An emotional rollercoaster for Alexandros Dimogiorgis as he takes the Grand Prix Bratislava Main Event down

The partypoker Grand Prix joined forces with the Bratislava Poker Festival powered by the Irish Poker Tour for six fantastic days of poker, and what an end 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 locked up a five-figure score. Alexandros Dimogiorgis started the final table as chip leader, with a stack of 14m, whilst Dennis Magro started as the shortest stack at 1.9m. The top three players, started with most of the chips in play, with 4th -9th having 16bb’s or less.

A favourable table draw for Dimogiorgis saw him sat with Andras Balogh, and Charles Le Boissonniere, the two stacks larger than 40 big blinds to his immediate left, and remaining stacks to his right. He started aggressively, picking up chips by open jamming into the short stacks with non-premium holdings.

There were a few players who found themselves all in, including Le Boissonniere, who four bet jammed pocket tens versus Dimogiorgis KTo. Dennis Magro was the first player to find himself all in and facing a call though. He called a min raise from Dimogiorgis, with K T and flopped top pair on the K 5 7♢ flop. Dimogiorgis held 5♢5 though, and snap called with the middle set. The J♢ turn and the Q river didn’t help, and Magro busted in ninth for €11700.

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

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

Shortly after, Ciprian Paunescu moved all in for 1.7m, with A J♡ from UTG. He was called by Tomas Chrobak in the BB with the 9♢9 , and the 7 5 J K♢ K runout meant Chrobak was left on life support, whilst Paunescu doubled up to 3.6m.

The very next hand, Le Boissonniere min raised to 400k with the K♡8♡ from the hijack. Balogh three bet to 1m with the A♡Q in the cutoff. It was folded around to Chrobak, who called all in for 140k without looking at his cards. Le Boissonniere folded, and Chrobak flipped over the T 3 . The flop was good for Chrobak, giving him extra outs on the 7 J♡ 8♢ flop, with the T♢ turn putting him ahead. The clean 7 river meant that Chrobak quintupled up, amid loud cheering from the rail.

Shortly after, Chrobak again found himself all in, with the fortunate timing of the A A♢ in the button and a 4BB stack. Paunescu found himself in an awkward position, with the A♡7 in the small blind and 3.1m behind, but decided to call. Chrobak almost became a victim of celebrating too early. The 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 back to 1.9m.

Janos Somogyi found himself all in and at risk shortly after, calling all in with the A♢ Q♡ vs 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, and meant Somogyi needed a queen or a jack to win the pot. The river was the T♡ though, meaning Paunescu doubled up to 5m, and Somogyi busted in seventh for €18000 and his best live cash.

A small technical difficulty in the stream meant the hand was missed, but in the interim, Bruce doubled up with pocket Queens and found himself with 9.6m.

Bruce moved into the chip lead following the next break. Dimogiorgis raised from UTG with A♢T♡, and Bruce called with the A 9 . Bruce flopped two pair, with the board reading A 9 4 . Dimogiorgis checked and Bruce bet 600k. Dimogiorgis called and the turn was the Q . Despite the four flush on the board, the action didn’t slow down, with Bruce betting 1.1m and Dimogiorgis calling. The 4♢ on the river was a blank, but both players checked, and Bruce took down the 6.3m pot.

Bruce remained on the front foot, opening with A 9 . Chrobak jammed with K♢Q . Bruce called but Chrobak couldn’t catch anything, the final board reading J♡ 7 6 2 5♢. Chrobak busted in sixth for €22500.

A few hands later, Paunescu moved all in from the button with the A♢Q for 3.1m. Bruce looked down at the 7 7 and sitting on 16m decided to move all in over the top. 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 remaining players, having locked up €28750 in fifth place.

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

Two hands later, Le Boissonniere moved all in for 5.7m with the K K♡ from UTG. The action folded around to Bruce in the big blind, who called with A 9 . As the dealer sorted the pot and the cards, the two players in the hand exchanged a quick fist bump before the flop was dealt. There was a sweat for Le Boissonniere, as the 3 8 3♡ gave Bruce a flush draw to go with the three aces as outs. The 6♢ kept Le Boissonniere alive, but the 4 gave Bruce the flush amid cheers from the rail. A few hugs and high fives were shared between Bruce and his supporters, followed by a “Fuck Yeah!” from the rail. Bruce then told Le Boissonniere “You played really well” as he slung his backpack over his shoulder and exited in fourth for €36000.

Balogh, who had found a payjump following Le Boissonniere exit was all in next hand with A J for 4.3m having jammed from the small blind. Dimogiorgis called with Q♢J♢ and Balogh saw the good news. The atmosphere was electric, with the commentary team difficult to hear over the shouts of encouragement from the rail. The Q appeared in the window putting Dimogiorgis ahead and the 7 and 9♢ did nothing to help Balogh. The 8♡ turn and J♡ river meant Balogh was eliminated in third for €47000.

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

The first big pot happened with Bruce in the big blind and Dimogiorgis with the button. Dimogirogis min raised with K♡8 and Bruce called with Q 9 . The flop ran out 6 J♡ 3♢ flop, Bruce check-raised a min bet from Dimogiorgis to 1.5m, and Dimogiorgis called. The K turn consolidated his advantage, but Bruce’s Q 9 holding turned a gutshot. Dimogiorgis bet 1.8m into the 4.5m pot and Bruce called. The 5♢ river gave Dimogiorgis a lock on the hand, and following Bruce check, he bet 4m. Bruce thought the spot over for a few moments, deciding whether or not he wanted to make a hero call with queen high. After a minute or so, he called, and Dimogiorgis pulled a 16m pot in, giving him the two to one chip lead.

Some small pots were traded back and forth, before Dimogiorgis found himself on the button with the J♢ 5♡. He limped and Bruce checked with 9 7♡. Dimogiorgis bet 400k and Bruce check raised to 1.2m. Dimogiorgis thought for a few moments, before three betting to 3.4m. Bruce folded and Dimogiorgis scooped another 5m pot.

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

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

Want to get involved in the action? Why not join us at our next live event, Millions Malta, from the beautiful Casino Portomaso between the 23rd Sep – 3rd Oct. With Satellites running from just $0.01, everyone can get involved. Click here for more details.

Rob Needham