Soverel ruled Main Event end-game
Sam Soverel won the Poker Masters $50,000 Main Event late Thursday night, capping off one of the most dominant weeks and a half in recent poker memory. In addition to the $680,000 purse for the victory, Soverel also earned the Purple Jacket as the top points earner for the series.
It seemed like a foregone conclusion that Soverel would win and as it turned out, it was
Soverel had a sizeable chip lead going into heads-up play in the Main Event against Chris Hunichen. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that Soverel would win and as it turned out, it was. Holding Q♦-T♥ and a 5,670,000 to 1,130,000 chip lead, Soverel moved all-in, putting Hunichen himself all-in. It was apparent that Hunichen didn’t want to put his tournament life on the line with pocket Deuces, but he realized he didn’t have much choice at that point and called.
It was a statistical coin-flip. A Queen appeared on the flop, the turn and river were of no help to Hunichen, and Soverel was crowned the Poker Masters Main Event champ.
Purple Jacket race was a runaway
The Poker Masters, held at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, consisted of ten tournaments. Sam Soverel made the final table in seven of them. He won one other tournament: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha.
Overall, Soverel cashed for $1,396,800 throughout the Poker Masters and won an additional $100,000 for capturing the Purple Jacket.
As it stood, Soverel finished the Poker Masters with 1,160 points, nearly the combined total of Burns and Kornuth, who each amassed 630 points.
Soverel has worked on his tournament skills
After his triumph, Soverel spoke with Poker Central, reflecting on how his confidence has grown recently. He said: “A lot of the guys I thought were really good I saw make mistakes online recently and I actually think now that the playing field is a lot more level than I originally thought.”
used to feel like he was at a “disadvantage” against many elite tournament players
Soverel went on to say that he used to feel like he was at a “disadvantage” against many elite tournament players, but after his online observations, he felt much better about how he compared.
As primarily a cash game player, Soverel noted that he was not as well-versed in some aspects of tournament strategy as he could have been. After further study, he shored up those weaknesses and now feels he has an advantage because of his live poker experience.