Chess Champion Ottomar Ladva Wins $1.15m in $25k Onyx High Roller Series Main Event

A thrilling final table played out in Cyrenia in Northern Cyprus as poker players from seven countries battled for glory and a top prize of $1.15 million. The Onyx High Roller Series No Limit Hold’em Main Event cost $25,000 to play and saw a bumper field of 207 entries topped by the Estonia poker and chess winner Ottomar Ladva.

Eastern Bloc Heavily Represented in Money Places

With 207 entries, just 32 of those players made a return on their investments. Among them, some of the best players to come out of the Eastern Bloc since Tony G, including two modern poker greats. Artur Martirosian has dominated events such as the GGPoker GGMillion$ for some years and his 27^th-place finish in this event for $55,000 was the latest in a long line of cashes at this level.

One place later and for the same amount, Belarussian Mikita Badziakouski also busted, the All-Time Money List top 20 player slipping out of contention before the business end of the tournament. The French professional Alexandre Reard (25^th) and Austria’s Daniel Rezaei (23^rd) also busted for the same amount.

Before the final table of nine was reached, Bulgarian Fahredin Mustafov (18^th for $60,000), French player Thomas Eychenne (15^th for $67,000) and the Belgian Pieter Aerts (11^th for $84,500) were all eliminated, paving the way for Poker Hall of Famer Patrik Antonius to lead the final nine with a gigantic chip stack of 10.04m. Aussie Geoffrey Mooney and Bulgarian Boris Kolev were above 8 million chips and the Finnish player’s closest challengers.

Dead by the River

The first player to leave the final table was Austrian player Jessica Teusl. The former WSOP Ladies Event winner in Las Vegas crashed out in ninth place for $100,000 when her king-jack pre-flop shove couldn’t hit against the pocket fours of Antonius, the Finnish player fading two overcards, as well as a gutshot straight draw from the flop and counterfeit cards from the turn.

A cruel cooler took Russian Daniil Kiselev out in eighth place for $124,000. On a board showing K-J-5-2-T, Antonius set Kiselev all-in and the Russian pondered a pivotal call, eventually making it to show jack-ten for a rivered two-pair. Finland’s finest had king-jack, however, and his superior two-pair won the day to leave Kiselev visibly distraught as he threw his arms into the air and flicked his cards towards the muck in frustration.

Boris Kolev was the next player to go, winning $160,000 after a fall from grace that was stark and sudden. Looking assured of a podium place a little earlier, Kolev was put to the same decision as Kiselev, as a board of K-9-5-9-A fell before Ladva effectively moved all-in to cover Kolev’s remaining stack. Kolev tossed several time banks into the middle of the table before finding the call with king-jack, but Ladva quickly turned over ace-six of hearts for a turned flush.

From Hero to Zero

With six players left, Matthias Lipp got close to a vital double-up only to bust for a score of $200,000. All-in with king-seven pre-flop, Lipp leapt ahead of Antonius’ ace-eight on the K-Q-J flop but after an insignificant deuce on the turn, a ten on the river gave the Finnish player a Broadway straight and saw Lipp head from the table to the rail.

Next to go was Antonius himself, who cashed for $270,000 in fifth place. That was because Ottomar Ladva’s aggressive four-bet to 2.6m triggered a shove from Antonius with ace-five of hearts. Ladva snapped off the bet with pocket queen and rode out the king-high board to score a key elimination on his route to victory.

After the departure of Russian Kirill Shcherbakov in fourth place for $355,000 when his aces were cracked by Ladva’s two-pair, the Belarussian Mikalai Vaskaboinikau was in peril. All-in with pocket eights, he ran into Ladva’s own pocket rockets and this time, the aces didn’t fail. An ace right out of the gate sealed the pot for Ladva and the Estonian took a 4:1 chip lead into the heads-up battle against Geoffrey Mooney, as Vaskaboinikau won $490,000 in third place.

The final duel was a one-side one, with all the chips in the middle pre-flop. Mooney’s ace-five trailed to Ladva’s snap-call with ace-queen, and a board of J-8-6-A-Q saw Ladva hold despite a flush draw coming on the flop. Mooney was a deserving runner-up for $717,000, while Ladva had dominated the final table and the Estonian was awarded $1,150,000 as champion.

The Champion in his Own Words

“What matters is how you play and how other good players perceive you.”

After victory, Ladva chatted to reporters and put his win down to an enormous slice of luck rather than his unquestionable skill in the game.

“[I] just ran insanely good today,” he said. “I don’t remember if I ever ran that good at a final table. I just kept getting good hands, kept making good hands, and everything was so smooth.”

Ladva’s win further cements his status as a top player in poker, a rare achievement for chess grandmasters given the time it takes to reach that level in the centuries-old board game.

“Online, I’ve had a good reputation for a few years already, and I don’t think one specific win is going to change it a lot, because… a few tournaments? It’s just variance. What matters more is how you play and how other good players perceive you. That’s more important.”

A certain threat to others, Ladva got the better of Poker Hall of Famer Patrik Antonius, something not lost on the young poker star, who credited his previous career as being beneficial.

“A lot of chess players play poker as well,” he revealed. “I started playing poker at chess tournaments at a young age because everybody was playing. I knew a lot of players that are almost professional or professional poker players, so it kind of motivated me. The discipline and study part are kind of similar.”

Now a force in both mindsports, Ottomar Ladva is here to stay in poker. Watch how he took down the Onyx High Roller Series Main Event in Northern Cyprus here: