First and Only Bounty Tournament of Bombay High Stakes Week Goes to Robert Heidorn

The Bombay High Stakes Week is now in full swing, and a Main Event Champion has been recently crowned in the picturesque capital of Estonia, Tallinn. The likes of  Phil Ivey and Fedor Holz have already taken to the felt this week, and it is anticipated that they will be seen in the Invitational that kicks off later today.

A small but strong field of 18 gathered at the world-class Bombay Club in the heart of the city to do battle and take down the only bounty title on offer this week, and it was Germany’s Robert Heidorn who had all the chips in play at the end of the tournament. 

He won the €10,000 Fast Bounty first-place prize of €37,500 from the total prize pool of €155,000, as well as six bounties worth €5,000 each, totaling €67,500.

How It Started

The 18-strong field took to the felt at 6 p.m. local time, and as it commenced, this reporter was in a big metal tube being hurled towards Estonia at a rapid pace. All tournaments that have taken place and are due to take place are capped at 64 entrants due to the size of the cardroom at the beautiful Bombay Club. 

The chips were flying from the flag fall. France’s Thomas Santerne and Dutch national Erik Bauer were the first eliminations of the day, and Santerne subsequently rebought. Joel Klasson also fired two bullets but found no success. 

The tournament kept the attention of some of Europe’s elite poker players who had descended on Tallinn to compete in the high-stakes action. Representing the home nation was Markkos Ladev. Latvian super crusher Aleksejs Ponakovs was also in attendance, but the latter bowed out early and didn’t feel incentivised to rebuy. 

Photo Credit: Bombay Club

Final Table Action

The action was picked up with registration closed. The first 10 levels had elapsed, and  Dan “Jungleman” Cates was seen making his way to the table as a max late regger as the players returned from break and a chip race was completed. 

He joined the remaining seven players to make a final table of eight. He had company in tow and appeared to be giving out some poker lessons to his companion.

The table was in good spirits and was chatting amongst themselves as the action was unfolding, albeit it was Cates doing the majority of the talking. Below is the lineup that took to the felt for final table action. 

Seat Draw

Seat	Player	Nationality
1	Teun Mulder	🇳🇱
2	Morten Klein	🇳🇴
3	Ville Wahlbeck	🇫🇮
4	Markkos Ladev	🇪🇪
5	Thomas Santerne	🇫🇷
6	Juan Vecino	🇪🇸
7	Robert Heidorn	🇩🇪
8	Dan Cates	🇺🇸

Eight players from eight different countries. That’s the beauty of poker. Players coming together from all across the globe with the shared goal of winning and the general appreciation of competition. 

Photo Credit: Bombay Club

Due to the fast structure of 20-minute levels, the stacks were fairly shallow, outside of the stacks of Klein and Mulder, who appeared to be 1-2 in the counts as play resumed. 

After a few minor pots and uncalled all-ins, it was Santerne who was stacked first, falling to the cards of Klein. 

Action was picked up on the river with Klein in the cutoff and Santerne in the big blind. On the runout of 3 8 10 2 9 , Klein put Santerne all in after the latter led out.

Santerne flicked in the call and had 3 8 for two pair. However, Klein had a set with 3 3 , in what was a proper cooler spot for the Frenchman. He shrugged, tapped the table, and moved on. Santerne did earn a small rebate in the form of two bounties. 

A few hands later, it was Ladev’s turn to try and spin up. He moved all in with a short stack from early position and was called by Cates in the small blind. Mulder looked up from the big blind and asked for the rest of Cates’ stack, which he obliged. 

Markkos Ladev: K 10

Daniel Cates: Q 10

Teun Mulder: A 3

“That’s not good” said Cates, before adding, “I need a queen.” Ladev’s cards were already face up, and Mulder first revealed his ace before the three. 

Mulder made two pair across the 9 8 9 3 5 runout to secure a double knockout worth €10,000. 

It wasn’t much longer until Wahlbeck found himself at risk. He jammed on the button with A 7 and was snapped off by Heidorn, who had A K . The Q K J 2 6 runout gave Heidorn top pair top kicker, and Wahlbeck was eliminated. 

Photo Credit: Bombay Club

Morten De-Kleined

Around half a level later, Klein and Heidorn tangled in a huge pot. Klein had been on a slight decline due to the rapid blind increases and poor distribution.

On the flop of 4 Q 3 in a three-bet pot, Heidorn checked from the small blind and Klein bet 10,000 with the blinds at 2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 big blind ante. 

Heidorn then check-raised to 35,000, Klein called. Heidorn then led for 47,000 on the 3 turn, Klein called again. Heidorn then moved all in for 100,000 exactly. He had Klein covered. Ultimately, the Norwegian put in the call. Heidorn had A Q and Klein had Q J for an inferior top two pair. 

Photo Credit: The Bombay Club

Mulder was heard from across the room, saying, “The bubble curse is broken!” about his unwanted hat-trick the Dutchman has scored since arriving in Tallinn this time around. Mulder had bubbled the first three tournaments he had played, but he broke that duck by finishing on the podium. 

He then doubled through Vecino to leave the Spaniard short, before taking his remaining 20,000. Vecino had A K and Mulder Q 10 . 

Vecino flopped top two on A K 5 , but the J turn gave Mulder Broadway. Vecino couldn’t find an ace or a king on the 4 river, and he was sent to the payout desk. 

Heads-Up 

Heidorn had the majority of the chips in play, and, after just a handful of hands, all the chips were in the middle, as Mulder snapped off Heidorn’s jam. He had J 4 and Mulder had A 8 . 

The Poker Gods were rooting for Heidorn, as he flopped top pair on J 5 6 , turned two pair on the 4 turn, and filled up on the J river. 

The two players shook hands, and Heidorn offered to buy Mulder a drink. He obliged, and they both then sat at the cash game table.  

Payouts

Place	Player	Country	Payouts Inc Bounties
1	Robert Heidorn	🇩🇪	€67,500
2	Teun Mulder	🇳🇱	€47,500
3	Juan Vecino	🇪🇸	€20,100

Photo Credit: Bombay Club

A Few Words With Mulder

I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and managed to get a quick word with Mulder about his experiences in Tallinn. 

On the topic of the venue, the Bombay Club, he said, “I like coming to play here a lot. It is probably my favorite casino to come and play poker. Not just because of the games, but the staff and the service are really good. It would be good for the word to get out more about this place, so more people come and play.”

Mulder added that “the field sizes may be small, but I prefer them to the larger fields, and playing in high rollers is always fun.”

Additionally, on his small bubble streak, he said, “It’s good to break the bubble curse, because in these small field tournaments, you are going to bubble a lot.”

What’s Next?

The €1,000,000 Guarantee €10,000 Invitational kicks off tonight at 6 p.m., which will attract a star-studded field consisting of some of the world’s top players. Stay tuned to keep up to date with the action on PokerListings.com