James Chen Wins WSOP Europe €250K Super High Roller
James Chen returned to the final table of the World Series of Poker Europe €250K Super High Roller with the shortest stack among the seven remaining players on Friday while Dominik Nitsche stood alone atop the chip counts. Over 6.5 hours of play, Chen overcame his short stack to go on to win his first career bracelet and a €2.8 million score while Nitsche suffered through an almost unimaginable turn of events.
Nitsche, who won the €111,111 High Roller for One Drop event at WSOP Europe 2017, couldn’t have had more go wrong for him just after cards were in the air. Christoph Vogelsang and Chen each doubled through the German poker pro in the opening hands of play and then an hour later, Nitsche became the first player to hit the rail.
Down to just under 15 big blinds, Nitsche moved all in from middle position with 
and Chin Wei Lim looked down at 
on the button moved all in over the top. The 
flop left Nitsche drawing to one of four jacks for Broadway. The 
turn gave Lim a full house and Nitsche was out one spot before the bubble. The river was the 
.
Tony G considers poker his hobby, but for a brief time on Friday, he was the Table Captain of this event and he seemed to enjoy throwing Ryan Riess overboard on the bubble. Riess moved all in from the cutoff with 
and G moved all in behind with 
. The board ran out 
and despite picking up a sweat along the way, Riess was eliminated in sixth place leaving the remaining five players all in the money.
G continued to run things and 45 minutes after busting Riess, he found another victim. From the hijack, G raised to 3,500,000 and Cary Katz called from the big blind. After the 
flop, Katz moved all in for 5,300,000 and G called. Katz showed 
for top pair with a straight draw which put him ahead of Katz’s 
. Neither the 
turn or 
river improved either player’s hand and Katz was eliminated in fifth place.
G’s time as the Table Captain was relatively short-lived though. Just 40 minutes after busting Katz, G tangled with Chen and ended up walking the plank. Chen raised to 3,200,000 from the cutoff and G called from the big blind. After the 
flop, G checked and allowed Chen to bet 3,000,000. G check-raised all in for 27,900,000 before Chen called. G showed for an open-ended straight draw while Chen showed 
for top two pair. The 
turn was no help for G and neither was the river, sending him home in fourth place.
Three-handed play lasted just 45 minutes before Lim sent another player to the rail. Lim raised to 6,000,000 from the button with 
and Vogelsang called all in with 
. The 
flop moved Lim ahead and Vogelsang was unable to find help on the turn or river and was out in third place.
Heads-up play began with Chen holding 63% of the chips in play and over the course of two hours, Lim only briefly held the chip lead before Chen was able to close the deal on his first career WSOP bracelet.
Chen moved all in from the button with 
and Lim called all for his last eight big blinds with 
. The flop gave Lim hope of winning the pot outright. The 
turn was a safe one for Lim but the 
river gave Chen two pair and eliminated Lim in second place to give Chen a bracelet and a €2,844,215 score.
Final Table Payouts
- James Chen – €2,844,215
- Chin Wei Lim – €1,757,857
- Christoph Vogelsang – €1,185,161
- Tony G – €799,045
- Cary Katz – €538,722