Poker Masters 2017

8/3/2022

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Contents

The Poker Masters Event #3: $50,000 NLHE began with 48 entrants, but on Saturday only seven returned to action. Erik Seidel began the day as the short stack, while Bryn Kenney sat fourth in chips.

I’m having a bit of a tough time thinking of the

Brandon Adams - 2017 Poker Masters Event 4 Winner The Poker Masters Event #4: $50,000 NLHE at the ARIA Resort and Casino began with 39 entries, but in the end, it was old-school player Brandon Adams who emerged victorious to capture an $819,000 first-place prize. Don’t miss a minute of Poker Masters® action by tuning in live to one of the largest buy-in tournaments of the year live on PokerGO. Subscribe today and get caught up with an extensive library of original programming, throwback poker classics, and more than 100 days of live poker every year.

Poker Masters as any kind of big deal.

Part of it is the fact that the Poker Masters is a brand-new concept. In contrast, the 2017 World Series of Poker was its 48th. Of course, it’s a heck of a lot easier to believe in something that’s been around for almost 50 years. However, a concept like Poker Masters must start somewhere. It’s not easy to embrace change, but change is inevitable. The Poker Masters should not be shunned solely because it is the new kid on the block.

However, my problem with treating the event like it is more than just another high roller series aimed at breaking its competitors’ bankrolls, is also due to the composition of the field. The idea is that the lofty buy-ins, including four $50,000 prelims and a $100,000 championship, will draw out only poker’s elite. The Poker Masters is meant to separate the best from the best. Does it?

The best in the world?

At the very least, some 35 or so of the best and richest poker players on the planet turned up for the inaugural Poker Masters in Las Vegas, Nevada. Unfortunately, this also included groups of players who share a single bankroll and only play in similar high buy-in, small field events. The players in these groups may very well be among the best poker players on the planet. However, since they only play in these types of events, that’s as hard to prove as the soft play and collusion some suspect they are guilty of while playing in them.

Several players who have made previous best in the world lists didn’t bother to show up either. Each likely has a different reason. These range from scheduling conflicts to wanting to avoid the half-million-dollar downswing that could result from running bad for a week. This brings me to another problem I have with the Poker Masters: It just isn’t built to last.

Since their inception, high roller events have been criticized as being unsustainable. They have continued to endure. However, a series like the Poker Masters may be asking too much. Can anyone in poker outside of a few elite players at the top of the food chain really afford to dump half a million dollars in tournament buy-ins? Will those that do really show up each year to donate? I’m naturally skeptical. I just don’t think the poker economy, or those backing it behind the scenes, have deep enough pockets to keep the Poker Masters afloat. Certainly not for anywhere close to the WSOP and its 48 years. In fact, they’ll be lucky to make four.

Flaws in the Poker Masters purple jacket?

But the real problem I have with the Poker Masters is the battle for the purple jacket itself. This is the award being offered to the player who earns the most money through the five-event schedule. Unfortunately, it is being awarded through a flawed system that has devalued the jacket almost entirely.

The idea that the player who runs hottest through a five-event series is anything more than that is flawed from the outset. However, awarding it to the player who earns the most cash has proved most problematic.

In the end, doubling the buy-in for the championship event meant anyone who won it could walk away with the jacket. Regardless of whether they even played any of the prelims.

Steffen Sontheimer won one and cashed in three out of four prelims. He bubbled the fourth, yet all that was practically rendered moot heading into the championship. In fact, Sontheimer was required to run deep to remain in contention for the jacket.

It doesn’t matter whether he managed to do it or not. It’s the fact any player could walk in off the street, skip the prelims and claim the jacket by winning the championship that revealed the flaws. Poker Masters organizers are certainly going to have to fix that going forward. Particularly if they want the public to attach any kind of significance to the jacket going forward.

For the hardcore only

It’s true that I’ve been critical of most of what Poker Central has done over the past year. They should be applauded for trying to introduce innovations to the game and poker broadcasting. However, they just keep going about it the wrong way.

Subscription-based content like PokerGO is great for existing hardcore poker fans. However, it does zero to help grow the game of poker or bring it to new audiences.

In theory, creating a high roller championship series like the Poker Masters and its purple jacket gives players something to strive for. It also gives fans another reason to watch them as they fight for it. In practice, they’ve put together a flawed and unsustainable series. Plus, they’ve hidden it away on a subscription service destined to last only as long as its initial investors’ resolve.

The Fitz Poker Live Stream is currently not showing a poker tournament. Please check back later.

POKER MASTERS 2017 UPDATE

DAY 3?

Wow! What a final day to the 2017 Poker Masters. We had everything possible on the final day as the final 18 battled it out until 6am to crown the very first winner pf the Masters! All final 18 were in the money. In the end it was a heads up battle between Andrew “The King” King and Michael “Irish Open” Farrelly. After a lot of back and forth Andrew was crowned the champion, the trophy winner and the 20k first prize! Congratulations to Andrew and to all the finalists at the inaugural Poker Masters. Also a big thanks to everyone who played in the Main Event and helped make the event a huge success! Final finishing positions and prize payouts are listed below.

Position	Name	Prize Money
1	Andrew Patrick King	€11350.00
2	Michael Farelly	€8000.00
3	Armands Jirgensons	€9500.00
4	Helen Mary Henry	€9500.00
5	Stephen Lyons	€7000.00
6	Cristopher Arnst	€9500.00
7	Neil O Reilly	€2000.00
8	Christian Jordanich	€1700.00
9	Christopher Dunne	€1300.00
10	Luis Schneider	€1100.00
11	Stephen Courage	€1100.00
12	Katie Harrington	€1100.00
13	Stephen Malone	€900.00
14	Raymond Mckenna	€900.00
15	Gediminas Bartkus	€900.00
16	Myles Garland	€800.00
17	Razvan Aflacailor	€800.00
18	Adrian O’Donoghue	€800.00
19	Declan O’Connell	€600.00

DAY 2

In the end we smashed the guarantee and the total prize pool comes to €68.500. We had 153 runners in total and a fantastic turnout for our first yer of running the masters. Club members and new visitors created a great atmosphere at the end. Some big name players made the 2nd day including our good friends Padraig Parkinson, Christine Machmann, Paddy Clarke, Tim Farrelly and Michael Farrelly. In the end the bigger names fell to the club members who showed great skill and feat in lasting to the final 18. After a marathon 2 1/2 hours on the bubble the final days players stood tall. Who will be the 2017 champion and the €22,800 first prize?

1	Chris Dunne	694000
2	Stephen Malone	675000
3	Stephen Courage	633000
4	Neil O’Reilly	615000
5	Andrew King	418000
6	Luis Schneider	395000
7	Armands Jirgensons	355000
8	Christian Jordanich	340000
9	Raymond McKenna	298000
10	Katie Harrington	289000
11	Christopher Arnst	277000
12	Helen Henry	268000
13	Myles Garland	262000
14	Gediminas Bartkus	224000
15	Michael Farrelly	131000
16	Razvan Aflacailor	119000
17	Stephen Lyons	97000
18	Adrian O’Donoghue	35000

DAY 1B

After all of the excitement of Day 1A we had a combination of members and walk ins for day two to push the numbers past the 50,000 euro guarantee to make it another hugely successful tournament. 72 Players on Day 1B and after Level 12 we had a further 19 qualifiers for Day 2 . The Leaderboard at the end of Day 1’s play is as follows.

Position	Name	Chipstack
1	LUIS SCHNEIDER	411400
2	BARRY DONOVAN	324800
3	JONATHAN MCCULLAGH	306600
4	CHRISTIAN JORDANICH	306000
5	PADRAIG PARKINSON	276500
6	IVAN ZBOZIL	221600
7	STEPHEN COURAGE	213400
8	DECLAN O’CONNELL	207500
9	MYLES GARLAND	204300
10	CHRISTOPHER ARNST	201400
11	PATRICK CLARKE	191700
12	ADRIAN O’DONOGHUE	185300
13	STEPHEN MALONE	170000
14	MICHAEL FARRELLY	153400
15	PAT GIBSON	135100
16	RAZ AFLACAILOR	135000
17	NEIL O’REILLY	132700
18	MAHMOOD RASHEED	131200
19	CHRISTIN MASCHMANN	130900
20	REMUS MATACHE	126600
21	TEREK QUNBER	124200
22	GEDIMINAS BARTKUS	123500
23	JOSEPH BAKER	117000
24	TIM FARRELY	114900
25	CHRIS DUNNE	110300
26	NICHOLAS TOROSSIAN	108300
27	ARTIE WOOLSEY	98400
28	KATIE HARRINGTON	96300
29	ANDREW KING	94100
30	ARMANDS JIRGENSONS	92500
31	ALAN GIBBONS	88900
32	EAMONN O REILLY	81800
33	JOSEPH DORRINGTON	69900
34	JOHN FOLEY	69700
35	CONOR HAMILTON	64000
36	RAYMOND MCKENNA	61300
37	GERARD MCARDLE	58800
38	DEVIN CONNOLLY	52700
39	HELEN HENRY	48700
40	JASON BYRNE	48600
41	WILLIAM MULROONEY	47900
42	EMMET SHINE	47500
43	MICHAEL GRAYDON	40700
44	JOE KIERNAN	35100
45	TIERNAN MCGIVEN	35000
46	STEPHEN LYONS	33000

DAY 1A

The 2017 Poker Masters kicked off with a flurry of activity with all ins, eliminations and bad beats a a plenty in the first hour of activity. 81 Players in total on a great first day. When play ceased after level 12, 27 players progress to Day 2.

Fitz Masters Day 1A Results

POSITION	NAME	CHIP COUNT
1	JONATHAN MCCULLAGH	306600
2	IVAN ZBOZIL	221600
3	STEPHEN COURAGE	213400
4	CHRISTOPHER ARNST	201400
5	MYLES GARLAND	204300
6	ADRIAN O’DONOGHUE	185300
7	STEPHEN MALONE	170000
8	PAT GIBSON	135100
9	MAHMOOD RASHEED	131200
10	CHRISTIN MASCHMANN	130900
11	TEREK QUNBER	124200
12	GEDIMINAS BARTKUS	123500
13	JOSEPH BAKER	117000
14	CHRIS DUNNE	110300
15	KATIE HARRINGTON	96300
16	ANDREW KING	94100
17	ARMANDS JIRGENSONS	92500
18	ALAN GIBBONS	88900
19	EAMONN O REILLY	81800
20	JOSEPH DORRINGTON	69900
21	JOHN FOLEY	69700
22	GERARD MCARDLE	58800
23	DEVIN CONNOLLY	52700
24	HELEN HENRY	48700
25	JASON BYRNE	48600
26	TIERNAN MCGIVEN	35000
27	STEPHEN LYONS	33000

The Fitzwilliam Poker Masters will be held at the club from Wednesday May 24th to Monday May 29th 2017. Following on from the huge success of the November Festival, which was a sell out for all events, we have decided to add a Second Poker Festivalto the annual poker calendar.

The format and tournament structure will be very similar to the previous festival with a few tweaks to streamline it a bit better and to have update facilities online to keep players informed on the tournament. The exact tournament structure will be posted at a later date. The Full Events Programme for the festival is listed below:

Wednesday May 24th – €50 Super Satellite to the €500 Buy-In €50,000 Guaranteed Poker Masters. 8pm Start Time

Thursday May 25th – €280 End of Month Freeze-out. €25,000 Guaranteed. 8pm Start time

Friday May 26th – Day 1A of the €500 Buy-In €50,000 Guaranteed Poker Masters. 6pm Start Time

Saturday May 27th – Day 1B of the €500 Buy-In €50,000 Guaranteed Poker Masters. 6pm Start Time

Sunday May 28th – Day 2 of the €500 Buy-In €50,000 Guaranteed Poker Masters. 6pm Start Time

Monday May 29th – Day 3/Final Day of the €500 Buy-In €50,000 Guaranteed Poker Masters. 6pm Start Time

Monday May 29th – €80 Freeze-out Side Event. €3,000 Guaranteed

Blinds Structure for the €500 Buy-In €50,000 Guaranteed Poker Masters

Day 1A & AB Blind Structure(it is anticipated that Day 1 play will conclude at the end of level 13)

Starting Stack 40,000

Poker Masters Results

Level	Small Blind	Large Blind	Ante	Duration	Break Time
1	50	100	0	30	0
2	75	150	0	30	0
3	100	200	0	30	0
4	150	300	25	30	20
5	200	400	50	40	0
6	300	600	75	40	0
7	400	800	100	40	10
8	500	1000	100	40	0
9	600	1200	100	40	0
10	800	1500	200	40	10
11	1000	2000	200	40	0
12	1500	3000	300	40	0
13	2000	4000	400	40	10

Days 2 & 3 Blind Structure

Level	Small Blind	Large Blind	Ante	Duration	Break Time
1	2500	5000	500	60	0
2	3000	6000	500	60	20
3	4000	8000	1000	60	0
4	5000	10000	1000	60	10
5	6000	12000	1000	60	0
6	8000	15000	2000	60	10
7	10000	20000	2000	60	0
8	12000	25000	3000	60	10
9	15000	30000	3000	60	0
10	20000	40000	4000	60	10
11	25000	50000	5000	60	0
12	30000	60000	5000	60	10
13	40000	80000	10000	60	0
14	50000	100000	10000	60	10
15	60000	120000	10000	60	0
16	80000	150000	20000	60	10
17	100000	200000	20000	60	0
18	120000	250000	30000	60	10
19	150000	300000	30000	60	0
20	200000	400000	40000	60	10
21	250000	500000	50000	60	0

Meals will be served each night to players.

54 Players or less will make it through from each Day 1 (Day 1A & 1B) to Day 2

Poker Masters 2019

18 finalists will make it Day 3 to compete over 2 tables for the inaugural 2017 Poker Masters title