Martin Kabrhel Crushes the Final Five to Win Fourth Bracelet in the Mini Main

How the Day Started

Alexander Yen led Kabrhel coming into the final day at the Horseshoe and Paris Cardroom on the Strip. The day before, the final table commenced and was thinned down to a final five. 

Vadzim Lipauka entered in third place with a thirty big blind stack, and John Ishak and Bartolmiej Swieboda were on short stack duties in fourth and fifth, respectively. 

It didn’t take long for Swieboda to be stacked, as he jammed king-six offsuit from the small blind into Lipauka’s superior king-nine suited. His kicker won him the pot as both players missed the runout. 

Yen and Kabrhel were chipping up early before Ishak halted Yen’s process as he doubled through him with king-queen off versus ace-ten suited.

Chips changed hands between the final four, but it was Kabrhel who was gaining most, and Ishak was on the downtrend despite the double.

Ishak Wants His Cards Back

Ishak was all in from the button for around six blinds, and Kabrhel had called quickly from the big blind. Ishak then looked down to see his cards not in front of him, as the dealer had swept them into the muck. 

After deliberation between members of the tournament team, Kabrhel was awarded the pot, and Ishak was forced to surrender a minimum raise of 16,000,000 chips, which was two of his five big blinds. 

He then hit the rail as Kabrhel went runner-runner to make a queen-high straight with jack-deuce off, having moved all in from the button. Ishak called with king-six suited. 

Yen doubled the hand after versus Kabrhel with ace-five suited versus seven-nine suited. 

Lipauka then took a chunk of those chips from Yen, as he then doubled through him. By now, Lipauka and Yen were fairly even chipwise but Kabrhel had around a 3:1 advantage.

Yen Doubles Again, Stacks Lipauka

Yen then won a pre-flop flip with king-queen offsuit versus Kabrhel’s pocket fours. Yen flopped two pair and boated up on the turn to secure a crucial double. 

He then left Lipauka short, having won another flip with pocket eights versus the latter’s ace-jack offsuit. 

Kabrhel took the last of Lipauka’s stack as he flopped trips and filled up on the river with ace-eight to send Lipauka to the payout desk. 

Then There Were Two

Kabrhel came into heads-up play with a solid lead against Yen, but he was fighting back and showing resilience against the Czech national.  

Yen took the lead, winning three decent pots in succession and that lead grew into a 2:1 advantage.

The lead didn’t last long as Kabrhel doubled with nines versus ace-deuce suited. He made two pairs to stay ahead of the suited ace which propelled him back into the lead. 

Kabrhel kept piling on the pressure, and despite another double from Yen with ace-three v queen-deuce, Kabrhel kept grinding him down. 

Eventually, Yen shoved ace-four off and was dominated by Kabrhel, who had ace-king offsuit. Kabrhel made top two to seal the deal and take down the bracelet.  

In a recent tweet from Kabrhel, he confirmed the hippo is “still hungry”, so expect to see much more of the Number 1 on the Czech All Time money list. 

Payouts 

About The Winner – Martin Kabrhel. 

Martin Kabrhel is a four-time WSOP Bracelet winner and number 1 on Czechia’s all-time money list, with a total of $16,026,211 in live tournament earnings. He is regarded as one of the most polarizing figures in poker, due to his table talk during play. 

Outside of poker, Kabrhel is an entrepreneur in data analytics, esports, and cryptocurrencies. He founded the data-analytical trading company Ematiq and the esports team Entropiq.