There are still 14 players in the hunt for the $1,279,880 first place prize but as of right now everyone is guaranteed just $89,560. There's a lot of stake for the remaining players who are lead by none other than Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst. Selbst's poker accomplishments are nothing short of incredible and besides finishing third in the $100,000 Super High Roller earlier this week she's also defending champion in this one.
While all eyes will be on Selbst as she's looking to become the first back-to-back High Roller champion there are still tons of other players looking to attack her leading position. Portugese pro Joao Vieira showed that he can compete with the best all throughout yesterday and he comes into the day second in chips. Myro Garcia from Brazil is third followed by none other than 2012 WSOP Main Event Greg Merson. Merson's going for his third seven-figure score in the last two years and winning today would put him that much closer to the top 10 on the all-time money ranking.
Someone who's solidified his place in the top 10 of that ranking, Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu, is also very much alive in this event. Former GPI number 1 Marvin Rettenmaier, Rob Mizrachi, Dani Stern, Dan Smith and Ole Schemion are all coming into today hoping to put another million on their impressive list of tournament results. For high roller Paul Newey this result marks the biggest cash of his live poker career, but it will be a steep uphill battle today as he comes into the day last in chips.
PokerNews will be with you all throughout the day, and night, as the $25,000 High Roller event here at the PCA will crown a champion.
On one of the first hands of the day Greg Merson raised to 50,000 and Dani Stern called from the button. Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negrenau was seated in the big blind and he three-bet to 145,000.
Merson did not take long before moving all in and Stern folded immediately. Negreanu snap-called and a huge cooler was upon us.
"I don't think I could've played that any differently," Negreanu said with a smile as he found out in how much trouble he was.
Negreanu:
Merson:
The board ran out and Negreanu was knocked out in 14th place.
"I took some notes from you yesterday," Merson said with a smile to Ole Schemion who is sitting on his right.
"What?" Schemion responded, not understanding what Merson meant.
"Just cooler people," Merson said and Schemion started laughing.
Merson is now the tournament chip leader with just 13 players remaining.
Jacob Carl Schindler raised to 40,000 from the under-the-gun plus one position and Dan Smith was next to act. Smith moved all in for right around 300,000 chips and the action folded back around to Schindler who quickly called.
Mustapha Kanit limped from the small blind and Dani Stern raised from the big blind to 53,000. Kanit responded by moving all in and Stern called it off for a total of about 500,000 chips.
Kanit:
Stern:
The board ran out and the ace of the river knocked Stern out. Kanit raked in this big pot as just 11 players remain.
Jake Schindler opened to 40,000 to start the action. From the small blind, Vanessa Selbst called, and then Myro Garcia reraised to 140,000 out of the big blind. Schindler folded, then Selbst moved all in on Garcia for a big shove. Garcia called with the and was at risk against Selbst's .
The flop, turn, and river ran out , and Garcia was eliminated. He took home $110,740 for his 10-th place finish.
With nine players remaining, a complete redraw will be posted shortly along with the chip counts from each player.
From the cutoff seat, Marvin Rettenmaier raised to 42,000. Ole Schemion made the call from the big blind, and the flop came down . Schemion checked, and Rettenmaier fired 46,000. Schemion called.
The turn was the , and Schemion led with a bet of 100,000, leaving himself with 314,000 behind. After some time in the tank, Rettenmaier raised all in. Schemion snap-called and showed the for a turned straight. Rettenmaier showed the and was drawing dead.
The river completed the board with the , and Schemion was pushed the pot to move over 1 million in chips. Rettenmaier slipped back to 768,000.
Marvin Rettenmaier raised to 52,000 from the hijack seat, and then Joao Vieira reraised to 118,000 from the cutoff position. Action folded back to Rettenmaier and he gave it up, allowing Vieira to take the pot.
On the very next hand, Rettenmaier opened again to 52,000. This time, it was Greg Merson who reraised. Merson did so from the cutoff seat and made it 105,000 to go. After play folded back to Rettenmaier, he took a little bit of time, then moved all in.
Merson looked as though he was going to snap-call, even almost dropping chips into the middle, but then he stopped himself abruptly and asked the dealer for a count. Merson admitted that he thought Rettenmaier had opened with a stack of around 500,000, but his shove was actually worth 623,000.
After a little bit of thought, Merson called with the . Rettenmaier tabled the and it was off to the races.
The flop gave Merson the lead when the fell. The turn was the , and now Rettenmaier needed to find an eight on the river. The was close to an eight, but not what Rettenmaier was looking for. He was eliminated in ninth place and earned $130,720 for his finish. Merson climbed over 2 million in chips.
Team PokerStars Pro David Williams joins the PokerNews Podcast to talk about being a new father, the 10-year anniversary of his World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up finish, and where he got that godawful diamond toothpick from.
Rob Mizrachi raised to 100,000 and Joao Vieira three-bet all in for 710,000 from the big blind. Mizrachi snap-called and the showdown went as following.
Mizrachi:
Vieira:
The board ran out and Vieira was eliminated in 8th place.