After over a week of action in paradise, it's finally time for the 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure to start winding down, as the last major tournament on the schedule starts today. The $25,000 High Roller, traditionally one of the biggest and best $25Ks in the world, is on the docket starting at 12:30 p.m. local time.
Day 1 of the $25,000 High Roller features 10 levels, each lasting an hour apiece, plus an 80-minute dinner break after the sixth level of play. Players will get 50,000 in their starting stacks and blinds begin at 100/200 with a 200 big blind ante, progressing to 800/1,600/1,600.
Each player is allowed one reentry in this event and registration will remain open throughout Day 1 and into the start of Day 2. Furthermore, the 30-second clock will be in use from the stat of play.
While the PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship might be the premier $25K on the schedule this year, this one should still draw a nice field with a sizable prize pool. Last year in this event, Christopher Kruk topped a field of 144 to earn $836,350 in prize money. Others at the final table included Justin Bonomo, Igor Kurganov and Mikita Badziakouski.
Action begins at 12:30 p.m. local time from Atlantis here in The Bahamas, so stay tuned to PokerNews to follow all of the action.
Sosia Jiang bet 1,500 from the hijack on with about 6,000 in the pot. Big blind Pedro Marques put in a raise to 7,500 and Jiang called, seeing the river. Marques jammed for about 30,000 effective and Jiang thought briefly then dropped in a stack of chips.
Marques opened for eights full and Jiang mucked what the dealer revealed to be .
Christopher Kennedy raised it up to 1,000 and picked up calls from Henrik Hecklen and Igor Kurganov. Sergio Aido three-bet to 8,500 from the blinds and only Kennedy stuck around to see a flop.
The dealer fanned a flop of and Aido checked to Kennedy who looked over at Aido's stack and then slid a stack of T5,000 chips into the middle. Aido only had 20,300 remaining and had a look of confusion on his face before making the call.
Kennedy turned over and was in a world of trouble against Aido's . The on the turn and the on the river changed nothing and Aido scored a healthy double up.
With about 14,000 in the pot, Pavel Plesuv checked out of the big blind and Ben Heath nearly moved all in for 23,400, leaving 100 back. The board had come and Plesuv used a time extension before dropping in a single chip.
Heath tabled for a rivered flush and Plesuv mucked.
In a three-bet pot, Daniel Dvoress and David Peters were heads-up with a flop of . Dvoress led out for 5,500 from the big blind and Peters called on the button.
The turn was the and Dvoress moved all in. Peters called off his stack of 20,100 and the cards were tabled. Dvoress showed which was ahead of Peters with . However, the on the river paired Peters' jack and he scored a double up.
The action folded to Henrik Hecklen on the button who made it 2,500 to go. Dario Sammartino three-bet to 10,000 in the small blind and Jean-Noel Thorel gave it some thought before folding his big blind. With the action back on Hecklen, he announced all in and Sammartino quickly called off his 51,400 stack.
Dario Sammartino:
Henrik Hecklen:
Sammartino was in a dominating position and held on throughout the board to score a double up.
The last high roller event of the 2019 PCA kicked off today and has easily surpassed the total number of entries from the previous year. The $25,000 PCA High Roller attracted all of the best players that made the trip to Atlantis Resort in The Bahamas and a very healthy field of 151 has turned up with more still possibly to come before the start of Day 2.
After ten levels on the opening day, Lucas Reeves managed to maneuver his way through the field to top the leaderboard of 65 players remaining. Reeves bagged up 247,000 chips, nearly five times the starting stack. Although the $25,000 Single-Day High Roller didn't go his way yesterday, Reeves returned today and found a different outcome.
Another familiar name near the top of the leaderboard is Jesus Cortes who is having a fantastic start to the year. Cortes has already accumulated nearly $1.1 million over the past week and with 239,000 chips in his bag, he may be on his way to another cash. Cortes finished third in the $100,000 Super High Roller and second in the $25,000 Single-Day High Roller. He will be looking to improve on those two results and finally lay claim to a title.
The day started rather slowly, like all of the high rollers do, and got off to a late start by about 30 minutes. Finally, there were enough players to open up two tables and the players took their seats. It didn't take long for the others to start strolling in as there were nearly 50 entries by the first break. With 60-minute levels and a 250 big blind starting stack, the structure allows for a lot of deep-stack poker to be played throughout.
Seth Davies and Sosia Jiang were the first couple of players to be forced to the rail, but with a single reentry option available, both were able to quickly jump back into the action. Unfortunately for both of them, their second bullet wound up with the same result. They joined the list of notables like Igor Kurganov, Scott Seiver, Steve O'Dwyer, Luc Greenwood, and Sylvain Loosli to fire off $50,000 without finding a bag.
Among the 65 players that will be returning tomorrow, some of the larger stacks to keep an eye on include Pablo Melogno (243,500), Pedro Marques (241,000), Thomas Boivin (227,000), defending champion Christopher Kruk (214,500), and Davidi Kitai (205,000). Liv Boeree was the only PokerStars Pro to bag up chips with 96,000 since Kurganov and Andre Akkari both went bust. More notably, Daniel Negreanu has not been seen on the tournament floor as of late and it's unsure if he will show up tomorrow.
The action is scheduled to get underway again at 12:30 p.m. local time and another 10 levels will be played. The blinds will resume at Level 11 at 1,000/2,000 and a 2,000 big blind ante. Late registration will remain open until the action gets underway and anyone that wishes to enter tomorrow will begin with 25 big blinds.
Keep it locked here as the PokerNews live reporting team will continue to bring you coverage of all the action throughout this three-day event.