Stefan Schillhabel takes down Triton Super High Roller Macau for $750,000

(Photo: Worldpokertour.com)

German high-stakes pro Stefan Schillhabel scooped just over US$750,000 when he fought off the challenge of many of the world’s best high-stakes players in the opening salvo of the Triton Super High Roller in Macau yesterday.

The HK$250,000 buy-in (about US$32,000) tournament saw a record 87 entries fighting it out in the Galaxy Macau Hotel in Taipa, the likes of Dan Smith, Steve O’Dwyer, Isaac ‘Ike’ Haxton, David Peters, Christoph Vogelsang, Timofey ‘Trueteller’ Kuznetsov and Erik Seidel among the star-studded field in the 6-max event.

Schillhabel’s most recent cashes before heading out to the Macau stop on the Triton series had been at the similarly huge buy-in Poker Masters in Las Vegas – a series dominated by Germans – and it was to be a similar tale in Taipa as Schillhabel was joined at the final table by fellow countryman Manig Loeser.

The $20,462,400 prizefund created may have been in Hong Kong dollars, but that still translated to a very impressive US$2.62 million up for grabs, the lucky 12 who would cash guaranteed $70K – Dario Sammartino the bubble boy when his A4 fell to Mike Watson’s flopped set of queens.

When the final table was reached it contained only one real surprise, ‘Tony’ Yat Wai Cheng from Hong Kong whose career earnings to this point were quite a bit less than the 1st place payday in Macau. Unfortunately for the newcomer to this level of competition he was also a victim of Canadian Watson, but his $94,000 payday might just afford him a shot at the even bigger buy-in Super High Roller starting today.

Haxton also fell to Watson, but the big stacks were also taking chunks out of each other regularly, O’Dwyer hitting the rails courtesy of Dan Smith, who in turn fell in 4th spot when Schillhabel turned a straight.

Down to three, with two Germans in the mix and Watson sandwiched between them, the blinds were forcing action and it cost Loeser dearly when his KJ shove was met by Schillhabel’s KQ, the dry run-out finishing Loeser’s excellent deep run.

Heads-up lasted all of one hand when the players returned from a short break, and it saw Watson’s pocket 6’s fall to Schillhabel’s suited 10/J – and that was that! Schillhabel took the crown and the massive first prize, as well as a brand new Hublot watch and a custom-designed bottle of Armand de Brignac Champagne, and the congratulations of Macau poker supremo Paul Phua.

Final Table Results