With the stage set and the players sat with a minimum of 10,000 euro in front of them the second season of the PokerHeaven.com European Cash Game was underway. Early on it was season 1 winner Eric Liu and newcomer Andrew Feldman that seemed to want to get involved in the action, but there was little time for them to try and get any kind of foothold on the game as everyone seemed to have come to play. Leo Margets timed her plays perfectly in order to get good value on hands she was winning and when she didn’t hold the goods, she managed to instill enough doubt in her opponents to make them fold- often when they had the Spaniard dominated.
Within the first hour Liu saw his chip stack grow considerably. Most of this coming from a hand early on the game as Liu’s pair of Kings got called by Ricardo Sousa’s pocket Jacks. Eric continued to take pots and it looked as if last years champion could not be stopped. However it was poker veteran Andy Black that decided to make a stand with pocket 7′s. After a flop that read 2 10 2 both players bet small and when the turn pulled a K Liu had made his bigger pair and Black looked to be throwing money away as he bit big with his own 2 pair. When Liu called the river was dropped and as the 7 was revealed Black knew he was ahead. Liu raised and Black was all in. When the call came Eric was hit hard. A lesser player may have walked away but with an instant call to tournament Director Barry Mundee he re- bought for another 20,000 euro. With the day only just beginning Eric Liu was poised to fight back.
After the dinner break Bruno Fitoussi and Leo Margets had left the table. They were replaced by internet high roller Simon Munz and ECG season 1′s Sammy George. Black had amassed over 25,000 in profit before the break and with chips in front of him and it showed as he often refused to let the other players see flops as he raised early. Sometimes his hands were good or great and other times he had nothing and still got his bets through with no reply. But as he smiled and laughed little did he know that the most unlikely of characters had his eyes on his chip stack.
Sammy George had been billed as a fish by the other players early on- a fact that he knew and joked about constantly during his stint at the table. However as the pro’s circled hoping to take a piece of his 20,000 buy in Sammy George broke the water to reveal himself not as the fish they were expecting but a fully grown shark. A lot can happen in a year and George seems to have improved dramatically since his early exit from the event last year.
When George was in hands nobody believed he had the goods and it was Andreas Hoivold that became Sammy Georges first victim as he went all in with trip 6′s. Andreas looked at the board and believed his pocket 8′s were good. When the call came all the chips were pushed to Sammy and Andreas Hoivold left the table making way for Francois Balmigere.
As the Frenchman took his seat the banter was hotting up between George and Black and it was clear that sooner or later these two characters were going to clash.
When it happened Simon Munz held 7′s, Black had AQ and George had J10. The flop cam J 7 K. Munz had hit his trips, Black needed a 10 for the straight and George had hit a pair. The raise came and so did the calls. With everyone still in the turn was flipped and Black had hit his straight. Munz’s 7′s were no longer any good and there was worse news for Sammy as the 10 gave him 2 pair. The question seemed to be, not who was going to win the pot, but how much could Andy Black extract from his opponents?
As the queen fell on the river George bet big and this made it easy for Munz to muck his hand. As the cameras turned on Andy Black the smile had lifted from his face and as he looked at the cards on the table he genuinely looked tormented. He sat and pulled his fingers through his hair and his chips. He looked at a board that showed only one hand that beat his own. The flush had come and as Black threw his cards away Sammy George had collected the biggest pot so far and pulled off the best move of the night.
As the night went on the players were running out of time and after several re- buys it was Ricardo Sousa who took one last stab at getting back money he had lost throughout the day. He held the J7 of diamonds and when the flop came down there was another 2 on the board. Munz had a straight draw and after a small bet an a call both players were still in. The 4 of diamonds came on the turn and Munz checked. Sousa thought now that he was trapping but with one card to come Munz held the Ace of diamonds. Sousa checked and the K of diamonds crashed to the table with an almighty bang. Munz now had the bigger flush and as he went all in Sousa called and was met with a nightmare. As he shook his head he looked a defeated man. Munz got lucky, but had played well throughout the evening.
As the curtain fell on another great season of the PokerHeaven.com European Cash Game Sammy George was handed his trophy after amassing a profit of 25,000 euro. With the cup lifted high above his head the man who was nicknamed “any two” had played some great and gutsy poker and in just a few hours had made a decisive impact on the game.
With trophy in hand and cash in pocket Sammy “almost any two” was our champion.
Final Standings
Sammy George 44,075 (+24,075)
Simon Munz 22,550 (+12,550)
Andy Black 21,275 (+11,275)
Jens Kyllonen 20725 (+10,725)
Francois Balmigere 11,275 (-3,775)
Andrew Feldman 23,100 (-6,900)
Eric Liu 22,575 (-17,425)
Ricardo Sousa 6,950 (-23,050)
