Event #8: €25,500 Super Highroller Series 25K

There will be 30 minutes left in the current level when the action resumes and the redraw of the final eight players can be found below.

Benjamin Pollak	42,200,000	200,000
Christian Rudolph	22,100,000	-1,500,000
Mikita Badziakouski	17,500,000	1,500,000
Dominik Nitsche	12,800,000	-1,200,000
Michael Addamo	11,600,000	50,000
Winfred Yu	10,300,000	1,500,000
James Romero	8,400,000	-1,250,000
Manig Loeser	8,100,000	200,000

Christian Rudolph raised to 1,200,000 from under the gun and James Romero shoved from the cutoff for 3,975,000 after thinking about it for almost two minutes. Rudolph snap-called.

James Romero:   
Christian Rudolph:   

The board ran out       for Romero's pocket fours to hold and double him up.

Christian Rudolph	23,600,000	-2,900,000
James Romero	9,650,000	5,675,000

Mikita Badziakouski completed his small blind with    and Christian Rudolph opted to check the big blind while he held   .

The flop came     for Badziakouski to flop bottom pair. Badziakouski checked, Rudolph did the same to see the   come on the turn. Badziakouski was still ahead and bet 500,000. Rudolph had the gutshot to the straight and raised to 1,000,000 but the dealer announced all-in. Rudolph was quick to correct the dealer and Badziakouski smiled before making the call.

The river completed the board with the   for Badziakouski to improve to two pair. Badziakouski checked again and Rudolph quickly did the same to see the pot awarded to Badziakouski.

Christian Rudolph	26,500,000	-1,675,000
Mikita Badziakouski	16,000,000	1,800,000

Benjamin Pollak has been grinding one of the shorter stacks ever since the final two tables were formed. He found one double up when he picked up aces and he was looking for another one. Pollak opened to 1,000,000 from under the gun and Matthias Eibinger shoved all in from the big blind. Pollak thought for a moment and then called off his stack of 7,700,000.

Benjamin Pollak:   
Matthias Eibinger:   

The flop came     and Pollak still held a dominating lead with his ace-high. The   on the turn left Eibinger drawing dead to the   on the river as Pollak doubled his way back into contention.

Benjamin Pollak	16,150,000	10,450,000
Matthias Eibinger	9,500,000	-9,000,000

Christian Rudolph raised from the cutoff and Jean-Noel Thorel called in the big blind.

The flop came    , Thorel check-called the 1,000,000 continuation-bet of Rudolph.

The turn was the  , Thorel now check-shoved on the 2,000,000 continuation-bet of Rudolph for 8,375,000 and Rudolph called.

Jean-Noel Thorel:   
Christian Rudolph:   

Rudolph had turned the full house, Thorel needed the queen to split the pot but the river was the   for Thorel to be eliminated in 11th place for €59,176.

Christian Rudolph	28,175,000	10,075,000
Jean-Noel Thorel	0	-7,425,000

He's not there just yet. But it would take something miraculous to deny Shaun Deeb the WSOP Player of the Year title.

Mathematically these things are never certain. But with only two other players in the current top ten travelling to Rozvadov for the WSOP Europe - the closest of whom being Anthony Zinno almost 2,500 points behind - it's fair to say that it's going to take something extraordinary to deny Deeb the title.

With over $6m in lifetime earnings, $4.2m which has come at the WSOP, Deeb says that he always thought he had a chance of making it every year that he's played the WSOP.

"When you look at the last six to eight years and the people that have won, three or four are my closest friends and most of my buddies are near the top of the leaderboard year on year. It's a small group of players that have a good shot every year. Most of us play together, we've dealt with each other day in day out, so it's just fun to finally join them. It's still not going to sink in until I see the picture."

Deeb doesn't strike you as a player motivated by an oversized banner on the wall of the Rio, but the more you talk to him about the Player of the Year race you realise that it's the culmination of a career spent honing his skills at mixed game tournaments.

"The banner is important," reiterates Deeb. "I was given a threat by Frank Kassela. Basically, when I was second or third he said that no matter where I finished, he was going to get a banner with my eventual place on it. And if I didn't win he was going to put it up at his house all summer.

"And Frank doesn't do anything small! So when he says he's going to buy a banner, I imagine one that would cover his entire house. And if I didn't win he'd have gotten this banner and every day when I got home [Deeb stays at Kassela's house] I'd have seen this ginormous banner with 'Shaun Deeb – WSOP POY Third Place' written on it."

Having played every WSOP since he turned 21 – he's 32 now – is 2018 Deeb's most successful summer?

"Yes and no," he says. "This year it's my first year where I've played zero hands of cash. After a week or two I just decided I wanted to put up a really good tournament year so I did. People who try to juggle both get no sleep, they're exhausted, they skip tournaments you want to play and cash games you definitely shouldn't miss. So it's important to focus on one or the other because it's a struggle to do both and you just end up hurting your equity a lot."

And the consequence of no cash? Deeb's most successful summer, at least when it comes to tournaments.

"I've had summers where I've won more money playing Open-Faced Chinese and winning the One Drop satellite, but two bracelets are more than I've won in any other year, and they were two really good ones as well so I enjoyed it.

"I mean they're two events that I have a very low edge in – if any – but things fell my way. Just having a very good table draw and coming across fortuitous situations throughout the whole tournament.

"And they were huge payouts - $800,000 and $1.4m – so I know I'm very lucky to win events that pay so much and yet have a smaller field size."

There are many instances of players and Players of the Year winning multiple tournaments in one year, so does Deeb think that a second is on the cards if a player wins a first.

"It depends on whether you're a fish or a top guy," says Deeb. "Once you win one, you're going to want to play more events and there were definitely some spots where people were like 'Oh shit, this guy just won $1.4m. He's not going to care; he's going to bluff me and call me and whatever'. So I got away with some spots because of that.

"But people who knew me from before know that I'm going to be playing similar to that no matter what. I'm not old and washed up; I mean I am, but not as bad as some may think."

Are there any regrets from a successful summer?

"There's always a sour point for a mixed game player and that's the $50,000 Players Championship. I got 10th in an insanely tough field. But the year before I final-tabled and finished sixth. It's just the event you want to do well in as a mixed game player – it's our Main Event! Looking back on the summer and how I wish it could have gone better, it's that event."

The race involved several big names that are consistently competing for the WSOP Player of the Year title and Deeb says that although it was a lot of fun keeping tabs on one another's performances, he's glad to have all but won it.

"So often in tournaments, people are disappointed because they're losing. But obviously, the people going for Player of the Year had a very profitable summer, having won a bunch of high buy-in tournaments. We're all upbeat and happy and well aware that it's a statistical anomaly.

"I know we'll all look back and remember fondly on this year. I've had friends win it in the past and I've seen their banners for winning Player of the Year and laughed because back then I played most of the events and I played better than them.

"And now I did it."

Dominik Nitsche raised on the button to 800,000 and Manig Loeser defended the big blind. On the     flop, Loeser checked and called a bet of 700,000. The   fell on the turn and Loeser checked once more, then folded when facing a second barrel of 1,500,000 by Nitsche.

Loeser raised his next button and was called by Matthias Eibinger in the big blind. On a flop of    , Eibinger checked and called a bet of 900,000. The   turn and the   river were both checked through and Eibinger tabled the    as winning hand.

Dominik Nitsche	19,800,000	4,300,000
Matthias Eibinger	14,300,000	2,050,000
Manig Loeser	9,200,000	-3,400,000

Matthias Eibinger opened to 825,000 in the cutoff and Winfred Yu called from the big blind. The flop fell     and Yu checked to Eibinger who continued for 750,000. Yu pushed forward a check-raise to 2,200,000 and Eibinger instantly mucked his cards.

There are no real short stacks on the outer table and the action has been dictating that for much of that past level.

Matthias Eibinger	12,250,000	-1,250,000
Winfred Yu	8,800,000	-600,000

Manig Loeser raised to 950,000 on the button and Matthias Eibinger defended his big blind. The flop came     and both players checked, as they did on the   turn. Eibinger checked the   river and Loeser's bet of 850,000 won the pot uncontested.

Eibinger pushed from the small blind into the big blind of Benjamin Pollak and the Frenchman shook his head before sending his cards into the muck.

Loeser made it 850,000 to go and Timothy Adams called in the cutoff, Dominik Nitsche came along out of the big blind. The     flop was checked to Adams and he bet 900,000, only Nitsche called. There was no betting action on the   turn and Nitsche bet the   river for 4,000,000, Adams surrendered.

Timothy Adams	17,700,000	-3,300,000
Dominik Nitsche	15,500,000	1,700,000
Matthias Eibinger	13,500,000	800,000
Manig Loeser	12,600,000	-700,000
Winfred Yu	9,400,000	1,000,000
Benjamin Pollak	5,700,000	100,000