Dzmitry Urbanovich Bests Connor Drinan to Win EPT Malta €25k High Roller
10 years ago

21 Mar
The first major event of the EPT11 Malta has now been concluded. In a fast and furious battle that took place yesterday, Dzimitry Urbanovich outlasted other seven players at the final table to win the trophy and €572,300 first prize.
The Pole entered the heads up battle against Connor Drinan as an underdog, but successfully navigated all the traps that card had in store to emerge victorious. The final table itself was a fast one, as players were not holding back to put their chips in the middle and put their tournament lives at risk in an attempt to improve their chances of winning the whole thing.
Martin Finger was the first one to visit the rail. German high roller had about 20 big blinds in his stack and when he picked up Ace King during the first orbit, he was all too happy to get the chips in the middle. Unfortunately for him, the dealer failed to produce any help against Urbanovich’s pocket pair, and Finger had to be satisfied with the 8th place finish and the cash of €79,800.
Not long after, Sam Greenwood would meet the same fate. Although he started the hand well ahead, Urbanovich found all the help he needed on the flop and the turn to put a stop to his attempt at the trophy. Seventh place finish and €102,400 for the Canadian.
Piotr Franczak, the other representative of Poland at the final table, met his doom when he ran his pocket Treys into pocket Kings of Connor Drinan, and that was all she wrote for the Pole. For his efforts, Franczak took home a prize in the amount €129,400.
Things just wouldn’t work out for the American Deni Stern, who lost all of his chips to the Canadian Daniel Dvoress in two big confrontations. First his Ace-Queen was no good against Dvoress’ ak , and then Stern’s pocket Nines turned into nothing against aj after the flop brought 510q . With this finish, Stern padded his bankroll with another €166,000.
Nick Petrangelo was the one who started the final table as the official short stack, yet he somehow managed to see half the final table depart before him. His fourth place finish brought him €205,900, after his hand failed to hold up against dominated 10j of Drinan.
With Nick’s exit, the play went into the three-handed stage, where Dvoress was the one to go next. With Drinan and Urbanovich having similar stacks, Dvoress knew he had to make something happen if he was to win. After losing several pots and getting to a short stack, he finally got the remainder of his stack in the middle with 9j against Drinan’s small ace but couldn’t find any help. As the board bricked out, he was sent home with €263,000 for his efforts.
This triggered the final stage of the tournament, the one that Drinan actually entered with the lead of about one million. Urbanovich was ready to fight, however, and after some back and forth he was able to seize the lead. This ensured that, when his pocket Tens finally held up against Drinan’s pocket Nines, he would take home the title, eliminating his last obstacle, Connor Drinan, whose valiant efforts brought him €379,800.
Photo: Neil Stoddart, PokerStars Blog
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