Tony Gregg raised to 6,500, Marvin Rettenmaier reraised to 17,100, then Gregg made it to 38,500. Rettenmaier jammed all in, and Gregg folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
390,000 | 105,000 |
|
187,000 | -183,000 |
Gus Hansen has been hanging around the tournament deciding whether or not to buy in. He's been battling with some rich Russians in an Open Face Chinese game and that may be too juicy for him to leave. Before he left the room he found time to have a little fun with Phil Ivey.
Mike McDonald had three-bet the button to 21,000 before Ivey four-bet all in for 69,800. The mobile cameras gathered round just in time to see McDonald fold.
"Ivey going for the double bullet!" mused Hansen.
"I'm already on my second one!" came Ivey's reply.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
98,000 | -152,000 |
Jason Mercier and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier checked the 
flop before Paul Newey fired a bet of 45,000. Mercier check-raised a pile of red T25,000 chips, and Grospellier folded. Newey made the call for his tournament life and showed the 
. Mercier had the 
.
The turn was the 
, and the river was the 
. Both were black, but they weren't spades, and Newey's kings held up. Newey was all in on the flop for 165,400 and doubled to a little over 400,000. Mercier still has 790,000 in chips, which is currently the largest in the room.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
790,000 | -175,000 |
|
405,000 | 160,000 |
Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier has had quite an amazing last ten minutes that saw him shoot up to the top of the leader board. First, Mercier doubled through Justin Bonomo. Then, he won a big pot off Viktor Blom on the very next hand.
On the first hand of the two, Scott Seiver opened with a raise from the hijack seat to 7,000. Paul Newey flatted on the button, Bonomo called from the small blind, and Mercier called from the big blind.
The flop came down 
, and Bonomo checked. Mercier bet 14,300, Seiver and Newey folded, then Bonomo called.
The turn was the 
, and Bonomo check-called another bet from Mercier — this time for 37,500. Then, the river completed the board with the 
. Bonomo checked, and Mercier fired 81,000 with 260,000 behind. Bonomo check-raised all in, having Mercier covered, and Mercier went into the tank. He eventually called, and his 
was best against Bonomo's 
.
On the very next hand, Bonomo opened to 6,500 from the button, Mercier reraised from the small blind to 18,200, and Blom reraised from the big blind to 46,800. Bonomo folded, and Mercier made the call.
The flop came down 
, and Mercier check-called a bet of 36,200 to see a 
on the turn. Mercier checked, and Blom fired 74,800. Mercier tanked, then called.
Another hit the board on the river, and Mercier checked. Blom quickly checked behind and showed 
offsuit. Mercier tabled 
for a full house and scooped in the pot.
Thanks to these two big hands, Mercier shot up to the top of the counts with 965,000 in chips. Bonomo was left with 310,000 and Blom slipped back to 730,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
965,000 | 549,000 |
|
730,000 | -249,000 |
|
310,000 | -300,000 |
Ever thought you may have just lost €99,000? PokerStars.tv spoke to PCA final tablist Faraz Jaka about turning a €100,000 Super High Roller buy-in into a €1k seat... Watch the video at the PokerStars Blog.
Level: 6
Blinds: 1,500/3,000
Ante: 400
"Another fish," Tobias Reinkemeier said as Niklas Heinecker made his way up to the feature table. Heinecker sat down right in between PokerStars Team Online Isaac Haxton and Sam Trickett. These three players all participated in the €1,000/€2,000 cash game earlier this week with Paul Newey, Viktor Blom and Talal Shakerchi.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
250,000 |
The flop read 
when Philipp Gruissem check-called 7,500 from Dani Stern. The turn brought the 
and this time Gruissem lead out for 12,000 from the big blind. Stern tanked for a bit and called.
On the river the 
hit and Gruissem picked up the pot with a 26,000-chip bet.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
500,000 | -30,000 |
|
292,000 | 42,000 |
Marvin Rettenmaier raised to 5,600 and Talal Shakerchi called from the small blind. The flop brought 
and Shakerchi check-called 6,200. On the turn the 
hit and both players checked.
On the river the popped up and Shakerchi threw out one 25,000 chip. Rettenmaier tanked for a bit, but only to see that Shakerchi had rivered a straight with 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
325,000 | 15,000 |
|
|
285,000 | -40,000 |
If you think €100,000 for a tournament buy-in is an extravagance too far, you're not alone. More than half of this field would agree with you. That's why the poker community is obsessed with staking arrangements. Isaac Haxton explains how to get yourself a big buy-in.
