One of most exclusive high-stakes live poker events kicked off in Las Vegas on Sunday with Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu leading the finalists after Day 1. The $300,000 Buy-in Super High Roller Bowl 2018 is currently taking place at the PokerGo studio and is hosted by the stylish ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
Attracting the elite of the poker world, the tournament runs from May 27 through Wednesday, May 30. Day 1 of this year’s Super High Roller Bowl ended with a total of 48 registrations and among the late entries were legendary players such as Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey. While Ivey survived the first levels and the tough 11 hours of poker action, the 14 WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth arrived two hours late and busted soon after that to everyone’s surprise. He will, therefore, not be able to compete for a share of the colossal $14.4 million prize pool.
Plenty of other high-stakes pros and poker enthusiasts will be eliminated, however, before the final 7 players split the prize pool on Wednesday. Only 30 entrants survived to Day 2 on Monday, led by one of the most decorated poker players in history, Canadian pro Daniel Negreanu. Having earned more than $36 million throughout his career, Negreanu is currently the biggest live tournament poker winner of all time and his great performance during Day 1 should come as no surprise. Bagging more than 1.61 million in chips, he will return at the tables with a great advantage over the rest of the players.
The second biggest stack belongs to Jason Koon (986,000), while Poker Masters winner Steffen Sontheimer has 960,500 and U.S. Poker Open champ Stephen Chidwick has 888,500 in chips. Defending champion Christoph Vogelsang holds one of the smallest stacks with only 232,500, 2016 champion Rainer Kempe has 157,000, while Phil Ivey returns to the tables with 234,000.
The World’s Most Prestigious High Roller Event
With its steep $300,000 buy-in, the exclusive Super High Roller Bowl at ARIA Resort & Casino attracted some of the most experienced and decorated poker pros right now. The field of 48 players may not sound impressive at first, but in fact, very few poker professionals can afford to pay such a high entry fee. It would be absolutely worth it, however, for those who survive to the final, 7-seated table where the $14.4 million prize pool will be split. The top five players will receive prizes of over $1 million, while the Super High Roller Bowl 2018 champion will bag the lion’s share of $5 million.
A total of 18 entrants did not make it to the tables of Day 2 of the tournament and among them were notable players such as Antonio Esfandiari, Isaac Haxton, Phil Hellmuth, David Peters, Tom Marchese, Erik Seidel, Ben Tollerene, and Igor Kurganov. Among those who will keep playing during Day 2 are Bryn Kenney (852,500), Seth Davies (738,000), and Justin Bonomo (675,500). Current chip leader Daniel Negreanu said that he came to win and that nothing would distract him from achieving his goal. With so many legendary poker players on the felt, however, the fight for the title will be uncompromising and fortunately for all those who closely follow the game, full of action.
