A Romanian in the second position at Tropicana PokerFest, a poker star-studded tournament
Hosted in Budapest, the first PokerFest festival in 2014 had Romanian Laurentiu Jugravu come in the second spot, running against top names in poker
Casino Tropicana was the location for the first PokerFest Main Event of the year. The tournament had 79 players registered and five of them were Romanians who had qualified in the satellites organized by the poker clubs in Romania. During the four-day competition, many acclaimed poker players attended – the biggest name was Czech Martin Hruby. A PokerStars Pro Team member, he travelled to Budapest in his position of representative for Royal Flush Club Bratislava, along with three high rollers and six seductive hostesses who turned all heads in the casino and the tournament hall.
Unfortunately for him, Hruby was eliminated in the second day, as he was able to play only four levels.
A better job did Andras Nemeth, Full Tilt ambassador in Hungary. ‚Cezarescu of Budapest’, as the Romanians there nicknamed him, was among the heads until he came out on the eighth. During the last day, Nemeth took the lead at the final table and everyone dubbed him the favorite to the title. It did not happen. First, he doubled the one who was to become the champion, Viktor Zsemlye, when their chips reached the table center in pre-flop. Nemeth had aces, Zsemlye jack-ten of the same suit – there were two jacks on the table that turned the Main Event upside down.
Even though Nemeth did not win at PokerFest, he came back in the game in a few hours and won a tournament at Full Tilt Poker and ranked the second in another major event of the site he represents. In total, Nemeth had a weekend of over $50,000. Let’s go back now to PokerFest.
From the moment Zsemlye doubled that lucky hand at the final table, everything went from good to better for him. The only player who seemed a challenge to the Hungarian was Laurentiu Jugravu – a poker player from Bucharest, who was introduced to this game a few months ago, about whom we will hear many great things in the future. So, it was no wonder that Zsemlye and Jugravu entered into heads-up. Sad thing for Romania, Laurentiu waited for the lucky hands but to no avail. The Tropicana PokerFest Main Event ended when Jugravu reached all-in on a river with two pairs but lost to Zsemlye who had a nut-flush. Laurentiu won €13,000, which is the best result in his portfolio. The title stays in Hungary, in Viktor Zsemlye’s glass case.
The prizes at Tropicana PokerFest 2014 were as follows:
Position Name Money prize (€)
1 Zsemlye Viktor 20,380
2 Jugravu Laurentiu Constantin 13,590
3 Hamza Antal 8,830
4 Héjja László 6,120
5 Gal Ferencz 4,750
6 Farkas Dávid 3,940
7 Kapitány Zoltán 3,260
8 Németh András 2,720
9 Baga Elemér 2,310
10 Nadir Lalji 2,040
