2017 Caribbean Poker Party Festival

$1,100 MILLIONS Open ($1 Million Gtd.)
Day: 4
Event Info

2017 Caribbean Poker Party Festival

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
ak
Prize
$200,000
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,100
Entries
812
Level Info
Level
35
Blinds
4,000,000 / 8,000,000
Ante
8,000,000

$1,100 MILLIONS Open ($1 Million Gtd.)

Day 4 Completed

Rainer Kempe Wins the $1,100 Caribbean Poker Party Festival MILLIONS Open for $200,000

Level 35 : 4,000,000/8,000,000, 8,000,000 ante
Rainer Kempe
Rainer Kempe

Rainer Kempe triumphed over a field of 812 entries to win the Caribbean Poker Party Festival $1,100 MILLIONS Open for $200,000. The German high roller with a staggeringly impressive tournament résumé containing over $11,000,000 in live earnings now sits in 9th on the Global Poker Index following this win in beautiful Punta Cana at The Level at Melia Caribe Tropical.

"I'm just happy that everything went as smooth as it did in the end," he said during his winner's interview.

Kempe secured his latest victory after defeating Claudio Di Giacomo heads-up. The Italian player took home $121,500 for his runner-up finish.

Final Table Results

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Rainer KempeGermany$200,000
2Claudio Di GiacomoItaly$121,500
3Manuel MartinezSpain$80,000
4Paul HockinNew Zealand$54,000
5Andrei-Lucian BogheanRomania$40,000
6Michael SklenickaCzech Republic$30,000
7William BlaisCanada$22,500
8Vincent TremblayCanada$15,000

Although Canadian Vincent Tremblay won a sizeable pot shortly after the official final table was reached when he rivered a wheel against Kiwi grinder Paul Hockin, his good fortune was short-lived. Soon thereafter, Hockin exacted revenge by eliminating Tremblay in eighth place when the two players got stacks in preflop with Hockin holding ace-queen suited and Tremblay holding pocket nines. Tremblay stayed in the lead after the flop fell, but Hockin paired his ace on the turn, and Tremblay found no help on the river. Following Tremblay's elimination, William Blais and Michael Sklenicka were knocked out in seventh and sixth, respectively.

Next to fall was Romanian Andrei-Lucian Boghean, who was eliminated in fifth place by Manuel Martinez when he got all his chips in the middle before the flop holding king-ten offsuit to Martinez's ace-queen suited and Martinez made the nut flush. Hockin's tournament ended when he three-bet jammed ace-three against the eventual champion's opening raise. Kempe called holding ace-nine and Hockin got no help from the board. But it was downhill for Martinez after that, and he was eliminated in third when his king-jack failed to improve against Kempe's king-queen.

Heads-up play between Kempe and Italy's Claudio Di Giacomo lasted over 90 minutes. Di Giacomo began the battle with the chip lead, but the two players were fairly close in chips for the first 45 minutes. However, Di Giacomo's stack grew progressively shorter as Kempe took pot after pot. On the last hand of the tournament, all the chips went in before the flop with Di Giacomo holding king-queen to Kempe's ace-king. Di Giacomo's chances of survival decreased dramatically when an ace hit the flop and both the turn and river were inconsequential.

The atmosphere surrounding the feature table was somewhat subdued, even in the moment Kempe secured his victory. His small but devoted rail included his girlfriend Maria Ho and a woman who appeared to be his mother. The champion seemed to have a beer in hand within seconds of the final card hitting the felt and looked as unfazed by the post-tournament fanfare as one would expect a seasoned mega-crusher with over $11,000,000 in live tournament earnings to be.

Although this event is now in the books, the $5,300 Main Event is presently underway, so be sure to check back for continuing coverage of the Caribbean Poker Party Festival presented by the PokerNews Live Reporting team.

Tags: Andrei-Lucian BogheanClaudio Di GiacomoManuel MartinezMichael SklenickaPaul HockinRainer KempeVincent TremblayWilliam Blais

Claudio Di Giacomo Eliminated in Second Place ($121,500)

Level 35 : 4,000,000/8,000,000, 8,000,000 ante
Claudio Di Giacomo
Claudio Di Giacomo

Rainer Kempe limped in from the button, Claudio Di Giacomo shoved from the big blind for 198,000,000, and Kempe called to put him at risk.

Kempe: {A-Spades}{K-Hearts}
Di Giacomo: {K-Spades}{Q-Spades}

Kempe had the preflop advantage and Di Giacomo needed to improve in order to stay in contention. The board ran out {A-Clubs}{J-Clubs}{8-Diamonds}{9-Clubs}{6-Hearts} and Kempe took the pot with top pair, top kicker to eliminate Di Giacomo and win the $1,100 MILLIONS Open.

A full recap will be posted in due course.

Player Chips Progress
Claudio Di Giacomo it
Claudio Di Giacomo
Busted

Tags: Claudio Di GiacomoRainer Kempe

Di Giacomo Doubles Up

Level 35 : 4,000,000/8,000,000, 8,000,000 ante

Rainer Kempe shoved from the button and Claudio Di Giacomo, who had 105,000,000 to start the hand, called from the big blind to put himself at risk.

Kempe: {J-Clubs}{10-Clubs}
Di Giacomo: {K-Clubs}{Q-Hearts}

Di Giacomo had the preflop advantage and Kempe needed help from the deck to win the pot and end the tournament. The board ran out {A-Hearts}{6-Hearts}{5-Clubs}{3-Spades}{4-Hearts} which kept Di Giacomo's hand best, so he took the pot to double up.

Player Chips Progress
Rainer Kempe de
Rainer Kempe
602,000,000 -93,000,000
Claudio Di Giacomo it
Claudio Di Giacomo
210,000,000 93,000,000

Tags: Claudio Di GiacomoRainer Kempe

Level: 35

Blinds: 4,000,000/8,000,000

Ante: 8,000,000

Break Time

Level 34 : 3,000,000/6,000,000, 6,000,000 ante

The final two players are now on break. They have agreed to shorten it to five minutes.

Di Giacomo Takes One

Level 34 : 3,000,000/6,000,000, 6,000,000 ante

Rainer Kempe opened to 13,000,000 from the button and Claudio Di Giacomo called from the big blind.

The flop came {Q-Hearts}{J-Clubs}{4-Diamonds} and Di Giacomo checked. Kempe bet 12,000,000 and Di Giacomo called.

Both players checked the {10-Hearts} turn and {2-Hearts} river. Di Giacomo tabled {J-Spades}{9-Diamonds} and his jacks were good enough to win the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Rainer Kempe de
Rainer Kempe
623,000,000 16,000,000
Claudio Di Giacomo it
Claudio Di Giacomo
191,000,000 -14,000,000

Tags: Claudio Di GiacomoRainer Kempe

Kempe Shoves the River

Level 34 : 3,000,000/6,000,000, 6,000,000 ante

Rainer Kempe raised to 13,000,000 from the button and Claudio Di Giacomo called from the big blind.

The flop came {6-Spades}{4-Clubs}{3-Clubs} and Di Giacomo checked. Kempe bet 15,000,000 and Di Giacomo called.

The turn brought the {K-Hearts} and Di Giacomo check-called a bet of 42,000,000 from Kempe.

The {4-Hearts} fell on the river and Di Giacomo bet 85,000,000. After a bit of time in the tank, Kempe shoved, putting Di Giacomo to a decision for his stack. After about a minute of consideration, Di Giacomo folded, and the dealer pushed the substantial pot in Kempe's direction.

Player Chips Progress
Rainer Kempe de
Rainer Kempe
607,000,000 61,000,000
Claudio Di Giacomo it
Claudio Di Giacomo
205,000,000 -61,000,000

Tags: Claudio Di GiacomoRainer Kempe

Level: 34

Blinds: 3,000,000/6,000,000

Ante: 6,000,000