The World Series of Poker Europe hosted a crossover event this week as the GG MILLION$ event, which usually takes place on GGPoker online was transferred to the live felt in Rozvadov, King’s Casino was the place to be as the Czech-German border town welcomed some of the world’s best poker players – one of whom, Canadian Daniel Dvoress, would win his first-ever live WSOP bracelet.

Barbero the Bubble Boy

A busy field of 89 entries took part in the WSOP GG MILLION$ bracelet event, which taking place in Europe cost €25,000 to play rather than the usual weekly online entry of $10,300 on GGPoker. That saw a flurry of 14 new players on Day 2 join the 28 survivors from Day 1, as 42 played down to a winner on the second and final day. Players such as Betrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, Viktor Blom and Eelis Parssinen all departed for nothing outside the money places.

Only 14 players would make the money and the unlucky player to bubble the event in 15^th place for nothing was Argentinian poker hero Nacho Barbero. The unfortunate Barbero, who has had the best year of his poker career at the live felt, lost to the eventual winner as his were unable to hit against the superior belonging to Daniel Dvoress.

After Barbero left, others just missed on the final table of eight, with Timothy Adams (13^th), Ole Schemion (11^th) and James Chen (10^th) all missing out on the final nine players who arranged themselves at the last table in the tournament. It wasn’t the official final table until one more player busted, however, and Jerry Odeen was that busted player. His hopes of victory died when his was crushed by Niklas Astedt’s [K] as the all-Swedish clash resulted in Odeen failing to hit his nut flush draw from the flop, heading to the rail in ninth place for a score of $57,800.

Astedt Ousted as Rocco Rises

Down to the final eight players, there was a trio of big eliminations that came in short order. First Tamas Adamszki from Hungary departed in eighth place for $70,700. His tournament ended when he four-bet all-in with only to run into Michael Rocco’s . Adamszki needed hearts, and got two on the flop of . He got another on the turn, but couldn’t complete his flush on the river, which sent him home.

Next to go was French player Cedric Schwaederle in seventh place for $88,500. He was unfortunate to bust, too, all-in pre-flop with only to lose to the dominated hand of Dvoress’ when the board came . Soon after, the Swedish player Astedt departed for a score of $113,900. The online phenom was forced all-in with but Michael Rocco’s . The flop set Rocco into the lead and after the turn and river, Astedt was pushed to the rail as Rocco further strengthened his own chances of glory.

The last remaining German player in the mix left the event in fifth place, as Leonard Maue busted for $150,000. With exactly a dozen big blinds, Maue moved all-in pre-flop with and was called by the Czech player Martin Kabrhel with . The flop of kept Kabrhel ahead, but the turn gave the at-risk player both a flush and gutshot straight draw to the river. Sadly for Maue, he missed, with the on the river sending him to the rail and reducing the field to four.

Rocco the Runner-Up as Dvoress Delight Ends Drama

“The whole tournament was just longer, so it felt more real.” ~ Daniel Dvoress

With four left, it was the South Korean player Gab Yong Kim who busted, cashing for $201,900. Kim lost his final hand with , losing a flip to Dvoress’ as the board came and eliminated the Far East player. Dvoress had won a crucial pot for his own chances, rising to 21 million chips, some way ahead of both Kabrhel (12m) and Rocco (11m).

Kabrhel was the next to leave, crashing out in third place for $278,000. He three-bet all-in with and was called by the initial raise Dvoress with . The flop was and that moved Kabrhel into the lead. The turn changed nothing about that, but the river of a gave Dvoress a set and ended Kabrhel’s event in front of his home crowd.

Heads-up, Dvoress held a lead of 28.1 million chips to Rocco’s 16.3 million, and after a few tentative exchanges, the Canadian player limp-called with when Rocco shoved from the big blind with . An eight-high board proclaimed Dvoress the winner and after the event, he shared his delight with reporters on the fringes of the felt, especially when comparing his bracelet win at the live felt to the one he took in 2020 in an Online WSOP event.

“It was a tougher final table, it was a deeper final table and the whole tournament was just longer, so it felt more real.”

After a superb showing, Daniel Dvoress can now claim something few players have on their CV – a WSOP bracelet in both live and online events.