Grzegorz "DaWarsaw" Mikielewicz hasn't got nearly enough love this week on PokerStars Blog, despite him flying the Red Spade with characteristic enthusiasm and élan. DaWarsaw is always keen to be involved at all levels of PokerStars enterprises, equally likely to pop up in the big tournaments online and off as he is in a freeroll, with a bounty on his head, to encourage new players.
Word reached the press room during the opening level of the day that DaWarsaw was on the ropes here in Rozvadov. Despite returning with a stack of 74,700, he lost an enormous pot right off the bat to the one player you don't want to give chips to: Vojtech Ruzicka.
They had become embroiled in a pre-flop raising war and Ruzicka called DaWarsaw's five-bet shove with his pocket jacks. Mikielewicz's ace-four was looking a little forlorn and did not improve. That doubled up Ruzicka, who of course went on quickly to make his stack something like 130,000.
DaWarsaw went in the other direction and was in short order left with only about 11,000, or 11 big blinds.
Poker players on a short stack call it "double up or bust" time. And reporters swooped to watch DaWarsaw navigate these choppy waters. Here's what happened on what turned out to be Mikielewicz's last few hands in the Eureka Main Event this week.
With DaWarsaw in the big blind of 1,000, it seemed likely that he might get his chips in in its defence. Jan Dönges opened this pot from the hijack and Ruzicka, on the button, seemed interested in putting in a raise. But he didn't, he just called the raise.
The small blind folded, as did Mikielewicz, perhaps unexpectedly.
The two remaining players saw a flop of [ad][8s][qd] and Dönges bet 2,800. Ruzicka called. The turn was [ah] and they both checked, but after Dönges also checked the [7c] river, Ruzicka bet 5,900 and picked it up. The whole pot had the feeling of side-plot, as if they had set the stage for the main player Mikielewicz to enter the action, but he never showed up.
On the next hand, with Mikielewicz in the small blind, Sascha Wilhelm opened for 2,000 and won blinds and antes. On the next hand, with Mikielewicz on the button, Vasil Georgiev Medarov opened to 2,100 from under the gun and picked up two callers, neither of them Mikielewicz. Medarov's continuation bet of 5,000 on a king-high flop took it down.
And then. And then. DaWarsaw played the last hand of his tournament. And in many ways he got super unlucky here not to triple up.
Ashley Baker got this started, raising to 2,300 from under the gun. It was folded to Mikielewicz in the cut off, who moved all in for what the dealer counted to be 9,300. Peter Krivánek, in the big blind, said call and moved his whole stack over the line. He actually had more than DaWarsaw, so this went only as a flat call, even though he was attempting to ship as well.
Baker realised he couldn't really fold. He even said as much, and counted out the extra. It meant they went three way to a flop of [kd][kc][7d] with betting at least notionally on the side. (Krivánek was itching to get his last 3,000 in the middle.)
To nobody's surprise, Krivánek shoved and Baker realised that he still couldn't fold. He called, even though he didn't much fancy his [4c][4h] at this stage.
Krivánek had [as][jd], which meant that DaWarsaw's [6d][6c] were actually good.
The [2d] came on the turn, and this was looking like the start of a remarkable comeback for the Team Online player. But then the [4s] popped up on the river, filling Baker's boat and sending Mikielewicz and Krivánek out.
It was a pretty cruel end to a promising tournament for Mikielewicz, but one suspects he will be back soon.
(Footnote: Ashley Baker actually bust soon after.)
*****
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