Casino de Monte-Carlo in Monaco played host to the 2016 Monte Carlo ONE DROP Extravaganza, a tournament and cash game festival that took place on October 13-17 and featured the €1,000,000 Big One for ONE DROP as its highlight tournament.
A single-day €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freeze-Out event was scheduled to be the last one to take place within the high roller extravaganza. It almost did not happen as by 11 am local time on Monday, when it was slated to kick off, there were only three players interested to enter it. Eventually, the tournament did take place and it was Paul Phua to emerge as the winner and collect the first-place prize of €752,700.
Phua has made a name for himself in the Asia-Pacific region as a high stakes player. Apart from his cash game accomplishments, the player has also demonstrated impressive performance on the tournament scene, although he has cashed in five live tournament series over the course of his career. The player has collected more than $3.3 million, with his largest live cash totaling £1 million. The player won it in 2012 when he topped the field of an Aspers £100,000 High Roller in London.
Back in 2014, Phua was accused of running an illegal online betting ring and taking illicit wagers during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Matters were later on settled and as it could be seen, the player is making a very successful comeback to the poker scene.
The structure of the €100,000 Freeze-Out event was actually changed right before the event kicked off at Casino de Monte-Carlo on Monday. All 12 entries who took part played a re-entry tournament eventually. They contended for a share of the €1,061,500 prize pool. The top 2 finishers split the money, with Phua taking the bigger portion.
Players played 20-minute levels and registration for the tournament remained open up through Level 9. The ONE DROP Extravaganza featured both tournaments and cash games and the latter actually attracted greater interest throughout the festival. This is why it is somewhat understandable why the €100,000 event did not gather that much attention among players. Apart from changing the tournament’s structure, organizers also allowed professional players to enter it, although it had been previously announced that only recreational entries would be admitted.
Mustapha Kanit, Tom Marchese, Mikita Badziakouski, and Andrew Robl were among the active players to take part in the tournament. Big One for ONE DROP winner Elton Tsang was also among those to enter it. Eventually, Phua and Badziakouski were the only two players left to contend for the title.
Two-handed battle did not last long as Phua had an overwhelming advantage over his opponent and Badziakouski was left with little opportunities to improve. On the last hand in play, Badziakouski shoved all-in pre-flop and Phua called almost instantly, turning [3d][3c] against his opponent’s [Kd][6d]. The board ran out [Ad][8h][4h][Ah][Qc], leaving Phua with the better hand, one that was good enough to secure him with the first-place prize. Badziakouski collected €501,800 for his runner-up finish.
