WSOPE Event #1: 2023 NLH Opener

The first gold bracelet at the 2023 World Series of Poker Europe has been awarded at the King's Resort in Rozvadov. For the sixth time, Europe's biggest poker arena hosts the series which is set to award 15 WSOP gold bracelets and Lukas Pazma has been crowned the first champion of the festival.

Event #1: €350 NLH Opener drew an overall field of 3,503 entries, which represents a significant increase to the 2,554 entries of the previous edition. Only 378 players had survived their respective starting days to lock up a portion of the €1,048,272 prize pool and 23 returned for the final day.

Pazma becomes the third player from Slovakia in consecutive years to etch his name in the history books, following in the footsteps of Samuel Stranak and Lubos Laska. Pazma defeated Andras Balogh in heads-up to earn the €110,000 top prize, while Balogh had to settle for a consolation prize of €66,000 for his runner-up finish.

Pazma entered the unofficial final table with two times as many chips as his nearest follower after a card rush propelled him into a commanding lead and he never looked back en route to victory. The Slovakian came fresh off a deep run in the WPT Prime Liechtenstein Main Event, in which he earned 169,700 Swiss Franks for a very respectable third place finish. He also had several big results at King's Resort and locked up his third WSOP Europe Main Event ticket to continue a hot run throughout the last six months.

For Balogh, it was yet another close call for the gold bracelet. One year ago, he finished seventh for €37,997 in Event #5: €550 COLOSSUS in which aforementioned Laska triumphed. The only bracelet winner in contention was Emil Bise, who finished in ninth place. On top of their cash prizes, the top 12 finishers also earned an entry to the 2023 WSOP Europe Main Event worth €10,350.

Final Table Result Event #1: €350 NLH Opener

* Top 12 finishers also received an entry to 2023 WSOP Europe €10,350 Main Event

Pazma had scored a crucial double in the late stages of Day 2 and returned second in chips, trailing only Stefan Drusca. Both remained near the top of the leaderboard until the Main Event ticket bubble but Pazma then went on an incredible hot streak to separate himself from all other contestants.

When all was said and done, all the pressure fell off the Slovakian and he was all smiles.

"Like I am really surprised like, wow, I made it. I have no words. Really. I am happy, so happy," Pazma said shortly after his victory. Despite having such a large lead, he was very aware of runner-up finisher Balogh who he described as a "really tough, really good player". But at the right time, he picked up a strong hand and held when his dominating ace-queen came out on top versus ace-seven.

Pazma was the centre of action for most of the day and confirmed this as a pivotal part of his strategy.

"When I have chips, I am a very dangerous player because I push with my chips like I make so much pressure," he mentioned.

And while the six-figure prize will certainly be a great addition to his bankroll, he didn't so much care about the money but about keeping the streak going for players from Slovakia to win a bracelet. Fellow countryman Stanislav Koleno was also in the mix to make that happen but had to settle for third place after two clashes with Balogh.

"This means so much for me. Maybe somebody don't believe. But this is for me. I am proud of myself and like I was not thinking about money but about this," Pazma acknowledged when asked about the third Slovakian win in as many years at King's Resort.

One thing is for certain, he will be back for the 2023 WSOP Europe Main Event and perhaps also enter further gold bracelet events in the days to come.

Action of the Final Day

Only 23 players returned to their seats and that number was cut down almost immediately, when Hristofor Kolev was eliminated in a three-way all-in. William Kang was also involved in said hand and never recovered from losing a flip with queens to become the next casualty.

Frank Leykauf tangled at the wrong time with Stanislav Koleno and hero-called to get shown a flush, and he was joined at the payout desk by Jiri Kun moments later. Schakeri then flopped a set of tens but Iman Ghashayar turned the nut straight. The eliminations of Marcin Kacprzak and Scottie Howington brought the field down to the final two tables.

With cards barely back in the air thereafter, Mikkel Plum picked the wrong time to jam five-deuce as Pazma called with his limped pocket kings. The Dane then returned to his seat in Event #2: €550 Pot Limit Omaha 8-max to try and run up a stack, already secured another in-the-money finish.

For Pazma, that very hand was the start of a hot streak as he picked up numerous premium hands to become the run-away chip leader. Roland Schweinstetter was among his victims when he ran with nines into kings, and that led the ticket bubble burst. Alfredo Vega Meister followed into the same footsteps and Stefan Pezzarossa then bubbled the unofficial final table against Florin Bilan.

Emil Bise made the final redraw of the tournament albeit with a severe short stack of just six blinds and became the first casualty thereafter, as Koleno notched up another elimination. The next three seat open were all caused by Pazma before fellow Slovakian Koleno dispatched Stephan Glausch. Florin Bilan outflopped Pazma with queen-ten suited but couldn't hold as the field was already down to the final three.

Koleno and Balogh were fighting for survival and the ladder-up with the better end for Balogh. However, there was no stopping to the dominant performance of Pazma who needed around one hour of heads-up play to wrap up the victory.

This concludes the PokerNews live coverage for Event #1: €350 NLH Opener but another 14 WSOP gold bracelets will be awarded in the next two and a half weeks here at King's Resort in Rozvadov.

Andras Balogh limped in with the    on the button and Lukas Pazma checked the    from the big blind.

The     flop was checked. Pazma check-called for 1,000,000 on the   turn and another 2,300,000 on the   river to get shown the bad news.

Lukas Pazma	50,000,000	-5,000,000
Andras Balogh	20,000,000	5,000,000

Lukas Pazma limped in with the    and Andras Balogh checked the   , which led them to the     flop. Balogh checked and Pazma checked it back, as they saw the   turn for free. Another check by Balogh prompted Pazma's bet of 1,000,000 and Balogh called.

The   river saw Balogh check once more and Pazma now bet 3,000,000, which represented nearly half of the short stack of his opponent. Balogh made a stand and called to drag in an urgently needed pot.

Lukas Pazma	58,000,000	-5,000,000
Andras Balogh	12,000,000	4,300,000

Lukas Pazma raised to 1,500,000 on the button with the    and Andras Balogh defended the    to the     flop. Balogh checked and Pazma bet 1,300,000 only for the Hungarian to pull off a check-raise to 3,200,000.

Pazma moved all-in a few seconds later and Balogh folded.

Lukas Pazma	60,000,000	3,000,000
Andras Balogh	10,000,000	-4,000,000

Lukas Pazma kept the pressure high and jammed several times, while the two short stacks Stanislav Koleno and Andras Balogh were fighting for their survival. The inevitable clash of the latter two followed when Koleno jammed out of the small blind and Balogh called.

Stanislav Koleno:   
Lukas Pazma:   

The narrow kicker advantage was crucial despite a sweat on the       runout, as Koleno bowed out in third place for €48,000. Both Balogh and Pazma will now go on a short break prior to the heads-up duel for the WSOP gold bracelet.

Andras Balogh	14,000,000	-1,000,000
Stanislav Koleno	0	-6,200,000

Lukas Pazma raised to 1,300,000 with the    on the button and Stanislav Koleno moved all-in for 1,400,000 with the    in the small blind. Andras Balogh glanced at    in the big blind and called, as did Pazma.

The two active players checked down the       board and Koleno tripled up thanks to the fortunate river.

Lukas Pazma	50,000,000	-3,000,000
Andras Balogh	15,000,000	0
Stanislav Koleno	6,200,000	4,400,000

The action folded to Lukas Pazma in the small blind and he simply open-shoved into the big blind of Florin Bilan. His taable neighbour had 5,300,000 behind and revealed a suited one-gapper in the following showdown.

Florin Bilan:   
Lukas Pazma:   

Bilan was behind but took the lead with the     flop as Pazma turned around to chat with a friend on the rail. The   turn gave Pazma the lead and the   river secured the elimination. Bilan was ousted in fourth place and collected €35,000 for the efforts.

Lukas Pazma	53,000,000	8,000,000
Florin Bilan	0	-11,100,000

Stephan Glausch raised to 1,000,000 from under the gun and called his remaining 200,000 once Stanislav Koleno three-bet from the small blind.

Stephan Glausch:   
Stanislav Koleno:   

Koleno was in a commanding position and improved on the     flop. The   turn and   river could not save Glausch, sending him to the rail in fifth position.

Stanislav Koleno	14,000,000	1,000,000
Stephan Glausch	0	-1,500,000