to 900,000. Hofmann folded and dropped further chips.

Hand #155: Hoekendijk received a walk, then mentioned he had    in the last hand for the bottom end of the straight.

Albert Hoekendijk	11,800,000	440,000
Thomas Hofmann	5,570,000	-430,000

Hand #138: Thomas Hofmann raised to 400,000 and Albert Hoekendijk three-bet to 1,120,000, Hofmann called. On the     flop, Hoekendijk check-raised from 700,000 to 1,500,000 and Hofmann called.

The   fell on the turn and Hoekendijk bet 900,000, which prompted Hofmann to say "You are a lucky man." Hoekendijk replied with a "that's my second name. Does that mean you fold?" and Hofmann did so after some further consideration.

Hand #139: Hoekendijk raised to 260,000 and Hofmann called, then check-folded the     flop to a bet of 300,000. Hoekendijk flashed an ace.

Hand #140: Hofmann's raise to 360,000 was called by Hoekendijk and they checked the     flop. Hoekendijk bet the   turn for 300,000 and Hofmann called before the   river was checked. Hoekendijk flashed    and said "you have an ace?", but Hofmann flipped over    for a rivered pair of jacks.

Hand #141: Hoekendijk raised to 460,000 and Hofmann defended his big blind. On a flop of    , Hofmann checked and folded when facing a bet of 300,000.

Hand #142: Hofmann raised to 360,000 and Hoekendijk called. The flop came     and Hoekendijk check-called a bet of 300,000. There was no betting action on the   turn before Hoekendijk bet the   river for 800,000.

Hofmann folded and was shown a bluff with    for the busted open-ender.

Albert Hoekendijk	12,200,000	3,280,000
Thomas Hofmann	5,170,000	-3,280,000