Thursday, 28th March 2024 11:15
Home / Uncategorized / PokerStars Festival Hamburg: Action-packed start to Main Event finale

You’d expect some butterflies in stomachs on the final day of a big Main Event, but here in Hamburg none of the remaining players seem to have any jitters.

The action on this third and final day of the €1,100 Main Event started off thick and fast, with 15 players returning to blind levels of 12K/24K/4K.

Overnight chip leader Ulrich Pauls started right where he left off last night, pulling off big bluffs and extending his lead even further. In a pot against Denmark’s Peter Jaksland, Pauls three-bet a 56,000 open to 116,000 and after a call the two saw an A44 flop. Pauls continued for 160,000 after Jaksland checked. Call.

PSF_Hambu_Manuel_Kovsca_Ulrich Pauls 18.jpg

Pauls not afraid

The turn came the 9 and after surveying Jaksland’s stack Pauls fired huge for 500,000 – almost enough to cover Jaksland’s entire chips. The Dane took his time but eventually folded, letting Pauls reveal his holding: the Q10 for air. That brings Pauls up to around 3.3 million.

Meanwhile, it’s been an up-and-down start to proceedings for the UK’s Dan Stacey. The UKIPT5 Isle of Man champ kicked things off by winning a huge pot in one of the day’s first hands.

PSF_Hambu_Manuel_Kovsca_Daniel Stacey 16.jpg

Rollercoaster for Stacey

Action folded to Stacey in the small blind and he popped it up to 62,000, which PokerStars Team Pro Marcin Horecki called from the big blind. They saw a 655 flop on which Stacey continued for 70,000. The Pole made the call.

That brought the 6 on the turn, double pairing the board. Both players opted for a check, leading to the 3 river. This felt like a board that would hit some blind hand ranges, so it wasn’t too surprising when Stacey fired again for 75,000. Horecki then came in for a raise to 250,000 though.

Back to the Brit, he wasn’t done betting. Stacey then raised again to 625,000, and Horecki insta-called by tossing in a single chip. He’d muck though when Stacey revealed the A6 for a full house.

That brought Stacey up to 1.9 million and Horecki down to 1 million, but Stacey has since lost a few pots – including doubling up Rudolf Köster when his pocket nines lost a flip against AQ – to drop back down to 900,000.

Team Pro’s Horecki has managed to recover though, eliminating the first player of the day.

Igor Rybak had shoved from early position for 202,000, which Behzad Zarnegar called. It folded to Horecki in the big blind, and after some calculations he decided to shove over the top, forcing Zarnegar to make a reluctant fold.

With him out of the way, the cards were flipped and it was the AQ for Horecki up against the K10 of Rybak. The board ran out 4593A, giving Horecki the pot and sending Rybak to the cage to collect 15th place money (€5,660).

PSF_Hambu_Manuel_Kovsca_Igor Rybak 22.jpg

Rybak falls in 15th

Next up we lost Dimitri Steinfeuer in 14th. He called a 230,000 three-bet from Michal Lubas to see a 78J flop, and then shoved over a 230,000 c-bet for 708,000. Lubas called with the AA, but Steinfeuer had a huge draw with the KQ. He couldn’t find help on the 9 turn or 3 river though, and will also take home €5,660 for his efforts.

PSF_Hambu_Manuel_Kovsca_Dimitri Steinfeuer 4.jpg

Steinfeuer busts

We’re down to 13, and here’s how they stack up:

Player Chips
Ulrich Pauls 3,550,000
Karolis Domarkas 2,050,000
Michal Lubas 2,000,000
Andrei Nodea 1,880,000
Marcin Horecki 1,450,000
Behzad Zarnegar 1,450,000
Alaettin Keles 1,234,000
Rudolf Koster 920,000
Bo Rundström 750,000
Daniel Stacey 700,000
Jan Sigel 650,000
Peter Jaksland 500,000
De Han Kim 284,000

For live updates, head over to our friends at PokerNews.


You can win your seat to one of countless PokerStars live events around the world. Click here to open an account and get started.


Study Poker with Pokerstars Learn, practice with the PokerStars app