Steve O’Dwyer has had a terrific run on the live poker stage for several years now and he showed last night that he is more than happy to maintain the great momentum he has gained. O’Dwyer bested the elite field of the PokerStars Championship Panama $10,300 High Roller for yet another high roller title and $240,451 in prize money.
The tournament’s final day began with five players still in contention for the title. O’Dwyer was leading the pack of finalists, but he lost his lead at some point in play. Chips swing from one player to another throughout the day. O’Dwyer was able to regain advantage and to lose it again to several of his other opponents.
Eventually, he eliminated Canadian Francois Billard in 3rd place to win a massive pot and to enter heads-up match against Sam Greenwood with a 4-1 chip advantage. Even though O’Dwyer is quite an experienced live tournament player, his final opponent on the Panama felt is just as experienced.
The eventual champion took a significant portion of Greenwood’s chips on the very first hand of two-handed battle. However, the Canadian recovered quickly to almost even with his opponent. A deal was brought up for discussion and was reached. The two players shook hands on splitting the remaining prize pool and left $8,589 and the trophy to battle for. And they did not take long afterwards to battle it out to the title.
On the final hand of play, O’Dwyer moved all in after the [3d][2h][7d] flop and Greenwood called with the [Qc][3s]. O’Dwyer tabled [5s][4s]. The [4h] appeared on the turn and the [10h] ran out on the river to end it all. Greenwood, who won the EPT Season 13 Prague €25,500 High Roller last December, left the Panama tournament as the runner-up and with $223,149 in cash.
As for O’Dwyer, he was pictured with yet another high roller trophy. Including last night’s first-place payout, the player’s live tournament winnings now amount to more than $16.5 million. O’Dwyer has previously won the Aussie Millions A$250,000 Challenge, the PCA $50,000 High Roller, and an EPT €50,000 Super High Roller, among many other major live poker events. Overall, he has cashed in 118 live tournaments over the course of his career.
