Dan Shak Wins Non-Bracelet Event at 2017 WSOP Europe

On Tuesday, the WSOP Europe €25,000 Super High Roller event got underway at the King’s Casino in Rozvadov, with a small but tough field of 21 players resulting in a prize pool of €492,765 ($571,812). At the end of the day, it was US pro Dan Shak who would then triumph over his competitor, including Belarusian player Nikita Bodyakovskiy heads-up, to claim a first place prize worth €210,112 ($243,817).
Following his victory, Dan Shak, a 58 year-old hedge fund manager and semi-professional poker player, now boasts $9,131,794 in live tournament winnings. Commenting after the win, he subsequently explained:
“It was a small but stacked field, I was probably the only non pro. Me and Jean-Noel (Thorel). We enjoy the game.”
Nevertheless, Shak is still chasing his first WSOP bracelet as the €25,000 Super High Roller was one of the events at this year’s WSOP Europe that did not offer an accompanying gold accolade as a prize.
Amongst the notable pros entering the Super High Roller, but failing to secure one of its four paid money places was Bertrand Grospellier, Dominik Nitsche, Martin Jacobson, and Ole Schemion.
After four-handed play got underway, Shak doubled his stack right away in a pocket kings versus sixes encounter, while a few hand later he reraised all-in holding 7s-5s on an Ad-Ks-2s flop, before receiving a call from Steffen Sontheimer with Ah-Ac. A 3s and 4s on turn and river subsequently saw Sontheimer bow out in 4th, after which Shak (7-7) eliminated Bryn Kenney (A-3) in third to force heads-up play against Mikita Badziakouski for the victory.
Three hands is all it would take to secure the win, though, after Shak (Ks-Js) moved all-in preflop, and his opponent made the call holding Kc-Qd. At that moment, Shak said to Badziakouski “You are ahead,” but that all changed after the dealer laid out a J-5-3 flop. The 8 and 7 on turn and river did nothing to alter the situation, and so Badziakouski had to be satisfied with a runner-up finish worth €129,860, while Shak was crowned the champion.
Final Table Results:
1: Dan Shak (US) €210,112
2: Mikita Badziakouski (BLR) €129,860
3: Bryn Kenney (US) €85,238
4: Steffen Sontheimer (GER) €67,555