Samuel Vousden Demolishes PokerStars Anniversary Series $5K Final Table ($365,603)

Finnish star Samuel “€urope€an” Vousden seems to have a knack for going deep in major online poker tournaments. On May 27, Vousden was the last player standing, in the virtual sense, in the $5,200 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event of the PokerStars Anniversary Series. Vousden collected $365,603 of the $2 million prize pool.

A 383-strong crowd entered the $5,200 NLHE Main Event, resulting in an $85,000 overlay for PokerStars, but more value for those entrants. By the time Day 4 was reached, only nine players remained in contention for the title of champion and the huge first-place prize that came with such an honor.

$5,200 NLHE Main Event Final Table Results

Vousden was already one of the chip leaders at the start of the final table before he won a huge pot against Fabiano “Kovalski1” Kovalski within the first ten minutes of play. Both players flopped a set, Kovalski a set of tens and Vousden a set of queens, and Vousden got paid off handsomely on a draw-heavy board.

Not long after that hand, Vousden found himself on the right side of a cooler again. “arodnaS” opened with ace-king from under the gun, Vousden defended his big blind with pocket threes, and the flop fell three-ace-four. As “arodnaS” only had 27 big blinds behind, the chips were destined to go into the middle, which they did after a flurry of raises. Vousden’s set held, and the final table lost its first player.

There were no further eliminations for an hour, but then “PotnaPekka” broke the deadlock. A clash with Jans “Graftekkel” Arends ultimately saw “PotnaPekka” jam with ace-five of clubs, and Arends call with pocket kings. Those kings flopped a full house, the turn and river were not aces, and “PotnaPekka” busted in eighth.

It may have taken an hour to lose another player, but it only took another 50 minutes for the tournament to conclude.

First, a micro-stacked “AdiosFabrica” was all-in after paying the small blind and their seven-five lost to Vousden’s queen-eight. Then, Brunno “botteonpoker” Botteon fell in sxith after he got the last of his 10 big blinds over the betting line with jack-ten and lost to Vousden’s ace-three.

Fifth place was decided when Vousden and Kovalski collided once again. The aggressive Vousden opened with pocket queens from under the gun and quickly called when Kovalski three-bet all-in for 33 big blinds with ace-king. Vousden’s queen improved to a straight, and Kovalski was done and dusted.

That hand gave Vousden a 170 big blind stack, leaving Arends (80 big blinds), Audrius “Stakelis24” Stakelis (11) and Thiago “KKremate” Crema (11) playing catch-up. Unsurprisingly, with those stack sizes, it was Vousden and Arends who navigated to heads-up.

Stakelis was the first of the final quartet to bow out, his last three big blinds getting committed with pocket three only to run into the queens of, you guessed it, Vousden. Two hands later, Vousden’s ace-queen held against Crema’s 11 big blind jam with ten-nine of hearts, and the $5,200 NLHE Main Event was heads-up.

Vousden held a 192 to 81 big blind advantage over Arends at the start of heads-up. Despite the difference in chips, both players agreed to look at a deal, but no deal was struck. They paused the clock another couple of times and failed to agree a deal.

It seems like Vousden and Arends reached an arrangement off the table, because they began going all-in on every hand after the third deal’s discussions broke down. Each player won a couple of hands before Vousden’s eight-four spiked a four on the river to beat Arends’ ace-eight of hearts to bring the curtain down on the Main Event.

Deals Struck in the Other Two NLHE Main Events

While no official deal happened in the $5,200 Main Event, there were deals that brought the curtain down on the $109 and $1,050 editions.

The $109 NLHE Main Event saw 13,140 entrants leave a $186,000 overlay on the $1.5 million guarantee. Brazil’s “DeckMcFly” ultimately came out on top, taking home $176,916 after a three-handed deal. “0spiel2632” finished second for $128,658, with “debreceni” taking home $113,641 for third.

There was a $160,000 overlay in the $1,050 NLHE Main Event after 2,340 entrants weren’t enough to hit the $2.5 million guarantee. This event also ended with a three-way deal in place. “galo_pb” was the third place finisher and netted $258,395, with “Alister307” claiming a $304,779 runner-up prize. “HarissaMB” came out on top, banking $256,571.

PokerStars Anniversary Series Ends on June 3

There is still time to become a PokerStars Anniversary Series champion because the online festival continues until June 3. The biggest guaranteed events take place on May 31 at 5:30 p.m. BST, the Main Event 2nd Chances.

These come with buy-ins of $55, $215, and $1,050, and carry guaranteed prize pools of $400,000, $750,000, and $500,000, respectively. With the WSOP being in full swing by then, there’s every chance this trio of tournaments overlay like the Main Events did.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.