Amateurs Shine on Day 2, Bonomo Bags Lead
The $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl at ARIA continued on Memorial Day and the field was cut from 44 runners to just 19. Justin Bonomo rose to the top of the counts as he finished with a stack of 2,628,000.
Bonomo had a nice start to the day as he eliminated Antonio Esfandiari when both players made kings up, but Bonomo's king-queen bested Esfandiari's king-three. He also eliminated dangerous opponent Nick Petrangelo when a short-stacked Petrangelo jammed a flush draw and Bonomo had flopped a set.
Later in the day, Bonomo flopped trip sevens with eight-seven of hearts. Bonomo check-called the flop against Rainer Kempe, and after both players checked the turn, Bonomo fired a big overbet on the river after all the draws missed and got paid off.
However, while a well-known pro heads the list of remaining players, it was a great day for amateur players at the SHRB. Not one, not two, but all of five amateurs bagged stacks that put them in the top 10.
Dan Shak (1,482,000), Bill Klein (1,466,000), Leon Tsoukernik (1,335,000), Cary Katz (701,000) and David Einhorn (685,000) are all looking good heading into Day 3. King's Casino owner Tsoukernik won the EPT Prague $50K High Roller late last year, and Shak has historically been one of the most successful amateurs in these events with nearly $9 million in cashes.
The most well-known amateur in the event, actor and comedian Kevin Hart, failed to bag. However, he did have himself quite a day as he collected perhaps the most impressive scalp of anyone in the tournament.
Hart busted high roller extraordinaire Fedor Holz, who has been unstoppable in these events the past couple of years. It did take a cooler though, as Hart picked up aces when Holz was dealt queens.
Hart ultimately fell when he ran ace-jack into Brian Rast's kings. Others going bust included Dan Colman, Isaac Haxton, David Peters, Bryn Kenney, Doug Polk, and "Tony G." Guoga.
Day 3 resumes at 1 p.m., and PokerNews will again handle live reporting duties while PokerGo offers a live streaming service.
Super High Roller Bowl Day 3 Seating Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | --empty seat-- | -- | -- |
| 2 | Koray Aldemir | Germany | 356,000 | |
| 3 | Bill Klein | United States | 1,466,000 | |
| 4 | Byron Kaverman | United States | 2,063,000 | |
| 5 | Jason Koon | United States | 696,000 | |
| 6 | Andrew Lichtenberger | United States | 444,000 | |
| 7 | Stefan Schillhabel | Germany | 530,000 | |
| 2 | 1 | Zach Hyman | United States | 267,000 |
| 2 | Jason Mercier | United States | 243,000 | |
| 3 | David Einhorn | United States | 685,000 | |
| 4 | Leon Tsoukernik | Czech Republic | 1,335,000 | |
| 5 | Cary Katz | United States | 701,000 | |
| 6 | Justin Bonomo | United States | 2,628,000 | |
| 7 | Dan Shak | United States | 1,482,000 | |
| 3 | 1 | --empty seat-- | -- | -- |
| 2 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 225,000 | |
| 3 | Pratyush Buddiga | United States | 716,000 | |
| 4 | Brian Rast | United States | 526,000 | |
| 5 | Christoph Vogelsang | Germany | 1,391,000 | |
| 6 | Rainer Kempe | Germany | 487,000 | |
| 7 | Jake Schindler | United States | 567,000 |
, leaving Guoga shaking his head.
flop and Hart again added, "Let's go Ray!"
to end his tournament after a tremendous effort against some of the world's finest poker players.
flop would push him further into the lead as Holz would need a combination of running diamonds or queens to stay alive.
would end any chance for Holz as the 
paired the board on the river to send Holz tumbling to the rail and Hart up to over 320,000 in chips.
, and Holz checked. Hart bet all but his last T500 chip, and Holz put him all in for 111,000 total.
gave him a straight. He celebrated his double with fervor.
flop would see him needing to fade spades to go along with one of the remaining eights in the deck, but when the 
landed on the turn, his tournament would be over.
completed the board on the river, and Polk hit the rail.
on a flop of 
, leaving him in need of improvement against the 
river. It was a 
and Robl was eliminated to leave just 28 players remaining in the 2017 Super High Roller Bowl.
and Perper checked to Bonomo who bet out 10,000. Perper responded by moving all in for 84,000, and after a moment of deliberation, Bonomo called.
