Denis Titensky Played the $102K Mega High Roller For Only $22

The recent MILLIONS Online Mega High Roller was one of the biggest buy-in tournaments the online poker world has ever seen. $102,000 was the buy-in, putting the tournament out of the reach of the majority of players, but Belarusian Denis Titensky took full advantage of our satellites and won his six-figure buy-in for a mere $22.

Lady Luck must have been shining down on Titensky because he never set out to qualify for the Mega High Roller; he registered for one of its satellite by complete accident.

“I wanted to qualify for the $5,300 MILLIONS Online and loaded all the satellites in a row, not really paying attention to which satellites they were. Among them was a phase satellite to the Mega High Roller. I won the first one, and away we went!”

It is safe to say most players who bought into the Mega High Roller satellites did not do so by chance. Some of the game’s elite stars were determined to win a $102,000 seat, making the satellites challenging.

Keeping His Emotions in Check

“In general, as in my other satellites, everything went quite well. I doubled up against Artur Martirosian, and before that, he had doubled, so I had a good stack. The tension rose at the final table when there were seven of us and only three tickets. The stacks were very close, and it was exciting, but I’ve played a lot of these satellites, know how to play them, so I felt very confident.”

Titensky was one of the shortest stack when the tournament was on the bubble, but he kept his cool and got the job done. He managed to control his emotions by reminding himself that he was in this spot for only a $22 outlay.

“I did not have the feeling that this was some extremely expensive tournament because I had qualified for $22. Maybe if I had bought in for $10,300, it would have been a different story.”

A Stacked Starting Table

Play got underway in the $102,000 Mega High Roller, and Titensky found himself under the spotlight as his table was selected to be live-streamed on our excellent Twitch channel. This, of course, meant that his table was tough. Team partypoker duo Mikita Badziakouski and Isaac Haxton, Wiktor Malinowski, and Daniel Dvoress were all present and correct.

“Then they put Artur Martirosian on there too! I watched them play, and now I can say IU have some idea of their games. I understand how balanced their game is. I have a habit of watching all the high roller tournaments that partypoker shows on twitch. I’ve seen a lot of broadcasts in recent years, but it turns out there is a big difference between watching from the outside and participating in the game.”

This was by far Titensky’s biggest buy-in tournament, although he has played in a $10,300, also at partypoker. The grinder has an average buy-in of $40, yet he held his own against some of the game’s top talent.

“I like the way the tournament developed, and I am satisfied with my game overall. Obviously, several hands could have been played much better.”

Disaster Strikes

Titensky was doing fine in the tournament until one key hand came up that ultimately cost him his tournament life. He lost a coinflip against Dvoress for a significant percentage of his stack and never managed to recover.

“I was around 57 big blinds when I opened 2.5x with ace-king on the button. Dvoress was the small blind, and he shoved 35 big blinds into me. I don’t know what people think of him in these tournaments, but he seemed to me to be not the weakest but around that. I’m not judging, but I play a different style. It is clear I have no advantage over the field in this tournament, so I have to call here. I did, lost most of my stack and failed to spin it back up.”

Although disappointed not to make it into the money places, the partypoker cashback loyalty program awarded Titensky $800, which is something.

“I was upset that I did not get into the prizes because I really wanted it. It was an interesting and useful experience, however. I try not to dwell on what has already happened and what I cannot change. All we have is now.”

Now that the dust has settled and Titensky has had time to reflect on his impressive achievement, he takes away many positive from his experience.

“My emotions are most positive. I played with players who are considered the best, and now I have a deeper understanding of what kind of poker they are playing. I also received a lot of message from other players, so thank you for your support.”

Follow in Titensky’s Footsteps

Titensky is the latest in a long line of satellite success stories at partypoker. It could be you who we are writing about if you win your way into one of our big buy-in tournaments.

The Irish Open Online kicks off this weekend, and you can win your €1,100 seat for a few cents. Martin Bremner won his seat for only €11; perhaps you can do the same this weekend?