Sammy George takes PokerHeaven European Cash Game Title
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
As the anticipation mounts prior to the Tom Dwan and Sammy George durrrr challenge face off - due to take place at some point during the next few weeks - Sammy George has instilled some much needed (cough cough) self-confidence by dominating a strong line-up of players in the PokerHeaven European Cash Game.
A variety of international poker talent congregated for the Poker Heaven European Cash game filmed at Hospital Studios in Covent Garden and despite his fishy status amongst poker circles Sammy George came out on top to take the Season 2 title.
Eric Liu, Andrew Feldman, Ricardo Sousa, Andy Black, Bruno Fitoussi, Sammy George, Simon Munz, Andreas Hoivold, Francois Balmigere, Jens Kyllonen and Leo Margets all sat down with a minimum of 10,000 euro for the second season of the PokerHeaven.com European Cash Game.
Season One winner and CardRunner Pro Eric Liu got off to a flying start after his pocket Kings defeated the Pocket Jacks of Ricardo Sousa. Liu then continued to dominate the table until Andy Black decided to make a stand in a hand where Black held pocket 7’s. Black played the hand aggressively and despite falling behind when the turn brought a king he was lucky to outdraw Liu on the river when a 7 fell to give him a full house on a board of 2 10 2 K 7. Liu proceeded to call Black’s all in before injecting an extra €20,000 into the game.
Leo Margets, the last female finisher at this year’s WSOP Main Event, also got off to a good start timing her plays perfectly and getting good value on the hands she was winning. When Marget wasn’t holding the goods she managed to instil enough doubt in her opponents to make them fold, often when they had the Spaniard dominated.
After the dinner break Bruno Fitoussi and Leo Margets made way for internet high-roller Simon Munz and ECG season 1's Sammy George.
By this stage Black had amassed over 25,000 in profit and was using his large stack to bully the rest of the table, often refusing to let the other players see a flop. But as he smiled, joked and laughed little did he know that the most unlikely of characters had his eyes on his chip stack.
Sammy George had been billed as a fish by the other players early on - a label that he embraces and joked about constantly during his stint at the table. However as the pro's circled hoping to take a piece of his €20,000 buy in, Sammy George broke the water to reveal himself not as the fish they were expecting but a fully grown shark.
Following his early exit in last years ECG, it looked as if George was out to a prove point. The first to fall victim to his onslaught was Andreas Hoivold who, after deliberating an all-in move by George on a seemingly non-threatening board, finally decided that his pocket 8’s were good only to find himself dominated by George’s trip 6’s.
As Sammy collected up his chips and Hoivold made way for Francois Balmigere, the banter was hotting up between George and Black and it was clear that sooner or later these two characters were going to clash.
Eventually the inevitable happened and when it did it was Simon Munz who got himself caught in the cross-fire after he flopped a set of sevens on a J 7 K board. Andy Black held A Q and Sammy George held J 10. Although Munz was in front the three cards were all clubs and although nobody held a club he understandably proceeded cautiously.
All players took to the turn after a raise and an off-suit 10 fell, completing Black’s straight and also giving Sammy 2 pair. Munz's 7's were no longer good but it didn’t look as if anyone was going to give their hand up… yet.
When the dealer turned over the queen of clubs on the river George bet big, making it a little easier for Munz to muck his hand. As the cameras turned on Andy Black the smile had lifted from his face, and as he stared at the cards on the table he genuinely looked tormented.
Eventually Black chucked his hand in the muck and Sammy George raked in the biggest pot of the game.
When time was up Sammy George was handed the trophy after amassing a profit of 25,000 euros. With the durrrr challenge around the corner, Dwan will be quaking in his little boots at the thought of playing Sammy...ummmm probably not actually, but we're certainly excited to see how it pans out.
Final Standings
Sammy George 44,075 (+24,075)
Simon Munz 22,550 (+12,550)
Andy Black 21,275 (+11,275)
Jens Kyllonen 20725 (+10,725)
Francois Balmigere 11,275 (-3,775)
Andrew Feldman 23,100 (-6,900)
Eric Liu 22,575 (-17,425)
Ricardo Sousa 6,950 (-23,050)
7 x 1 hour TV episodes will premiere exclusively on The Poker Channel every Friday at 2200 CET from 9 October, to over 17m TV homes in 20 countries. Full broadcast details, player interviews and TV previews are available at pokerchanneleurope.com.