Live poker returned to Europe with an absolute bang in the summer of 2021 with the Super High Roller Bowl Europe.
The series, which took place in North Cyprus from Aug. 23 – Sept. 1, consisted of ten events and was held at the Merit Royal Casino in Cyprus.
The biggest attraction was the SHRB Europe $250,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event and across the tournaments, there was a combined $27,650,000 in prize money up for grabs with the Main Event contributing $10,250,000 to that staggering figure.
It’s almost time‼️
— PokerGO (@PokerGO)
There were some great stories which developed as the high stakes extravaganza rolled on; Phil Ivey kicked off proceedings by winning the first event, Antanas “Tony G” Guoga notched up a duo of victories and one of the biggest ever televised cash game took place all within the tour’s ten day duration.
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The Tony G Show
Tony G stole most of the headlines from the 2021 Super High Roller Bowl Europe due to his pair of wins in North Cyprus.
The polarizing figure had put poker on the back burner since 2014 following his successful election bid to the European Parliament in 2014. Guoga would only serve one term in office after failing to be re-elected in 2019. While in office, he was also one of the politicians named in the Panama Papers. In November 2020 he was then elected as a Member of Seimas (Lithuanian Government) before ending his dalliance in diplomacy in January 2021.
During this time, Guoga still put in some volume at the poker tables and piled up more than $2 million in cashes between 2017 and 2019, according to The Hendon Mob.
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For obvious reasons Tony G didn’t post any live tournament cashes until the European SHRB, which marked the return of live poker on the continent following the COVID-19 pandemic. Guoga seemingly picked up where he left off and earned $1,578,500 at the series. His first cash ($382,500) and win came in Event #3: $25,000 Short Deck Hold’em before he picked up an additional $1,196,000 payday from his triumph in Event #7: $100,000 Short Deck Hold’em.
His first 2021 SHRB title came at the expense of Chris Brewer. The second victory followed just a few days later in spectacular fashion. The last hand of the event saw Guoga and Paul Phua get their chips in the middle with 
and 
respectively. After the 
flop Guoga was sure that his chance of another title was over, even with the 
turn giving him a flush draw.
“I’ve never seen a flush like this. It would be a miracle,” commented Guoga before the 
river dropped on the table. “This is brutal! This is unbelievable. What are the odds of that?” said Tony G. “I’m the best. I am the luckiest.”
Amazing to win two high stakes NLH ShortDeck tournaments in one week @PokerGO @MeritPoker @luxonpay – I KNOW… https://t.co/raYqRBoqgT
— Tony G (@TonyGuoga)
His remarkable return prompted the idea that Tony G would be at the 2021 World Series of Poker, however that was not the case with Guoga opting to give Vegas a miss. Even more surprisingly, he did not appear at the 2021 WSOP Europe. This came as a bit of a shock being that King’s Resort, Rozvadov in the Czech Republic is a lot closer to his home country.
Nevertheless, it has sure been a year to remember for the poker legend and he’ll hopefully grace our screens on more occasions in 2022.
Tony G’s All Time Top 5 Career Cashes
| Date | Event | Place | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 29, 2021 | SHRB Europe Event #7: $100,000 Short Deck Hold’em | 1st | $1,196,000 |
| October 16, 2019 | WSOPE Event 4: WSOP €250,000 No Limit Hold’em – Super High Roller | 4th | $882,942 |
| May 1, 2009 | EPT Monte Carlo €25,000 No Limit Hold’em – European High Roller Championship | 3rd | $552,239 |
| August 5, 2005 | The European Poker Championships £5,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event | 1st | $456,8222 |
| November 15, 2006 | Asian Poker Tour $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Championship Event | 1st | $451,822 |
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Phil Ivey Takes Down Event #1: $25,000 Short Deck Hold’em; Misses Out in Event #4: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Phil Ivey continued to add to his stellar résumé at the 2021 SHRB Europe after capturing the title in Event #1: $25,000 Short Deck Hold’em for $408,000. He overcame a star-studded final table that included the likes of Mikita Badziakouski, Chris Brewer, Erik Seidel before despatching Stephen Chidwick at heads-up play.
Ivey was heads-up again just days later in Event #4: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em but was unable to overcome the substantial chip lead of Selahaddin Bedir. Ivey cashed for $546,000 in the event while Bedir claimed the $832,000 first-place prize.
Wiktor Malinowski Captures SHRB Ring
High stakes online cash grinder Wiktor Malinowski got his first live tournament win under his belt after topping the 41 entry field in SHRB Europe $250,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event for $3,690,000.
Malinowski and Ivan Leow were the final two players remaining with the former emerging as the winner following a gruelling five-hour heads up battle. Malinowski’s journey to the top of the poker world is a phenomenal one, the former professional handball player started out playing freerolls in 2014. He then worked his way up the cash game stakes before transitioning to High Roller tournaments.
2021 Super High Roller Bowl Europe Main Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wiktor Malinowski | Poland | $3,690,000 |
| 2 | Ivan Leow | Malaysia | $2,460,000 |
| 3 | Zhuang Ruan | United States | $1,640,000 |
| 4 | Timothy Adams | United States | $1,127,500 |
| 5 | David Peters | United States | $820,000 |
| 6 | Viacheslav Buldygin | Russia | $512,500 |
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Guilbert, Jiang, Martirosian, Davies and Imsirovic Take Home Titles
France’s Johan ” YoH ViraL” Guilbert announced himself to the high-roller circuit after being the last player standing in Event #2: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em. He beat Bedir for the title and $506,250 up top. Guilbert would then finish third in Event #6: $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $560,000. The Frenchman’s 2021 got even better at the 2021 WSOP Europe, where he finished second in the 2021 WSOPE Main Event for a career best score of €789,031 ($892,811).
Santi Jiang reigned supreme and netted $756,000 in Event #5: $50,000 Short Deck Hold’em while Artur Martirosian overcame David Peters to win Event #6: $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em for the first seven-figure score ($1,400,000) of the tour. Seth Davies and Ali Imsirovic added their names to the list of winners after their respective wins in Event #8: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em and Event #9: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Crazy High Stakes Televised Cash Game
As well as the amazing tournament action that was on display, there were also two crazy high stakes cash games that took place. The first cash game played under $500/$1,000 No-Limit Hold’em with a line-up that consisted of Sergio Aido, Dan Cates, Vladi Chaoulov, Malinowski, and Badziakouski. They were then joined by Sergio Fernandez, Timofey Kuznetsov and Mehmet Samsa.
The above was just a preview of what was about to come. The second livestreamed cash game was dubbed Tony G’s Home Game with Phua, Samsa, Leon Tsoukernik, Chow Yang, and Rob Yong all taking a seat at the table.
The action began with stakes at $200/$500/$1,000 with the game changing between No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha, however that didn’t stop the game from player bigger as shortly after the game’s stakes changed to $1,000/$2,000.
2021 Super High Roller Bowl Europe Winners
| Date | Event | Entries | Winner | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 23 | Event #1: $25,000 Short Deck Hold’em | 48 | Phil Ivey | United States | $408,000 |
| August 24 | Event #2: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 81 | Johan Guilbert | France | $506,250 |
| August 25 | Event #3: $25,000 Short Deck Hold’em | 45 | Tony G | Lithuania | $382,500 |
| August 26 | Event #4: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 52 | Selahaddin Bedir | Turkey | $832,000 |
| August 27 | Event #5: $50,000 Short Deck Hold’em | 42 | Santi Jiang | China | $756,000 |
| August 28 | Event #6: $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 35 | Artur Martirosian | Russia | $1,400,000 |
| August 29 | Event #7: $100,000 Short Deck Hold’em | 26 | Tony G | Lithuania | $1,169,000 |
| August 30 | SHRB Europe $250,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event | 41 | Wiktor Malinowski | Poland | $3,690,000 |
| August 31 | Event #8: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 19 | Seth Davies | United States | $435,400 |
| September 1 | Event #9: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 26 | Ali Imsirovic | Bosnia & Herzegovina | $598,000 |
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2021 Super High Roller Bowl Europe Top 5 Money List
| Player | Country | Prize Money (USD) | Cashes | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wiktor Malinowski | Poland | $3,690,000 | 1 | 1 |
| Ivan Leow | Malaysia | $2,628,000 | 2 | 0 |
| David Peters | United States | $1,730,000 | 2 | 0 |
| Zhuang Ruan | United States | $1,640,000 | 1 | 0 |
| Tony G | Lithuania | $1,578,500 | 2 | 2 |