On Sunday, 888poker Ambassador Dominik Nitsche won one of the most prestigious titles of the year when he topped a field of 132 entries (88 unique players and 44 re-entries) in the 2017 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) €111,111 High Roller for One Drop for a career-high €3,487,463/$4,064,026. He also claimed his fourth WSOP gold bracelet.
The win also moved Nitsche into tenth place on Germany’s all-time poker money list, which is no easy feat considering it consists of players like Fedor Holz, Ole Schemion, and Philipp Gruissem, just to name a few.
Speaking of lists, Nitsche joined Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Johnny “World” Hennigan, Huck Seed, Robert Mizrachi, Jeff Madsen, Max Pescatori, George Danzer, Bobby Baldwin, Tom Schneider, Tom McEvoy, Mickey Appleman, Artie Cobb, Amarillo Slim Preston, Puggy Pearson Lakewood Louie, and Bill Boyd as four-time WSOP bracelet winners.
Many of those players are members of the Poker Hall of Fame, and while the 27-year-old Nitsche has more than a decade to go before he’s 40 and eligible, he’s certainly building a résumé to get him inducted.
"I compete in the high-rollers because I love battling with the best so to finally win one of those feels fantastic,” he said after the win. “I'll be looking forward to winning number five now because winning tournaments is fun."
Nitsche joins the likes of Antonio Esfandiari, Anthony Gregg, Daniel Colman, Jonathan Duhamel, Fedor Holz, Elton Tsang, and Doug Polk as winners of major One Drop events.
Beating the Best of the Best
The €111,111 High Roller for One Drop raised €977,768/$1,134,210 for One Drop, a charity dedicated to providing sustainable access to clean water in impoverished communities across the globe.
Among those to compete were poker legends Gus Hansen, Patrik Antonius, and 14-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth. In addition, four players re-entered twice, including Fedor Holz, while three players – Julian Thomas, Jean-Noel Thorel, and Igor Kurganov – each fired three bullets.
Nitsche began the final table third in chips, but by Hand #121 he had them all. In what would be the final hand of the tournament, which took place in Level 28 (2,000,000/4,000,000/500,000), Andreas Eiler, who had been grinded down by Nitsche, moved all in for his last eight big blinds and was called by his countryman.
Nitsche: Q♦10♥
Eiler: K♣9♣
“Cooler, but red cards are my randomizer,” Nitsche said. Red cards didn’t really come into play, but a ten did as the 10♠8♠3♥ flop paired Nitsche. Neither the 5♦ turn nor 10♦ river helped Eiler, and he had to settle for second place and a €2,155,418/$2,511,762 consolation prize.
Reports afterwards said Nitsche exhibited “complete domination” in heads-up play, but ever the gentleman, he was quick to compliment the competition.
“A lot of time recently that I put into playing was heads-up cash games, specifically,” Nitsche said after his win. “So, I felt extremely comfortable all the way through. Maybe a little bit three-handed was not the strongest part of my game, and [third-place finisher] Mikita [Badziakouski] is one of the best in the world at that. So, I wasn’t the strongest player there. But I felt as good a player as Andreas Eiler, who played fantastic. I felt like was the strongest player at this point. And I felt like I made no mistakes at all. I think I played perfect. There was no bet size, no fold, anything that I would change in hindsight. That’s why I’m happy.”
Final Table Results
1st Dominik Nitsche (Germany) €3,487,463 / $4,064,026
2nd Andreas Eiler (Germany) €2,155,418 / $2,511,762
3rd Mikita Badziakouski (Belarus) €1,521,312 / $1,772,822
5th Steffen Sontheimer (Germany) €806,758 / $940,135
6th Christoph Vogelsang (Germany) €606,694 / $706,995
7th Ahadpur Khangah (Iran) €466,421 / $543,532
8th Martin Kabrhel (Czech Republic) €366,762 / $427,397
Continuing His WSOP Legacy
Nitsche won his first bracelet back in 2012 when he took down Event #59: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $654,797. Two years later, he won a pair of bracelets, first by winning the WSOP National Championship for $352,800, and then finishing out Event #21: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $335,659. He now has 33 WSOP cashes, seven final table appearances, four bracelets, and $6,647,429 in WSOP earnings.
You might not know it, but Nitsche came close to winning a WSOPE bracelet once before. Back in 2013, he finished third out of 375 players in the WSOPE Main Event for €400,000/$540,664. If you recall, that event was won by Adrian Mateos while Fabrice Soulier finished as runner-up.
However, winning bracelets isn’t what Nitsche is after.
“It’s not about the bracelets for me, mostly,” he said after the win. “It’s about playing really well. I’m more proud of how I played rather than that I won. […] The bracelets are nice, but the bracelets show me that my hard work pays off. I’m not the kind of guy to go trophy chasing. I’m more the kind of guy to play in a high roller because I love competing against the best.”
For more on Nitsche’s win, check out the video interview he did with PokerNews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ae5UlwHJIY
888poker would like to offer our sincerest congratulations to Dominik Nitsche, a four-time WSOP bracelet winner and 2017 WSOPE €111,111 High Roller for One Drop champion!
