Over the past week some of the most skilled poker players in the world have been battling it out in the PartyPoker Premier League. After a series of heats, heads-up matches and a stacked final, Sorel Mizzi came out on top in Montreal to scoop $466,000 and the trophy.
It was the seventh edition of the Premier League and the format continues to throw up a completely different set of challenges that professionals usually face in other events. 12 high-stakes players stumped up the huge $125,000 buy-in and participated in four preliminary heats, earning points to qualify for the final. The top four qualified automatically, while fifth to eighth juked it out for the remaining two spots in a heads-up tournament.
Dan Colman, Jeff Gross, Sorel Mizzi and Brian Rast all qualified directly for the final. Scott Seiver and Jason Koon joined them by defeating Jonathan Duhamel and Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates respectively.
Rast was first to fall when Colman backdoored a flush with A♠-K♣ against Rast’s pocket Kings. And it didn’t take long for Mizzi to get in on the act, eliminating Koon next with the nut straight against two-pair.
Just two hands later it was Seiver’s turn to walk. Colman had him drawing virtually dead on the flop with middle set, and Seiver’s top pair failed to improve. But while Colman seemed to be running well he lost chips three-handed and got the rest in bad shape with K♥-T♠ against Mizzi’s Kings.
And it was clearly Mizzi’s day as heads-up he crippled the previously quiet Jeff Gross – making another straight – before sealing the deal getting there against pocket Queens with Q♠-8♠!
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Photo courtesy of PartyPoker blog.
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