An exciting roller coaster for Alexandros Dimogiorgis as he takes down the Main Event of the Grand Prix Bratislava

The partypoker Grand Prix has joined forces with the Bratislava Poker Festival sponsored by the Irish Poker Tour for six fantastic days of poker, and what a wrap to the festival. Alexandros Dimogiorgis beat Dillan Lee “The Poker Bruce Lee” Bruce to win €103k and the Grand Prix Bratislava Main Event.

All nine players who made it to the final table had five-figure points. Alexandros Dimogiorgis started the final table as the chip leader, with a stack of 14 million, while Dennis Magro started with the shortest stack at 1.9 million. The top three players started with the most chips in play, with 4th-9th having 16bb or less.

A draw at the table in Dimogiorgis’ favor saw him seated with Andras Balogh and Charles Le Boissonniere, the two bigger stacks than 40 big blinds to his left and the remaining stacks to his right. He started aggressively, picking up chips by betting the open against short stacks with non-premium holdings.

There were a few players who got all-in, including Le Boissonniere, who fired four times pocket tens against Dimogiorgis KTo. Dennis Magro was the first player to move all-in and face a call. He called a min raise from Dimogiorgis, with K ♣ T ♣ and flopped top pair on the K ♠ 5 ♠ 7 ♢ flop. Dimogiorgis however had 5♢5♣ and called with middle set. The J♢ on the turn and Q♠ on the river didn’t help, and Magro exited ninth for €11700.

Dillan Lee “The Poker Bruce Lee” Bruce, and live stream chat hero, found himself all-in with J♢ J♠ for 3 million chips after Balogh opened to 400k with A♠ K♢. The action moved to Balogh who wasted no time in getting his chips all-in, but the board came 2♢5♠2♡ 7♠ 3♣ for a 6.4m pot and a double up for Bruce.

Jiri Stana was next to move all in, holding K♠ 7♡ from UTG+1. His bet of 1.2m (6bb), was called by Dimogiorgis in the big blind with A♡ A♢. Jiri found some hope on the K♢ J♣ 4♢ flop, but the clean runout of 8♡ Q♢ sent Stana out eighth for 14500.

Shortly thereafter, Ciprian Paunescu moved all in for 1.7m, with A♠ J♡ from UTG. He was called by Tomas Chrobak in the BB with 9 ♢ 9 ♣, and a runout of 7 ♠ 5 ♣ J ♠ K ♢ K ♣ meant that Chrobak remained in life support, while Paunescu doubled up to 3.6m.

The next hand, Le Boissonniere min raised to 400k with K♡8♡ from the hijack. Balogh three-bet to 1m with A♡Q♠ in the cutoff. He folded to Chrobak, who called all-in for 140k without looking at his cards. Le Boissonniere folded and Chrobak tabled T♣ 3♠. The flop was good for Chrobak, who gave him extra outs on the 7♣ J♡ 8♢ flop, with the T♢ on the turn giving him the lead. The clean 7♠ on the river allowed Chrobak to quintuple, to applause from the railing.

Soon after, Chrobak found himself all in again, with the lucky timing of A♠ A♢ on the button and a stack of 4BB. Paunescu found himself in an awkward position, with A♡7♠ in the small blind and 3.1m behind, but decided to call. Chrobak has almost become a victim of partying too soon. K♣ 4♡ 7♡ giving Paunescu a pair and a backdoor flush draw. The J♡ turn gave Paunescu ten outs, but the 4♠river meant Chrobak doubled up to 1.9m.

Janos Somogyi found himself all in and at risk soon after, calling all in with A♢ Q♡ against Paunescu’s A♣ 4♡. Leaving Paunescu with just 265k behind, the K♡ T♢ 8♠ flop looked good for Somogyi, but the 4♢ on the turn put Paunescu ahead, meaning Somogyi needed a queen or jack to win the pot. However, the river was the T♡, meaning Paunescu doubled up to 5m, and Somogyi was eliminated in seventh place for €18,000 and his best live cash.

A small technical difficulty in the stream cost him the hand, but in the meantime Bruce doubled up with pocket Queens to find himself with 9.6m.

Bruce moved into the lead after the next break. Dimogiorgis raised from UTG with A♢T♡, and Bruce called with A♠9♠. Bruce flopped two pair, with the board reading A♣ 9♣ 4♣. Dimogiorgis checked and Bruce bet 600k. Dimogiorgis called and the turn came the Q♣. Despite the four flushes on the board, the action didn’t slow down, with Bruce betting 1.1m and Dimogiorgis making the call. The 4♢ on the river was empty, but both players checked and Bruce took down the 6.3m pot.

Bruce remained at ringside, opening with A♣9♣. Chrobak played K♢Q♠. Bruce called but Chrobak couldn’t catch anything, the final board read J♡ 7♠ 6♣ 2♠ 5♢. Chrobak was eliminated in sixth place for €22500.

A few hands later, Paunescu moved all in from the button with A♢Q♠ for 3.1m. Bruce looked at the 7♠7♣ and sat on 16m and decided to raise all in. Le Boissonniere in the big blind quickly folded and the hands went to showdown. The 4♢ 4♡ 8♠ flop didn’t help Paunescu, and the 7♢ turn sealed his fate, with Bruce making a full house. All smiles, Paunescu shook hands with the other players, having collected €28750 in fifth place.

There were several small pots leading to breaks, but no outs, and when the players retuned a deal was discussed, but the players could not find numbers that suited them, so play resumed. Bruce lost two pots, first a 4 million pot against Dimogiorgis, where he held two pair against a full house and then made a disciplined fold on the river to Le Boissonniere’s full house, again holding two pair.

Two hands later, Le Boissonniere moved all in for 5.7m with UTG’s K♠K♡. Action folded to Bruce in the big blind, who called with A♠ 9♠. As the dealer cleared the pot and cards, the two players in the hand traded a quick punch before the flop was dealt. There was a sweat for Le Boissonniere, as the 3♠ 8♠ 3♡ gave Bruce a flush draw to match the three aces as out. The 6♢ kept Le Boissonniere alive, but the 4♠ gave Bruce the flush to applause from the rail. A few hugs and high fives were shared between Bruce and his supporters, followed by a “Fuck Yeah!” from the railway. Bruce then told Le Boissonniere “You played really well” as he shouldered his rucksack and went out fourth for €36000.

Balogh, who had hit a payjump after Le Boissonniere busted, moved all in on the next hand with A♠J♠ for 4.3m after moving all-in from the small blind. Dimogiorgis called with Q♢J♢ and Balogh saw the good news. The atmosphere was electric, with the commentary crew hard to hear despite the cheers of encouragement from the railing. The Q♠ appeared in the window to give Dimogiorgis the lead and the 7♣ and 9♢ didn’t help Balogh. The 8♡ on the turn and J♡ on the river sent Balogh out in third place for €47,000.

With heads up from Bruce and Dimogiorgis, a deal was agreed, with Bruce locking up €93k and Dimogiorgis €92k. Heads up began with €10,000 left to play.

The first big pot came with Bruce in the big blind and Dimogiorgis on the button. Dimogirogis raised with K♡8♠ and Bruce called with Q♣9♠. The flop came 6♠ J♡ 3♢ on the flop, Bruce check-raised with a minimum bet from Dimogiorgis to 1.5m and Dimogiorgis called. The K♠ on the turn solidified his lead, but Bruce’s hold with Q♣ 9♠ converted a gutshot. Dimogiorgis bet 1.8m into the 4.5m pot and Bruce called. The river 5♢ gave Dimogiorgis a lock on the hand and, after Bruce checked, he bet 4m. Bruce thought about it for a moment, deciding whether or not he wanted to make a hero call with queen high. After about a minute, he called and Dimogiorgis took down a 16 million pot, giving him the two-to-one chip lead.

A few small pots were traded back and forth before Dimogiorgis found himself on the button with J♢ 5♡. He limped in and Bruce checked with 9♠ 7♡. Dimogiorgis bet 400k and Bruce raised to 1.2m. Dimogiorgis thought for a moment, before making three bets for 3.4 million. Bruce folded and Dimogiorgis took down another 5 million pot.

A couple of hands later, Bruce limped in with Q♠6♣ and Dimogiorgis checked to 9♣2♠. It was an action flop, the 6♡ 2♡ 9♠ giving Bruce middle pair and Dimogiorgis short and big. Bruce bet 700k and Dimogiorgis raised to 3m. Bruce moved all in and Dimogiorgis called. Both players quickly got to their feet, but the 4♠ 4♡ runout gave Dimogiorgis the win and both trophies.

Congratulations to Alexandros Dimogiorgis for winning the Grand Prix Bratislava and to all players who made money.

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Rob Needham