It was a Team partypoker one-two in the $25,500 WPT High Roller Championship with Mikita Badziakouski being crowned the tournament’s champion and teammate Jason Koon finishing in second place.
The seven-handed final table was a thrilling affair, here’s how it went down.
WPT High Roller Championship Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mikita Badziakouski | Slovenia | $1,062,730* |
| 2 | Jason Koon | Canada | $810,869* |
| 3 | Alexandros Kolonias | Malta | $549,793 |
| 4 | Mark Demirjian | Lebanon | $380,652 |
| 5 | Daniel Rezaei | Malta | $259,979 |
| 6 | Aleksei Barkov | Russia | $197,667 |
| 7 | Ali Imsirovic | Mexico | $155,060 |
*reflects a heads-up deal
Ali Imsirovic started the final table as the shortest stack and was also the first player to bust. Imsirovic tweeted he was hopeful of spinning his stack up but it, sadly for him, never happened.
His exit came during the 17,500/35,000/4,375 level. Imsirovic opened to 77,000 with 
from early position and Daniel Rezaei, in the next seat across, three-bet to 193,000 with 
. The action folded back to Imsirovic and he jammed for the last 16 big blinds in his stack. Rezaei called.
The board ran 
and it was game over for Imsirovic.
Aleskei Barkov busted in sixth-place for $197,667 after a dreadful run. Barkov had 100 big blinds at one point but the Russian who won his seat for only $265 lost a handful of key pots and his stack dwindled to 16 big blinds by the time he played his final hand.
Everyone folded to Barkov in the small blind and he jammed all-in for 823,000 with 
. Alexandros Kolonias held 
in the big blind and was going nowhere. Kolonias called, the five community cards fell 
, and Barkov’s impressive run ended.
The final five became four when Rezaei crashed out. He lost all but 7.4 big blinds when his four-bet jam with 
was called by Kolonias and his 
. Rezaei managed to chip up a little but was still under 10 big blinds when he busted.
His exit was confirmed during the 30,000/60,000/7,500 level. Rezaei open-shoved for 548,000 from under the gun with 
and Koon called on the button with . The sixes remained best on the 
flop but were counterfeited on the 
turn. The 
came on the river and Rezaei busted in fifth-place for $259,979.
Mark Demirjian fell 10-minutes later and banked $380,652 for his efforts. Badziakouski opened to 140,000 on the button with 
. Demirjian called in the big blind with 
. All the chips were destined to go into the middle when the flop fell 
, which is what happened. Demirjian initially checked but then check-raised all-in for 1,700,000 when Badziakouski continued with a 140,000 bet. Badziakouski called and his set improved to a full house courtesy of the 
turn and 
river.
Three-handed play lasted more than 2.5 hours and ended with the elimination of Kolonias. Blinds were now 60,000/120,000/15,000a and Kolonias was down to 1,800,000 while Badziakouski was a massive stack and putting both remaining opponents to the sword.
Badziakouski min-raised to 240,000 on the button and quickly called when Kolonias ripped in his 1,800,000 from the small blind. It was 
for Kolonias but 
for Badziakouski. Those aces remained true on the 
board. A superb showing from Kolonias who walked away with $549,743.
Koon trailed Badziakouski by 17 big blinds to 149 big blinds. A deal was struck despite this vast difference in stacks, one that saw Koon collect $810,869, around $30,000 more than second-place was set to payout. Badziakouski took home a well-deserved $1,062,730 and the title of WPT High Roller champion.
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