Charlie Carrel Takes Down WPT Online SHR for $600K

Charlie Carrel is one of tournament poker’s elite players. The young British star plays a fearless style that obviously works. Carrel has won major events live and online, and now has a WPT Online Series title to his name.

Carrel Joins 97 Of Poker’s Superstars

A field of 98-entrants competed in the $25,500 Super High Roller at partypoker. The two-day even smashed it’s $2 million guarantee by $450,000. Some of online poker’s top talent took part, but only 16 of them managed to bank some cash.

Such luminaries as Fedor Holz, Niklas Astedt, and Ole Schemion fell short of the prize money. Dan Smith, Jake Schindler, and David Peters also busted with no return on their investment.

At least they didn’t burst the money bubble. That unwanted finishing position went to Australia’s Michael Addamo, his 17th place finish locking up $49,000 for the surviving players.

Juan Pardo was the first player to cash. Roger Teska, a WPT champion, Nick Petrangelo and Matthias Eibinger joined Pardo on the rail. Conor Beresford and Vicent Roman followed suit before Thomas Boivin exited in 10th.

The final table was set when Canada’s Sam Greenwood fell in ninth for $61,250.

Finland’s Pauli Ayras was the first casualty of the final table. Ayras excelled in the recent Poker Masters Online but could only manage an eighth-place finish here. Chris Hunichen busted in seventh for $98,000. This was the last prize not to weigh in at six-figures.

Sixth-place and $122,500 went to Wiktor Malinowski before Arsenii Karmatckii busted too. Croatian grinder Ivan Galinec collected $214,375 for his fourth-place finish with Elias Talvitie turning his $25,500into $306,250.

Carrel faced Ali Imsirovic heads-up for the title and the monster-sized top prize. There was more than $170,000 difference between first and second place, but no deal was struck.

This meant Carrel got his hands on the $600,250 top prize when he won the heads-up battle. Imsirovic had to make do with a runner-up finish, although it weighed in at $428,750.

Carrel Comes Out on Top Again

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Charlie Carrel	United Kingdom	$600,250
2	Ali Imsirovic	Mexico	$428,750
3	Elias Talvitie	Finland	$306,250
4	Ivan Galinec	Croatia	$214,375
5	Arsenii Karmatckii	Russia	$159,250
6	Wiktor Malinowski	Germany	$122,500
7	Chris Hunichen	Costa Rica	$98,000
8	Pauli Ayras	Finland	$79,625

Carrel is no stranger to being in the winner’s circle, it comes naturally to him. This latest haul doesn’t even come close to his largest score. Online, that weighs in at $1,200,899, his reward for winning the PokerStars SCOOP Main Event in 2017.

He’s no slouch in the live arena either with more than $9.5 million in winnings. Three of Carrel’s scores are worth seven-figures. Carrel won $1,191,900 for a runner-up finish in a $100,000 Super High Roller in 2017. He netted $1,241,682 for winning the 2015 EPT Grand Final High Roller. A cool $1,601,853 made it to his account after winning the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London event too.

These results are all the more impressive when you consider Carrel’s story. He started his online poker career with a tiny bankroll and built it up to a huge sum. Carrel was down to the last $10 or so of his bankroll and won a 180-man SNG at PokerStars. He took this money and began grinding out cash games, finally building a $500,000 bankroll over a couple of years.

Carrel now picks and chooses when he plays poker having semi-retired. It goes without saying that his opponents wish he’d full retire because he’s a phenomenal player.

Is It Still Possible To Go From Zero to Hero

Many people reading this article will wonder if it’s possible to follow in the footsteps of Carrel. The answer is a reassuring yes, but it’s a lot more difficult for sure.

Bankroll management is key, as is good table selection. Players need to put more study in away from the tables than five or six years ago because the overall standard of poker player has increased.

Put in plenty of hours and stay focussed on your goals and anything is possible.

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

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