Ruben Lopes Leads as Eight Players Survive Lengthy Bubble on Day 2 of the BSOP $20,000 Super High Roller
It took more than two hours to burst the money bubble, but once the final eight players secured a payday, Ruben Lopes emerged as the chip leader heading into the final table of the Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) Super High Roller Series R$100,000 ($20,000 US) Super High Roller.
Lopes ended up with 3,425,000 and atop the leaderboard after Day 2 lasted past 3 a.m. local time here at the WTC Sheraton in Sao Paulo. The Portuguese pro has just $34,000 in live career earnings, but most of his success has come online, where his resume includes a run to the final table of the WCOOP Main Event in October.
Day 2 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ruben Lopes | Portugal | 3,425,000 | 57 |
| 2 | Hugo Machado | Portugal | 3,295,000 | 55 |
| 3 | Mehdi Chaoui | Morocco | 2,010,000 | 34 |
| 4 | Ivan Luca | Argentina | 1,770,000 | 30 |
| 5 | Rafael Moraes | Brazil | 1,405,000 | 23 |
| 6 | Zdenek Zizka | Czechia | 950,000 | 16 |
| 7 | Masato Yokosawa | Japan | 850,000 | 14 |
| 8 | Gabriel Tavares | Brazil | 305,000 | 5 |
Lopes began building a big stack when he picked off a bluff from Viacheslav Balaev with a set of fours. He then rivered a straight and got paid by Gabriel Tavares, before flopping the nut straight against Masato Yokosawa’s two pair to win another pot.
Hugo Machado’s day included extreme lows and dizzing highs. He busted within the first few levels when his sixes couldn’t survive a flip against Yokosawa’s ace-king. He then reentered right before late registration closed and wasted little time earning a double up, slowplaying two aces against Martin Kabrhel. Machado then busted Rodrigo Seiji when he spiked a straight on the turn. During the money bubble, he woke up with two kings to double off Rafael Moraes and move up right behind Lopes with 3,295,000.
Mehdi Chaoui is in third place with 2,010,000. Ivan Luca was down to less than 200,000 after the dinner break, but then doubled up five times in the span of less than two levels. He also busted Joao Simao in 10th place and climbed all the way up to 1,770,000 by the end of the night, good for fourth place heading into the final table tomorrow.
PokerStars Team Pro Moraes (1,405,000), WSOP bracelet winner Zdenek Zizka (950,000), and popular Japanese vlogger Yokosawa (850,000) also secured a spot at the final table, while Tavares is the short stack with 305,000.
The day began with 17 players returning from Day 1, but they would be joined by 30 new arrivals to build a total field of 56 entries by the time late registration closed. Among those to fall short of the money were Poker Hall of Famer Brian Rast, Daniel Rezaei, Renan Bruschi, and Fabiano Kovalski. Kabrhel busted in a three-way all in, losing a race with tens against Yokosawa’s ace-queen.
Only the top eight players would guarantee themselves a share of the R$5,254,800 ($1,050,960 US) prize pool, and the elimination of Simao in 10th brought the final nine down to one table to battle on the money bubble. More than two hours later, start-of-day chip leader Ignacio Sagra shoved with ace-ten, but Zizka woke up with ace-king in the big blind to bring the night to a close.
Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | R$1,575,000 ($315,000 US) |
| 2 | R$1,140,000 ($228,000 US) |
| 3 | R$736,000 ($147,000 US) |
| 4 | R$557,000 ($111,400 US) |
| 5 | R$431,000 ($86,200 US) |
| 6 | R$336,500 ($67,300 US) |
| 7 | R$269,300 ($53,860 US) |
| 8 | R$210,000 ($42,000 US) |
The action tomorrow kicks off at 2 p.m. with 12 hands remaining in Level 21 with blinds of 30,000/60,000 and a 60,000 big blind ante. Each level will be 28 hands long. The remaining eight players have locked up R$210,000 ($42,000 US), while the winner will take home R$1,575,000 ($315,000 US).
PokerNews will be back following all the action tomorrow from the final table until a champion is crowned.