Tony G Wins Two SHRB Short Deck Events in a Week
Tony G is known for his willingness to gamble, which is why Short Deck Hold’em is the perfect game for him. The Lithuanian-Australian won two Short Deck Hold’em events at the ongoing Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) Europe festival, including one that awarded a career-best score.
Event #3 of the SHRB Europe was a $25,000 Short Deck Hold’em tournament. Only 45 players bought into the ante-only tournament; all 45 played out of their skins.
Danny Tang went into the six-handed final table as the chip leader, yet he was the first casualty. Chris Brewer shoved for 3,700,000 during the 25,000a level, and Tang called off his 1,700,000 stack. Tang showed Kh-Kd, Brewer Ac-7c, and the board ran Td-9h-7d-Ad-7s.
Malaysian billionaire Paul Phua crashed out in fifth at the hand of Tony G. Phua committed his last 505,000 chips with Ad-7d on the Ac-Th-9d flop. Unfortunately for Phua, Tony G called with Ah-Qd. The Ks turn and 8d river missed Phua and he headed for the exits.
Brewer busted Santi Jiang in third. Jiang limped with Qs-Qd, Robert Flink came along for the ride with Td-9s, and Brewer jammed for 4,300,000 with Ah-9h. Only Jiang called. An Ac-As-7h flop rewarded Brewer’s ballsy shove. Jiang missed on the Kd turn and 7s river.
Tony G Leads Going Into Heads-Up
Heads-up was set when Sweden’s Flink lost a key all-in with Brewer. Flink held As-Jh and Brewer the Ah-Kh. The five community cards ran Qc-Td-8d-7h-Ad to send Flink to the showers.
Tony G, real name Antanas Guoga, held a 7,600,000 to 5,700,000 chip lead over Brewer. A tense one-on-one battle when the way of Tony G during the 60,000a level. Tony G moved all-in with Ks-Js, and Brewer called all-in for 2,900,000 with Jh-Th. The dealer spread the Qd-8s-6d-7s-Jd board, and Tony G won.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony G | Lithuania | $382,500 |
| 2 | Chris Brewer | United States | $247,500 |
| 3 | Robert Flink | Sweden | $168,750 |
| 4 | Santi Jiang | Spain | $123,750 |
| 5 | Paul Phua | Malaysia | $90,000 |
| 6 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | $67,500 |
Career-Best Score For the Lithuanian Star
Victory number two for Tony G came in the $100,000 Short Deck Hold’em event, and came with a career-best score for the Lithuanian.
Unsurprisingly, only 26 players bought into the event for a cool $100,000. The compact field meant only the top four finishers won a slice of the $2,600,000 prize pool.
Santi Jiang, the fourth-place finisher in the other event Tony G won, again finished fourth. Jiang’s Qs-Qc proved no match for the As-Kc of Tony G. Third place and $416,000 went to Danny Tang who saw his Kh-Ts obliterated by Paul Phua’s Jd-Jc. Phua turned a full house on the Ac-Kc-Js-Ks-9s board.
Tony G trailed Phua slightly going into heads-up but soon turned around his fortunes. He limped for 40,000, Phua raised to 300,000 and called when shoved on. Phua held Ah-Ad which was against Ac-Kc. The Qh-Qd-8c flop looked safe for Phua, but the 7c turn gave Tony G outs to a flush. The flush came in courtesy of the 9c river, handing the title and $1,196,000 to Tony G.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony G | Lithuania | $1,196,000 |
| 2 | Paul Phua | Malaysia | $728,000 |
| 3 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | $416,000 |
| 4 | Santi Jiang | Spain | $260,000 |
Now Approaching $9 Million In Winnings
Tony G is now approaching $9 million in winnings thanks to his first seven-figure score. He took a break from poker from 2013 to concentrate on his political career. Guoga was a Member of the European Parliament from 2014-19 but has been back at the poker tables since 2017.
The ten cashes since his return earned him $3,997,192. Eight of those ten results are worth six or seven figures. It is fair to say Tony G the poker player is back with a bang.