2019 World Series of Poker Europe: Renat Bohdanov Wins €350 No-Limit Hold’em ‘Opener’ Event

The first gold bracelet of the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe has been awarded to Renat Bohdanov. The 34-year-old Ukrainian outlasted a field of 1,011 total entries to win the first of fifteen gold bracelet events at this year’s WSOPE in the €350 no-limit hold’em ‘Opener’ event. For the win Bohdanov earned his first gold bracelet, the €53,654 ($59,546 USD) top prize and a €10,300 ticket into the upcoming €5,000,000 guaranteed main event.

In addition to the hardware and the money, Bohdanov was also awarded 384 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion of this event. The 2019 POY race is presented by Global Poker.

This event took place over the course of four days, with two starting flights and a playdown day to the final table. The final day began with ten players remaining, with six-time WSOP bracelet winner Jeffrey Lisandro among those still in with a shot at the title. Lisandro ultimately fell just short of winning his seventh bracelet, finishing in eighth place when his A7 failed to overcome the QQ of Samuel Mika. Lisandro took home $5,579 USD for his 79th career cash in a WSOP bracelet event.

2019 WSOP ‘Big 50’ event third-place finisher Rafi Elharar was the next to hit the rail when his 87 ran into the K7 of Bohdanov on a 763 flop. Elharar got the last of his chips in behind and was unable to catch up from there. He earned $7,383 USD for his seventh-place showing.

Bohdanov earned his second knockout of the day when his AJ beat out the J8 of Michal Kral, who had shoved his short stack from under the gun. Kral flopped a flush draw but failed to hit. He was awarded $9,905 as the sixth-place finisher.

With five players remaining, Bohdanov had managed to fight his way into the lead. He was the first player to surpass the 10,000,000 chip mark. He earned his third elimination of the final table when his 44 outran the 77 of Samuel Mika. The board ran out 73256 and Mika’s flopped top set lost to the rivered straight of Bohdanov. Mika exited in fifth place, cashing for $13,473 USD.

Bohdanov then notched the next two knockouts in rapid succession, busting Mykhailo Hryhoriev (4th – $18,577 USD) and Eyal Bensimhon (3rd – $25,958 USD) to take roughly a 3:2 lead into heads-up play against Norbert Mosonyi. The two battled it out for more than two and a half hours, with multiple lead changes along the way. By the time the final hand was dealt, Bohdanov was on top with 17,530,000 to Mosonyi’s 12,800,000. Mosonyi raised to 1,500,000 from the button with the K5. Bohdanov moved all-in with A9. The board came down AK1[[suit:diamond]0A6 and Bohdanov made trips to lock up the pot and the title. Mosonyi took home $36,754 USD as the runner-up.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table

Photo provided by WSOP.