Event #10: €111,111 High Roller for One Drop No-Limit Hold'em

888poker Ambassador Dominik Nitsche has come out on top of an illustrious field to capture €3,487,463 and another WSOP gold bracelet in Event #10: €111,111 High Roller for One Drop No-Limit Hold'em. Nitsche defeated his fellow German counterpart, Andreas Eiler in a heads-up match that saw Nitsche show complete domination. Eiler has nothing to be ashamed of as he will walk away with €2,155,418.

Nitsche struck gold for the fourth time in his career, this one for the largest payday. Nitsche started his poker career as an online grinder and became known to many worldwide as one of the best. His previous three bracelets came in $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em events with his biggest score being $654,797. This one means a little more to Nitsche, competing against some of the best players in the world, and the €3.4 million added bonus doesn't hurt either.

When asked what it feels like to win his fourth bracelet, Nitsche gave a pretty humble answer. "It's really nice, it's not about the bracelets for me it's about how well I played. Im more proud of how I played rather than I won."

Nitsche looked as strong as ever when it came down to heads-up play and he credited the work he has been putting into the game. "I've put a lot of time recently, into heads-up cash games so I felt comfortable all the way through. I felt like I was the strongest player and made now mistakes. I played perfect, there was nothing I would change."

There are many of Nitsche's friends from Germany that also compete in these prestige events throughout the world and Nitsche feels like he belongs now. "I compete in the high-rollers because I love battling with the best so to finally win one of those feels fantastic. I'll be looking forward to winning number five now because winning tournaments is fun."

A total of 88 unique entries found their way to the felt for the largest buy-in of the 2017 World Series of Poker Europe. For some, one bullet wouldn't suffice as there were 44 re-entries for €100,000 a piece. That made up a prizepool of €12,980,000 which paid 20 places. A min-cash was worth €157,652 which made for an interesting bubble. With just 23 players remaining, play slowed drastically towards the end of Day 2, forcing tournament directors to keep track of the number of hands played on each table. Eventually, Charlie Carrel bursted the money bubble when he made a straight on the river against Vladimir Troyanovskiy.

Many familiar names found their way into the money including the #1 ranked player on the GPI, Bryn Kenney (17th Place - €157,652). Some other names include Jack Sinclair (16th Place - €177,616), Eugene Katchalov (13th Place - €205,263), Nick Petrangelo (12th Place - €243,169), Kenny Hallaert (10th Place - €295,131), and Charlie Carrel (9th Place - €295,131).

With such a jam-packed field of poker legends everywhere you looked, many of them fell by the way-side. Phil Hellmuth, Ryan Riess, Benjamin Pollak, and Boris Becker were all eliminated on Day 1 and they chose not to take another shot. There were 48 players returning on Day 2 with registration still open for two levels. It was a battle to reach the money and for some they fell just short. Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, Philipp Gruissem, Fedor Holz, Rainer Kempe, Igor Kurganov, Liv Boeree, Bertrand Grospellier, Sam Trickett, and Ole Schemion were just a few to hit the rail throughout the day.

Final Table Summary

The day started with just 10 players remaining and it took longer than expected to get to the unofficial table. Eventually, Kenny Hallaert lost a flip with his short stack and the final nine gathered at one table. On the very first hand, Charlie Carrel pushed all in for seven big blinds but was dominated when Sontheimer called from the big blind. And the final eight players were left to make up the official final table.

Martin Kabrhel had an unfortunate start to the day, losing every pot he played and found himself left on the short stack. He got all of his chips in good against Dominik Nitsche but the river gave Nitsche a flush and Kabrhel was ousted. Not long after, Ahadpur Khangah, the only recreational poker player remaining, was all in with    against Nitsche's   . Khangah made a straight on the river but Nitsche held a full house. In his elimination interview, Khangah mentioned that playing in this special event was a nice break from his everyday life of a businessman and industrialist.

The chip leader to start the day, Christoph Vogelsang, lost a big flip early on in the day. He was dwindled down to around six big blinds when his ace-queen was out-flopped by Badziakouski's ace-seven. In quick succession, Steffen Sontheimer and Thomas Muehloecker followed him to the payout desk. Both players were also left extremely short-stacked and were just trying to out-last the other to make a pay jump. Sontheimer, who has become a high-roller tournament specialist, noted that he will be looking forward to the Big One for One Drop in the summer of 2018 but for now, his next focus will be on the high-roller tournaments coming up in Punta Cana.

That left just three players left to battle for the title, with Nitsche and Eiler holding the majority of the chips. Mikita Badziakouski looked like he was starting to make a comeback but wound up finding himself in a race for all of his chips. Badziakouski held    against Eiler's    and the ten-high flop looked promising for a double up. However, the   on the turn gave Eiler the lead and the   on the river changed nothing. Badziakouski was still happy to take home over $1.5 million for his efforts and that left two Germans heads-up.

One Drop Tournament History

This was the first open tournament of its kind to be played on European soil and what better way to introduce it than at the WSOP Europe held at King's Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. There have been five previous One Drop tournaments held in Las Vegas with Doug Polk winning the most recent one earlier this summer. With over $1.2 million raised for the One Drop charity, that brings the total to over $22,000,000.

With the conclusion of the High-Roller for One Drop, the focus will now turn to the €10,300 Main Event, the 12th and final bracelet event. The Day 1 flights have concluded and Day 2 will begin tomorrow at 12:00 P.M. local time. Continue to follow along with PokerNews as we continue to bring you all of the coverage from the tournament floor.

Hand #117: Andreas Eiler folded    and Dominik Nitsche got a walk with   .

Hand #118: Nitsche shoved with the    and Eiler called all in for 19.6 million with   . The bioard came       and Eiler doubled to 10 big blinds.

Hand #119: A walk for Nitsche.

Hand #120: Nitsche moved all in with the    and Eiler let go with   .

Dominik Nitsche	230,000,000	-12,000,000
Andreas Eiler	34,000,000	12,000,000

Hand #105: A walk for Dominik Nitsche.

Hand #106: Nitsche raised with    for 8.0 million and Andreas Eiler defended the   . The flop fell     and Eiler checked, Nitsche bet 6.0 million and picked up the pot without further resistance.

Hand #107: Eiler folded and Nitsche got a walk with   .

Hand #108: Nitsche limped in with    and Eiler checked with the   . The flop fell     and Eiler checked with second pair, Nitsche bet 4.0 million and Eiler called.

The   appeared on the turn and Eiler checked once more and Nitsche won the pot with a bet of 11.0 million.

Hand #109: Eiler limped with    and Nitsche checked his option with   . The flop came     and both players checked to see the   on the turn. Nitsche bet 5.0 million and that shut down all further action.

Hand #110: Nitsche limped with   , Eiler checked   . Nitsche once more flopped best on     and Eiler check-folded to a bet of 4.0 million.

Dominik Nitsche	199,000,000	40,000,000
Andreas Eiler	65,000,000	-40,000,000

Hand #100: Dominik Nitsche limped in, Andreas Eiler raised to 9.0 million with the    and Nitsche called with   . On the     flop, Eiler bet 6.0 million and Nitsche called.

After the   turn, Eiler fired a bet of 16.0 million and Nitsche folded.

Hand #101: Eiler raised to 7.0 million with the    and Nitsche folded.

Hand #102: Nitsche limped with    and Eiler raised to 9.0 million with   , forcing a quick fold from Nitsche.

Hand #103: In a limped pot the flop fell     and Eiler c hecked   , as Nitsche did with   . The   was checked as well and there was no betting action on the   river to award the pot to Eiler.

Hand #104: Nitsche limped with    and Eiler checked his option with   . The flop came     and Eiler check-folded to a bet of Nitsche.

Dominik Nitsche	159,000,000	-42,000,000
Andreas Eiler	105,000,000	42,000,000

Hand #91: Andreas Eiler raised to 7.0 million on the button and Dominik Nitsche folded his big blind.

Hand #92: Nitsche limped the button with    and Eiler checked his option with   . Both players checked the flop of     and the   landed on the turn. Eiler checked again and Nische bet 4.0 million, which caused Eiler to fold.

Hand #93: Eiler folded his button and the pot was sent to Nitsche.

Hand #94: Nitsche limped the button with    and Eiler checked with   . The flop came     and Eiler led out for 3.0 million, prompting a fold from Nitsche.

Hand #95: Eiler called on the button with    and Nitsche checked holding   . The flop came     and Nitsche checked to Eiler who bet 3.0 million. Nitsche made the call and the   hit the turn. Nitsche checked again and Eiler fired another 8.0 million. Nitsche finally let his hand go and Eiler took this one.

Hand #96: Nitsche limed the button with    and Eiler checked behind with   . The flop came     and Eiler check-folded to a bet of 3.0 million from Nitsche.

Hand #85: A walk for Dominik Nitsche, who held    in the big blind.

Hand #86: Nitsche limped in, Andreas Eiler moved all in for 46.55 million and Nitsche called.

Andreas Eiler:   
Dominik Nitsche:   

The board ran out       and Eiler doubled.

Dominik Nitsche	169,900,000	-46,100,000
Andreas Eiler	94,100,000	46,100,000

Hand #69: A walk for Dominik Nitsche.

Hand #70: Nitsche raised to 6 million with the    and Andreas Eiler called with   . The flop fell     and Eiler checked, Nitsche bet 5 million and Eiler called.

The   paired the board and Eiler checked once more, prompting a second barrel worth 13 million by Nitsche. Eiler folded and Nitsche extended his lead.

Hand #71: Another walk for Nitsche.

Hand #72: Nitsche folded and Eiler received a walk with the   .

Hand #73: Andreas Eiler raised to 6.0 million on the button with    and Dominik Nitsche called from the big blind with   . The flop came     and Nitsche check-called a bet of 4.5 million from Eiler.

The turn was the   and Nitsche checked his straight. Eiler fired 12.5 million and Nitsche just called with his straight. The river paired the board with the   and Nitsche checked for the third time. Eiler reached back for a bet of 24.0 million and Nitsche snap-called. Eiler's cards went to the muck and Nitsche took a substantial chip lead.

Dominik Nitsche	200,150,000	60,400,000
Andreas Eiler	63,850,000	-60,400,000

After the bracelet presentation for Matous Skorepa, the cards got back in the air with Andreas Eiler and Dominik Nitsche in contention for the almost €3.5 million first-place payout and coveted gold bracelet.

Hand #60: Dominik Nitsche raised to 5.0 million on the button with    and Mikita Badziakouski called from the small blind with   . Andreas Eiler also called in the big blind with    and the flop came    . The action was checked around to the   on the turn and Badziakouski led out for 7.0 million. Eiler and Nitsche both folded sending the pot to Badziakouski.

Hand #61: Eiler limped in with    from the small blind and Nitsche checked his option with   . The flop came     and both players checked to the   on the turn. Eiler fired 3.5 million with a straight and flush draw and Nitsche called with his pair of sixes. The river landed the   and both players checked and Eilers won the pot with a pair of tens.

Hand #62: Eiler raised to 5.0 million on the button with    and Badziakouski defended his big blind with   . The flop fell     and Badziakouski checked to Eiler who continued for 4.5 million, forcing Badziakouski to fold.

Hand #63: Badziakouski called from the small blind with    and Eiler checked his big blind holding   . The flop came     and Badziakouski led out for 2.5 million. Eiler let his hand go and Badziakouski earned himself a pot.

Hand #64: Badziakouski picked up    on the button and just called. Eiler also called in the small blind with    and Nitsche checked his option. The flop came     and the action was checked to Badziakouski who bet 2.5 million. Eiler and Nitsche both folded their rags and Badziakouski raked in the pot.