WSOPE Rozvadov: Daniel Pidun Makes a Comeback to Win €10,300 Main Event for €1,140,000

How It Started

After a marathon Day 4 session that ran into the small hours of the morning, the 8 players comprising the Day 5 field returned yesterday, early evening to do battle for one of the most prestigious titles on the poker circuit.

Final Table Seat Draw

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Catalin Pop	Romania	5,025,000	20
2	Max Neugebauer	Austria	11,025,000	44
3	Gerald Karlic	Austria	7,900,000	32
4	Matthias Gude	Germany	1,500,000	6
5	Teemu Jaatinen	Finland	6,975,000	28
6	Claudio Di Giacomo	Italy	10,250,000	41
7	Daniel Pidun	Germany	9,850,000	39
8	Murilo Garcia	Brazil	13,400,000	54

Brazilian national Murilo Garcia led the pack before the cards first touched the felt, and eventual winner Pidun was sitting in the seventh seat, third in chips. Max Neugebauer became the third player in WSOPE history to reach the Main Event final table for the second time, and was looking to win the event for a second time, his first victory came in 2023. European poker veteran Claudio Di Giacomo came into the day with a solid stack, and was looking to best his high score of €197,000, which came in the 2018 EPT Barcelona stop in the €1,100 No Limit Hold’em, where he finished fourth.

Matthias Gude came into the day on short-stack duties, but he secured a double up through chip leader Garcia, as Gude’s ace-seven found a seven on the turn to crack Garcia’s superior ace-eight off suit. Gude, however, was the first depature, and Garcia got his chips back as his kings became top set in a preflop all-in situation. Gude, holding ace-queen off suit, was drawing slim to none on the flop and officially dead on the turn. Pidun was chipping up nicely, catching cards and picking up bluffs. He battled with Neugebauer on multiple occasions, and it seems the German got the better of the Austrian on this occasion, having called Neugebauer with just ace-high to take down a pot.

At The First Break

Garcia remained out in front by the time the first break was reached, and Pidun had climbed up to second. Gerald Karlic had also made ground, moving from fourth to third. Catalin Pop was then next on the chopping block, and his ace-king suited couldn’t crack the pocket tens of Teemu Jaatinen. Karlic was applying pressure left, right and centre, three-betting his opponents frequently to chip up through the counts. He won a sizeable pot versus Di Giacomo, making top two pair with king-queen suited. The flop was checked through before Karlic led turn and river. This pot sent him past the 20,000,000 chip mark, and Di Giacomo tumbling down the counts.

Di Giacomo was then all in and at risk versus Karlic, and was in bad shape with ace-three offsuit. Karlic had ace-eight. A monotone club flop gave Di Giacomo a flush draw, and he completed that on the river to stay in the tournament. Just as well the club got there, as Di Giacomo secured another pay jump as Neugebauer was eliminated shortly afterwards. Neugebauer shoved ace-three offsuit over an under-the-gun from Karlic. The ace-three was exactly the same combination that Di Giacomo had, even down to the suits. Karlic had nines and his pair became two on a paired runout.

Karlic Keeps The Pressure On

Karlic had generated a decent lead over his opponents, and Garcia had moved down to second, and Pidun to third. Teemu Jaatinen and Di Giacomo were in danger of being left behind by the podium place, as they sat on stacks below 5,000,000. Karlic then claimed the stack of Di Giacomo, after Karlic jammed the button with king-five suited into the short-stacked blinds. Di Giacomo woke up with ace-jack offsuit in the big blind and he called. However, Karlic flopped a flush draw, missed the turn, but got there on the river to eliminate the veteran Italian. Di Giacomo secured a new high-score for his efforts in what has been a very good year for him in terms of cashes.

And Then There Were Four

Only four remained by the time of the scheduled dinner break. Karlic was clear at the top with 86 big blinds, 40 more than Murilo Garcia in second. Pidun sat on 23 and Jaatinen with 11. Karlic mistimed a bluff attempt versus Pidun, who had flopped trips. Karlic raised the paired flop before barrelling again on the turn. Pidun responded with all-in, and Karlic folded quickly. Jaatinen was then next to depart, and his ace-eight suited couldn’t river a flush, having turned the nut flush draw against Pidun’s ace-jack off suit. Both flopped an ace, but Jaatinen’s kicker was inferior, and he exited the tournament area having secured a new personal best score.

Garcia had made some inroads into catching Karlic at the top of the tree, but then it all fell apart after a mistimed five-bet jam with ace-three suited. Pidun raised the button with ace-nine suited before Garcia three-bet. Karlic then four bet small with tens, and Pidun folded. Garcia then wasted little time announcing all in. Karlic took a moment to eyeball the stacks before calling. The Brazilian did make a pair, unfortunately for him, it was a pair of three’s, and Karlic scooped in a monster pot to go into heads-up with just shy of a 3:1 advantage.

Heads-Up

The heads-up duel couldn’t have started better for Pidun, as he doubled on the very first hand to draw close to parity with Karlic. Karlic raised the button and Pidun called. Karlic bet 600,000 with the blinds at 200,000/400,000 on A 6 Q before the J turn was checked around. Karlic then bet 5,400,000 on the 4 river, and Pidun responded with an all in of 14,275,000. Karlic deployed all his time banks into the middle before calling. He rivered a set with 4 4 but Pidun had the winner with 8 2 for a flush.

From then on, the chip lead changed hands more times than plates of food have been consumed at the King’s Resort buffet over the course of the week, seemingly a never-ending back-and-forth battle between two tough competitors. Pidun took the lead and built upon it, but it wasn’t long until Karlic pulled it back to even with a four-bet pot that was taken down on the flop with a single bet. Karlic then got trappy with a full house, but Pidun didn’t take the bait.

Pidun Takes Lead, Loses It, Retakes, Repeat

Pidun took the lead and had a 2:1 lead over Karlic. However, it didn’t last long, as Karlic won pot after pot to retake the lead. At one point, Karlic re-established his 3:1 advantage he had coming into the heads-up. However, he then gave the lead back to Pidun with a hero call gone wrong. Pidun rivered two pair having check-raised the flop with top pair and a flush draw with Q 4 . Karlic called with A K . Pidun bet the turn to which Karlic called again, and he then called again on the river with just ace-high. Pidun moved all in and got called, getting the maximum from his opponent. Pidun’s advantage remained until Karlic drew near to level once again with ace-five offsuit in a preflop all in, versus Pidun’s queen-ten suited.

Rockets Propel Pidun to Victory

After a lengthy back and forth, it all came down to one last hand. And what a hand it was. Pidun opened to 1,200,000 with the blinds at 300,000/600,000 with A A . Karlic then three-bet to 4,200,000. Pidun then clicked it to 10,500,000. Karlic then five-bet jammed for 31,000,000 with J J and was covered ever so slightly by Pidun who snap-called. Shouts of “hold one time” came from Pidun’s corner of the tournament area, and the K 10 8 10 K runner gave Pidun the victory, bracelet, and €1,140,000. And to round off the victory, Pidun got his winner’s photo taken with pocket aces, which is worth the price of admission alone.

€10,300 Main Event Final Table Payouts

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Daniel Pidun	Germany	€1,140,000
2	Gerald Karlic	Austria	€757,000
3	Murilo Garcia	Brazil	€525,000
4	Teemu Jaatinen	Finland	€370,000
5	Claudio Di Giacomo	Italy	€265,000
6	Max Neugebauer	Austria	€195,000
7	Catalin Pop	Romania	€145,000
8	Matthias Gude	Germany	€110,000
9	Robert Ashelm	Germany	€84,985

What’s Next?

The conclusion of the WSOPE Main in Rozvadov signals the conclusion of this year’s instalment of WSOPE. Next year, the series will be held at the Hilton in Prague in early April. However, the EPT Malta is in full swing, and exciting action from the €5,300 Main Event will be in focus as the tournament draws closer to its final days.

That’s all for now, folks. Until next time.