If anyone has been wondering what a clash of poker titans would look like, Steve O’Dwyer and Fedor Holz have just provided us with the joy to watch such a duel. The two players were the last men standing in the HK$400,000 buy-in PokerStars Championship Macau Super High Roller.
Eventually, O’Dwyer did what few had managed to do – defeated Holz to add yet another high roller title to his impressive portfolio and to scoop another six-figure payout, this one totaling HK$8,460,830 (approximately $1,088,636).
This has been the player’s second high roller title since the beginning of the year. He topped the field of the PokerStars Championship Panama $10,300 High Roller for $240,451 two weeks ago.
The PokerStars Championship Macau Super High Roller attracted 88 entries – 64 uniques and 24 re-entries. A prize pool of HK$33,802,560 was split in uneven portions among the top 13 finishers. The event was played over three days and despite participants’ efforts, it was on the final day when the bubble burst.
Fourteen players made it to Day 3 and it took some time before the name of the unlucky bubble boy became known. Behzad Ahadpour was that unfortunate player to leave just a hand’s stretch from a payout.
With Ahadpour leaving in 14th place, it was then a mad race all way down to the eight-handed final table. Eight-handed play began with both O’Dwyer and Holz standing at the bottom of the chip counts chart. In O’Dwyer’s words, the players were two very lucky men as they emerged to the last men standing on the felt.
By the time there were just the two of them at the table, O’Dwyer led the race with a hefty chip advantage. The players struck a deal that secured O’Dwyer with HK$8,160,830 and Holz with HK$6,749,170. The amount of HK$300,000 was left aside for the champion, together with the tournament trophy.
Given both players’ expertise, particularly in different high roller tournaments, everyone expected a rather long two-handed duel with multiple surprising turns. However, it was all done in just three hands.
The first two hands saw O’Dwyer pinching small pots off Holz’s stack. And the eventual winner finished off his final opponent during their first all-in confrontation. It saw Holz bet 475,000 and O’Dwyer call all in. The young German called immediately, tabling [6c][6d] against the other’s [10d][Jd]. The board ran out [3c][Ah][10c][7d][3s] to secure O’Dwyer with one more high roller title.
The Super High Roller winner had a lucky charm that accompanied him throughout all three days of play. O’Dwyer’s friend Yan Li had given him a lucky mango to boost his chance of winning the event. The player said shortly after his triumph that he intended to eat the mango as its luck had probably been all used up.
