The inaugural Poker Masters kicked off at the ARIA on Wednesday with the first of four $50,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournaments. Event #1 attracted 51 entries, but after a long day at the tables, only seven remained with Matt Hyman leading the way.
Others who survived the night and are guaranteed $127,500 in prize money are Nick Schulman, Adrian Mateos, and a whole contingent of German players including Dominik Nitsche, Stefan Schillhabel, Koray Aldemir, and Steffen Sontheimer.
Whoever wins Event #1 will not only walk away with a $918,000 first-place prize, but will take the early lead in the Poker Masters, which will see the player with the best results (highest total earnings) throughout all five tournaments – remember the finale is a $100,000 freezeout – will be deemed champion and be awarded The Poker Masters Purple Jacket™.
Of course, not everyone could make the final table. Among those to try and fall were Fedor Holz, who is being tailed by a documentary film crew; former Super High Roller Bowl champs Brian Rast and Rainer Kempe; Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel; and Cary Katz, who busted in particularly ugly fashion when his full house was counterfeited by quads on the board.
Another player to bust was Sean Winter, who left empty handed in ninth place as bubble boy. Winter got his stack in with ace-king against the pocket queens of Hyman. The ace-high flop looked good for Winter, but the turn and river came queen-queen to give Hyman quads and the chip lead.
Before the night was out, Daniel Negreanu bowed out in eighth place for $102,000. It was a good start for “Kid Poker,” who bet on himself to become the Poker Masters’ first-ever winner. He offered a bet of $50,000 that he would win against any one player, and right now he stands to collect $1 million from the field if he does in fact win the overall Poker Masters title.
On Thursday, the Event #1 final table will be live streamed on PokerGO on a 30-minute delay. Our coverage, which will commence at 12:30 p.m. local time, will adhere to the stream so as not to spoil anything for fans.
Also on Thursday, Event #2: $50,000 NLHE will get underway at 2 p.m. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will also be providing complete coverage from that tournament, so be sure to join us then.
Tags:
Adrian MateosKoray AldemirMatt HymanNick SchulmanSteffen Sontheimer
flop, his lead was only temporary as the 
turn gave Hyman a set. The 
river improved Hyman to quads, and Winter was eliminated as the bubble boy.
to give Schulman a runner-runner straight.