Poker Masters 2017
Steffen Sontheimer - 2017 Poker Masters Event 5 Winner The inaugural Poker Masters was comprised of four $50,000 buy-in tournaments and a $100,000 finale. Germany’s Steffen “Goose” Sontheimer made the final table of four of them, and closed out two to earn $2,733,000 in combined winnings and The Poker Masters Purple Jacket™. Brandon Adams Defeats Doug Polk to Win Poker Masters Event #4 for $819,000. Doug Polk Eliminated in 2nd Place ($468,000); Brandon Adams Wins! David Peters Eliminated in 3rd Place ($273,000).
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I’m having a bit of a tough time thinking of theJan 21, 2017 Directed by Borrtex. Short comedic scene about four poker masters, who met up at the world championship to play against each other. Unfortunately, the game goes wrong. Photos Steffen Sontheimer - 2017 Poker Masters Event 5 $100,000 Winner Steffen Sontheimer - Drea Renee Steffen Sontheimer - 2017 Poker Masters Event 5 $100,000 Winner Steffen Sontheimer - Sean.
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.
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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.
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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
| 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
Poker Masters 2017
| 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 Results
18 finalists will make it Day 3 to compete over 2 tables for the inaugural 2017 Poker Masters title
Poker Masters 2017 Full Match Hd
Places are limited to 216 in total – 108 per day