Steve O’Dwyer wins PCA $50K High Roller for $769,500

When Steve O’Dwyer broke through the $20million career earnings barrier late last year you could have forgiven him for resting on his laurels, but the Colorado pro is an unstoppable poker machine, starting the New Year by taking down the $50,000 High Roller title at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure last night and adding $769,500 to his bank balance in the process.

The 35 year old from Colorado Springs has had bigger scores, including two $1.8million scoops, one of which was the $100k buy-in 3 years ago at the very same Paradise Island PokerStars stop, but yesterday’s win moved him up to 10th spot in the lifetime winnings list and puts him within touching distance of Phil Hellmuth in 9th.

The Atlantis Resort and Casino saw 46 entries to the $50k buy-in event, just two less than the $100K won by Cary Katz a few days ago, and the prizepool of $2,263,200 guaranteed a tough fight, and the final table even boasted a couple of lesser-known names to spice things up.

Orpen Kisacikoglu has been doing very well of late, trading smaller buy-in events for a shot at the big boy events, and although he was first to hit the rails, the $158,420 he earned will doubtless see him playing more of the high rollers.

Erik Seidel, of course, needs little introduction, having mixed it with the very best in the world for what seems like forever, but he couldn’t quite add another title to his resume, eventually falling in 4th when O’Dwyer had him both dominated, and also hit the flop harder.

The French duo of Pollak and Thorel added some flavour to the final table, the former known for his 3rd spot in the WSOP Main Event last summer, while businessman Thorel was thoroughly enjoying his time with the big name pros – though eventually falling in third…

Heads-up between O’Dwyer and Kaverman saw an excellent psychological decision by the eventual winner – running a huge bluff based partly on Kaverman having no ‘time bank’ cards to use, the ploy launching him into what proved to be an unassailable lead…

"I had a lot of fun today," said O'Dwyer after taking the title down, adding about the bluff, "I don't want to make a big mistake and look like an idiot," although he also tweeted an amusing Thai translation of his heads-up…perhaps the ‘Uncle Moustache’ nickname will stay!

Final Table results