Lichtenberger Banks Biggest Bellagio High Roller Score

The 13th event of the Bellagio High Rollers series proved lucky, not unlucky for Andrew Lichtenberger. The man known, ironically, as “LuckyChewy” bested a 54-player field to lock up $432,000. Lichtenberger’s score is the largest of all 13 events, and takes his lifetime winnings to $11,543,619.

Event #13 shuffled up and dealt with 19 players seated and ready to battle it out at the Bellagio, Las Vegas. Lichtenberger was not one of those starters, he arrived fashionably late. Some 54 entries were processed before late registration slammed shut, meaning the top eight finishers shared a slice of the $1,350,000 prize pool.

Several big names busted from the tournament before the money places. Sean Winter, Alex Foxen, and Ali Imsirovic were just three pre-money casualties.

Seth Davies was the unfortunate soul responsible for popping the all-important money bubble. Davies moved all-in with Ah-4c for 150,000 chips at the 20,000 big blind level. It looked like Davies would win the blinds and antes until Giuseppe Iadisernia called in the big blind with Th-Tc. The dealer put the 8s-Kh-Kc-Jc-3h community cards onto the table, and Davies busted.

Lichtenberger Flying High In The Money Places

Lichtenberger won a large pot against Iadisernia after the bubble burst, which saw his stack eclipse 1.1 million. He added to his stack after calling an 11 big blind shove from France’s Arthur Conan. Conan flipped over Ad-Jd, Lichtenberger the Td-Ts, and the board ran 9c-6c-4h-9s-8c.

Denmark’s Henrik Hecklen crashed out in seventh at the hands of Selahaddin Bedir. Hecklen was all-in from the big blind holding the meager 9c-5d. Bedir showed Ks-9d, and won courtesy of the Th-3hh-8c-Kc-Td run-out.

Sixth place and the last five-figure score of the night went to Bedir. Lichtenberger min-raised to 60,000 from under the gun, and Iadisernia called in the big blind. Iadisernia checked the 5s-8d-9d flop before check-raising a 45,000 continuation bet to 235,000. Lichtenberger moved all-in, and Iadisernia called off his last 535,000. It was 8s-8d for a set for the preflop aggressor, and 9c-6c for the all-in player. The Qs and 6h completed the board, and reduced the player count by one.

There was no stopping Lichtenberger who used his big stack with deadly efficiency. He sent a short-stacked Jeremy Ausmus to the showers with Ah-Qs versus Ac-2c, as his stack approached 2.9 million.

The champion-elect took a break from busting foes to allow Ray Qartomy to bust Elio Fox. Lichtenberger min-raised to 80,000, Fox three-bet all-in from the small blind for 730,000, only for Qartomy to four-bet jam for 1,700,000, folding out the initial raiser. Qartomy showed Ks-Kd, Fox the Js-Ts, and an Ad-8s-Tc-9d-6h board sealed the deal.

Qartomy Sends Event Heads-Up; Holds 2:1 Lead

Qartomy busted Bedir shortly after claiming Fox’s stack. Bedir limped in with Ad-6s before shoving all-in for 1,675,000 when Qartomy made it 140,000 to go. Qartomy called with Ah-9d, and won thanks to the cards falling 9s-6c-2s-7h-8c.

That hand gifted Qartomy a 4,450,000 to 2,300,000 lead over his heads-up opponent. However, Lichtenberger is a wily player who knew he could turn things around. And turn them around he did, first cracking aces with king-queen then winning the tournament.

The final hand saw Qartomy fire a 300,000 bet into a 320,000 pot on a Jh-4d-4h-5h-Ts board. Lichtenberger tanked before moving all-in for 4,800,000. Qartomy also went into the tank, and emerged with a 1,625,000 all-in call. Kichtenberger tabled Kc-4s for trip fours, but Qartomy cold only muster the Th-9d.

Qartomy scooped the $283,500 consolation prize, leaving the champion to net $432,000.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Andrew Lichtenberger	United States	$432,000
2	Ray Qartomy	United States	$283,500
3	Selahaddin Badir	Turkey	$189,000
4	Elio Fox	United States	$135,000
5	Jeremy Ausmus	United States	$108,000
6	Giuseppe Iadisernia	Venezuela	$81,000
7	Henrik Hecklen	Denmark	$67,500
8	Arthur Conan	France	$54,000

Brad Johnson

You name the game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brad has either played it or placed a wager on it! Brad calls himself a natural gambler, and someone who gains as much enjoyment from writing about the crazy game of poker as he does playing it.

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