2017 Caribbean Poker Party Festival

$10,300 MILLIONS High Roller ($1 Million Gtd.)
Day: 1
Event Info

2017 Caribbean Poker Party Festival

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a5
Prize
$275,000
Event Info
Buy-in
$10,300
Prize Pool
$999,100
Entries
103
Level Info
Level
27
Blinds
600,000 / 1,200,000
Ante
0

$10,300 MILLIONS High Roller ($1 Million Gtd.)

Day 1 Completed

Francois Billard Bags the Lead at the End of Day 1

Level 8 : 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Francois Billard
Francois Billard

An action-packed Day 1 at the 2017 Caribbean Poker Party Festival has come to an end. The $10,300 MILLIONS High Roller has reached its conclusion with no shortage of notable names moving on to Day 2. Francois Billard managed to bag the largest stack when all was said and done, nearly reaching the 4 million chip mark.

Billard will return with 3,899,000 tomorrow and will start the day as the chip leader. Throughout the day, Billard held on to an average stack until he got involved in a massive pot with Sam Trickett. Trickett flopped a full house on the {a-Diamonds}{a-Clubs}{5-Clubs} flop with pocket fives, but Billard rivered a larger full house, holding {a-Spades}{9-Spades}. That pot vaulted Billard over the 3 million chip mark and he continued to roll through the last level of play.

To date, Billard has over $1.5 million in career tournament earnings with his largest cash coming back in 2014 when the EPT stopped in Prague. Earlier this year, he finished second in another $10,300 event in Barcelona for $297,911. Billard will be looking to move up one more place to reach the top of the podium here in Punta Cana.

There were only two other players to bag a stack over 3 million at day's end and they were fellow Canadian, Daniel Dvoress (3,496,000), and Michael Watson (3,076,000). Other notables to find a bag include Mustapha Kanit (2,779,000), Sergio Aido (2,224,000), Rainer Kempe (2,141,000), Ryan Riess (1,158,000), and partypoker ambassador Kristen Bicknell (553,000).

It wasn't all smiles for everyone as Tom Marchese, Niall Farrell, and Steve O'Dwyer all fell short on two bullets fired today. Matt Kirk was the first elimination of the day, lasting less than an hour when he flopped a set but ran into a bigger set of Sean Winter. On the other hand, Bryn Kenney busted in the last few hands of the night but will surely be back tomorrow to try his luck again.

With a total of 67 entries on the day, the tournament will need to attract at least 33 more in order to reach the $1,000,000 guaranteed prizepool. Late registration will remain open for 4 more levels on Day 2, and there are still unlimited re-entries. Of those 67 entries today, 43 will be returning tomorrow for another eight levels of play starting at 12:00 P.M. local time.

Day 2 Seat Draw

TableSeatPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
121Bartlomiej MachonPoland649,00027
123Ivan DeyraFrance941,00039
124Seth DaviesUnited States747,00031
125Marc-Olivier Carpentier-PerraultCanada1,228,00051
126Felipe RamosBrazil486,00020
128Jake SchindlerUnited States1,885,00079
      
131Martyn FreyUnited Kingdom2,874,000120
132Michael WatsonCanada3,076,000128
134Sean WinterUnited States1,387,00058
135Manig LoeserGermany1,776,00074
136Barry HutterUnited States2,202,00092
137Philipp GruissemGermany1,719,00072
      
141Pavel PlesuvUkraine636,00027
142Steffen SontheimerGermany1,191,00050
143Vicente DelgadoSpain800,00033
144Adrian MateosSpain2,008,00084
146Rainer KempeGermany2,141,00089
148Dmitry MakarovRussian Federation2,550,000106
      
151Jonathan LittleUnited States702,00029
153Stefan SchillhabelGermany850,00035
154Carlos ChadhaUnited States403,00017
156Gal YifrachUnited States2,310,00096
157Chris HunichenUnited States772,00032
      
162Kristen BicknellCanada553,00023
163Felix BleikerSwitzerland2,140,00089
164Jack SinclairUnited Kingdom478,00020
165Stephen ChidwickUnited Kingdom1,709,00071
166Sam GreenwoodCanada1,660,00069
      
172Sergio AidoSpain2,224,00093
173Preben StokkanNorway2,120,00088
174Mustapha KanitItaly2,779,000116
175Benjamin PollakFrance1,832,00076
177Pablo Joaquin Melogno CabreraUruguay713,00030
      
181David PetersUnited States924,00039
182Kenny HallaertBelgium1,006,00042
183Julian StuerAustria710,00030
185Francois BillardCanada3,899,000162
186Daniel DvoressCanada3,496,000146
      
191Alexandru PapazianRomania1,529,00064
192Ryan RiessUnited States1,158,00048
193Ludovic GeilichGermany559,00023
194Koray AldemirGermany1,563,00065
196Michael ZhangUnited Kingdom1,690,00070

Continue to follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team for all of the updates from the event.

Tags: Bryn KenneyDaniel DvoressFrancois BillardMatt KirkMichael WatsonMustapha KanitNiall FarrellRainer KempeRyan RiessSam TrickettSean WinterSergio AidoSteve O'DwyerTom Marchese

End of Day Chip Counts (full)

Level 8 : 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Francois Billard ca
Francois Billard
3,899,000 689,000
Daniel Dvoress ca
Daniel Dvoress
WSOP 2X Winner
3,496,000 786,000
Michael Watson ca
Michael Watson
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
3,076,000 3,076,000
Martyn Frey gb
Martyn Frey
2,874,000 304,000
Mustapha Kanit it
Mustapha Kanit
Winamax
2,779,000 819,000
Dmitry Makarov ru
Dmitry Makarov
2,550,000 -275,000
Gal Yifrach us
Gal Yifrach
WSOP 1X Winner
2,310,000 390,000
Sergio Aido es
Sergio Aido
2,224,000 1,097,000
Barry Hutter us
Barry Hutter
WSOP 1X Winner
2,202,000 2,202,000
Rainer Kempe de
Rainer Kempe
2,141,000 161,000
Felix Bleiker ch
Felix Bleiker
2,140,000 620,000
Preben Stokkan no
Preben Stokkan
2,120,000 2,120,000
Adrian Mateos es
Adrian Mateos
EPT Main Event Champion
WSOP 4X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
2,008,000 -242,000
Jake Schindler us
Jake Schindler
WSOP 1X Winner
1,885,000 575,000
Benjamin Pollak fr
Benjamin Pollak
1,832,000 -218,000
Manig Loeser de
Manig Loeser
WSOP 2X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
1,776,000 626,000
Philipp Gruissem de
Philipp Gruissem
WSOP 1X Winner
1,719,000 659,000
Stephen Chidwick gb
Stephen Chidwick
WSOP 1X Winner
1,709,000 339,000
Michael Zhang gb
Michael Zhang
1,690,000 1,690,000
Sam Greenwood ca
Sam Greenwood
WSOP 1X Winner
1,660,000 1,165,000
Koray Aldemir de
Koray Aldemir
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 1X Winner
1,563,000 563,000
Alexandru Papazian ro
Alexandru Papazian
WSOP 2X Winner
1,529,000 759,000
Sean Winter us
Sean Winter
1,387,000 787,000
Marc-Olivier Carpentier-Perrault ca
Marc-Olivier Carpentier-Perrault
1,228,000 1,228,000
Steffen Sontheimer de
Steffen Sontheimer
1,191,000 326,000

Read full

Sontheimer's Ace-High Holds to Double Up

Level 8 : 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

The action was folded around to Steffen Sontheimer in the small blind who limped in. Daniel Dvoress was in the big blind and raised to 60,000, only to have Sontheimer push all in for just over 400,000. The two players laughed and Dvoress made the call.

Steffen Sontheimer: {a-Spades}{5-Spades}
Daniel Dvoress: {k-Diamonds}{j-Diamonds}

The board ran out {8-Diamonds}{7-Spades}{2-Hearts}{10-Diamonds}{7-Clubs} and Sontheimer's ace-high held on despite Dvoress picking up a straight and flush draw on the turn.

Player Chips Progress
Daniel Dvoress ca
Daniel Dvoress
WSOP 2X Winner
2,710,000 -310,000
Steffen Sontheimer de
Steffen Sontheimer
865,000 520,000

Tags: Daniel DvoressSteffen Sontheimer

Billard Spikes a River, Drinks are Ordered!

Level 8 : 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante

The board read {a-Diamonds}{a-Clubs}{5-Clubs}{10-Spades} with a little over 300,000 in the pot already. Sam Trickett checked from under the gun to Francois Billard in the hijack. Billard bet 100,000 and Trickett check-raised to 410,000. Billard made the call and they were off to the river.

The dealer burned and turned the {9-Hearts} on the river and Trickett shipped all in. Billard snapped him off and Trickett tabled {5-Hearts}{5-Spades} for a full house. Billard rolled over {a-Spades}{9-Spades} for a bigger full house on the river. The chips were counted and Billard had 1.05 million, leaving Trickett with just over ten big blinds.

Trickett stood up from his seat and shouted throughout the room, "Drinks!" With only 30 minutes left to play on Day 1, most of the players have a drink in their hand, gearing up for the Punta Cana nightlife.

Player Chips Progress
Francois Billard ca
Francois Billard
3,210,000 1,800,000
Sam Trickett gb
Sam Trickett
225,000 -1,205,000

Tags: Sam TrickettFrancois Billard

Pollak Triples Up

Level 8 : 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Benjamin Pollak
Benjamin Pollak

Four players went to the flop of {k-Clubs}{j-Spades}{10-Spades} and an all-out raising war ensued. The action was checked to Mustapha Kanit in middle position who bet 65,000. Benjamin Pollak called on the button and Kristen Bicknell check-raised to 215,000. The big blind folded and Kanit re-raised to 550,000. Pollak pushed all in for 632,000 and both Bicknell and Kanit called.

The main pot had just over 2.0 million chips in the middle with action pending on the side pot. The {j-Clubs} paired the board on the turn and both Bicknell and Kanit checked. The {k-Hearts} on the river double-paired the board and both players checked again. All three hands had to be shown and Pollak was the first to turn his over. He showed {a-Diamonds}{q-Clubs} for a straight and Bicknell held {a-Spades}{6-Spades} for a missed flush draw. Kanit finally turned over {q-Spades}{10-Hearts} and Pollak's straight held up to earn him the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Benjamin Pollak fr
Benjamin Pollak
2,050,000 1,565,000
Mustapha Kanit it
Mustapha Kanit
Winamax
1,960,000 -480,000
Kristen Bicknell ca
Kristen Bicknell
850,000 -1,010,000

Tags: Benjamin PollakKristen BicknellMustapha Kanit

Level: 8

Blinds: 10,000/20,000

Ante: 20,000

Schillhabel Makes His Move on the River

Level 7 : 8,000/16,000, 16,000 ante

Sean Winter raised to 38,000 from the cutoff and Stefan Schillhabel called from the button. The flop came {6-Clubs}{4-Hearts}{3-Spades} and Winter led out for 42,000. Schillhabel made the call and the {3-Clubs} paired the board on the turn.

Winter fired again for 200,000 and Schillhabel still called. The river was the {k-Spades} and Winter bet for the third time. He reached back for 520,000 and Schillhabel was put to the test. He counted out his chips, which was around 840,000, and then shoved all in. Winter let out a big huff and put his hand behind his head. For only 300,000 chips more, Winter folded and Schillhabel scooped a big pot.

Player Chips Progress
Stefan Schillhabel de
Stefan Schillhabel
WPT 1X Winner
1,920,000 1,080,000
Sean Winter us
Sean Winter
600,000 -980,000

Tags: Sean WinterStefan Schillhabel

Farrell Bluffing Into the Nuts

Level 7 : 8,000/16,000, 16,000 ante

The board read {10-Hearts}{10-Spades}{9-Diamonds}{6-Hearts} and Martyn Frey checked from the cutoff. Niall Farrell was on the button and bet 250,000 into a pot of around 300,000 already. Frey made the call and the {2-Diamonds} completed the board.

Frey checked again and Farrell pushed all in. Frey instantly called and turned over {10-Clubs}{10-Diamonds} for quad tens. Farrell reluctantly had to show his cards as it was an all in and showed {k-Spades}{j-Hearts}. The stacks were counted and Frey had Farrell covered, eliminating him for the second time today.

Player Chips Progress
Martyn Frey gb
Martyn Frey
2,570,000 1,570,000
Niall Farrell gb
Niall Farrell
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
Busted

Tags: Niall FarrellMartyn Frey