First WSOP bracelet awarded to Tooran

Name: Siamak Tooran
Nationality: Germany
Number of WSOP Cashes: 2
Number of WSOP Final Table Appearances: 1
Number of WSOP Gold Bracelet Victories (with this tournament): 1
Best Previous WSOP Finish: 164th at 2015 WSOPE
Number of WSOP Circuit Cashes: 5
Total WSOP Earnings: $842,544

Another champion has been crowned in Europe's biggest poker arena at the King's Casino in Rozvadov as the sixth event of the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe has concluded. Out of 111 entries in Event #6: €25,500 Short Deck High Roller No-Limit Hold'em, it was Germany's Siamak Tooran that took home the lion's share of the €2,636,250 prize pool.

Tooran defeated Thai Ha in heads-up as he claimed his first gold bracelet and a career-best score to become the second player in WSOP history to win a Short Deck tournament. The first edition had taken place earlier this year in Las Vegas and Ha will have bittersweet memories as he finished second to Alex Epstein back then as well.

Heading into the final day there were four big stacks including Tooran, while Ha was the second-shortest stack. The American and fellow countryman Jonathan Depa were considered the odds-on favorite due to their cash game experience in Short Deck while most of the other finalists were taking a shot at the new highly popular poker format for the first time.

The background story of Tooran sounds very familiar to the one of 2019 WSOP Main Event champion Hossein Ensan as he was born in Iran and moved to Germany when he was 11 years old. Ensan had arrived at King's Casino the previous day and was among the first to embrace Tooran after his victory. The now 43-year-old currently lives in Goettingen, Germany and is buying and selling gold. There is one more special item of that available now, but it will certainly find a dedicated spot back home with his family.

Ha, who lists "Usually finish 2nd." in his Twitter profile, had to settle for a consolation prize of €457,964. High Roller and Super High Roller regular Orpen Kisacikoglu finished third, and the final day also featured Netanel Amedi, Besim Hot, Dusk Till Dawn's Rob Yong and aforementioned Jonathan Depa.

Tooran has been playing poker for 15 years and used to play a special pub game with four open and one hidden card, but it was the first time for him with the Short Deck, which didn't seem to be a problem at all. He admitted that he didn't take any special advice before the event started and the final table itself.

"I learn very quickly and play a lot of tournaments, so it was no problem at all. There was just one specific hand with Phil Ivey but apart from that all went smoothly."

It was also a rare opportunity for Tooran to showcase his talents on the feature table of the King's Casino, which he regularly visits for bigger festivals.

"At the beginning, it is somewhat strange but you get used to it quickly. I just blended everything out and simply focused on my game only," he added when asked about the live stream experience. Especially in heads-up against Thai Ha, Tooran seemed very relaxed despite a 1-2 chip disadvantage and quickly turned things around in fewer than one hour.

He will now take a short break and celebrate with friends before returning to the poker action, and he also plans to take part in the upcoming €10,350 Main Event as well.

"I don't think it [the big score] will change much but I might buy a new car. I will probably also play a few bigger events with a buy-in between 2-5k and I will definitely also give the Main Event a shot. But for now, I will just drive back home to see my family. When I called them earlier, the kids were screaming in excitement and I can't wait to see them again."

Tooran began the final day as one of the big stacks and carefully picked spots to boost his stack. He was even bluffed off trips by Netanel Amedi, who showed a lot of creativity on the feature table. Rob Yong, who entered the final day as far shortest stack, managed to ladder up one spot as Jonathan Depa found no help with jack-ten suited against the kings of Amedi.

Once Yong was gone in 6th place, the chip lead several times and Besim Hot had to settle for 5th place, a bluff cost him most of the stack and he never recovered from that. The final four all held the lead at some point and Amedi would end up on the rail next when his jack-ten was no good against the queen-ten of eventual champion Tooran.

Orpen Kisacikoglu went from chip leader to third-place finisher and his final hand provided a cruel run out when his pocket kings faced the ace-king suited of Thai Ha. There was no threat on flop and turn, but the ace on the river sent Kisacikoglu into a world of pain.

Ha held a 2-1 lead at the start of heads-up but Tooran was running hot and connected with most boards to quickly pull into a commanding lead. Ultimately, the fate of Ha was sealed when he shoved with ace-seven and Tooran held up with ace-king to crown a champion.

(Article courtesy of World Series of Poker)