James Romero continued his impressive run of form by winning the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS South America Super High Roller. Romero’s excellent victory resulted in his bankroll swelling by $325,000.
James Romero Wins partypoker LIVE MILLIONS South America Super High Roller
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Romero | United States | $325,000 |
| 2 | Marty Mathis | United States | $213,750 |
| 3 | Jacob Daniels | United States | $150,000 |
| 4 | Ivan Luca | Argentina | $100,000 |
| 5 | Francisco Benitez | Uruguay | $60,000 |
Romero burst onto the live poker tournament scene in December 2015. The man from Portland, Oregon won the $10,400 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $1,938,118. More recently, Romero finished third in the $10,300 partypoker MILLIONS UK Main Event for $420,000. Sweden’s Anton Suarez won that tournament and banked a cool $1,000,000.
Enjoy Resort & Casino in Punta del Este, Uruguay is hosting the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS South America festival. Its beautiful surroundings took a back seat to the intense action taking place inside.
Fifteen players took their seats on the second and final day, each hoping to make it into the money place. The tournament only paid five places, so two-third of those returnees went home empty-handed.
Triple Crown Winner Bursts the Bubble
Scotland’s Niall Farrell was the unfortunate soul who burst the money bubble, crashing out in sixth-place. Farrell raised to 1,925,000 which left only 25,000 behind. Jacob Daniels and Fabrizio Bentiez call from the small and big blinds.
All three players checked the Ah-6d-4h flop, but Daniels jammed all-in on the Qc turn. Benitez folded, but Farrell flicked in his remaining chips. Farrell turned over 8c-8s and was way behind the Qd-Td of Jacobs. No eight landed on the river and it was game over for Farrell.
Benitez was the first player to receive some prize money despite winning Farrell’s stack. Benitez is known as “Tomateee” in online poker circle where he is a major crusher.
He found himself short-stacked after a handful of losses so was desperate for a double. His final hand occurred when the action folded to Daniels in the small blind and he raised enough to set Benitez all-in. Benitez called off his stack and flipped over Td-8c, which trailed the dominating Ah-Th. No help arrived for Benitez and he crashed out in fifth-place for $60,000.
The tournament became an all-American affair with the elimination of Ivan Luca in fourth-place. Luca is a phenomenal player hailing from Argentina. He’s also the ex-boyfriend of the excellent Maria Lampropulos.
Luca busted at the hands of Romero after he open-shoved with Ac-6c from the small blind. This sent Romero, in the big blind, into the tank. Romero used a timebank extension card before announcing “call”, turning over Kd-9h as he did so. His reward was a king on the flop of the Kc-7d-2-5s-3d board. Game over for Luca.
Sneaky Aces Turn Romero Into The Chip Leader
Most players would raise with pocket aces when three-handed, but Romero isn’t like most players. Romero looked down at As-Ac and limped on the button. This sneaky move prompted Daniels to move all-in with only Qs-9d. Romero, obviously, called the all-in bet. Daniels paired his nine on the flop, but the board remained safe the aces of Romero.
That hand doubled Romero’s stack and made him the chip leader. Conversely, Daniels was now the short-stack. Any hopes of a comeback were dashed when he open-shoved from the button with 3s-3h. Romero called with 8c-8s in the big blind and the rest, as they say, is history.
Reigning Main Event Champ Falls at Final Hurdle
Marty Mathis won the 2019 partypoker LIVE South America Main Event in Brazil. It was the first time he had played live poker outside of the United States. He went into the heads-up battle with Romero full of confidence, but couldn’t get the job done.
Although the chip lead exchanged hands a couple of times, Romero began exerting his dominance. The final hand saw Romero open to 1,600,000 with Ad-Th then call when Matthis jammed for 7,875,000 with Qd-Jh. An ace on the flop was more than enough to secure the title for Romero and resign Mathis to the $213,750 consolation prize.
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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.