Welcome to the opening day of the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl! Is there any better way to kick off the action-packed summer of poker in Las Vegas with a massive buy-in event at ARIA Resort & Casino?
This year's event will see 49 high rollers battle it out for a piece of the $15 million prize pool, and there is no shortage of star power in this field.
Let's start with Brian Rast, the defending champion. Last year, Rast topped a field of 43 entries to earn the $7.525 million first-place prize in the inaugural Super High Roller Bowl. That event came with a larger $500,000 buy-in, and Rast defeated Scott Seiver in heads-up play. Not only will Rast be back to defend his title, but Seiver will be in the field as well, looking to reach back-to-back final tables in hopes of finishing one spot higher for the victory.
Finishing in places three through seven last year were Connor Drinan, Timofey Kuznetsov, David Peters, Tom Marchese, and Erik Seidel, in that order. All five of those competitors will be back in action this year, but it's Kuznetsov who will be feeling extra confident having just taken down the $50,000 Super High Roller held at ARIA on Friday. In that event, Kuznetsov, a Russian player best known as the man behind the high-powered "Trueteller" online poker account, topped a field of 51 entries to earn a $748,446 first-place prize.
Then if those names aren't enough to get you salivating, superstars Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Antonio Esfandiari will be in the mix.
But despite all of the firepower this event has loaded in its cannons, it's the battle between Jason Mercier and Doug Polk that most will be anticipating.
The two have been feuding a bit on social media after Polk called Mercier a "bad reg" and then Mercier shot back with some choice words of his own. By the luck of the draw, the two were selected to the same starting table in this event and are even seated right next to each other. You've also got Esfandiari at this table, and we know "The Magician" loves to be entertaining and engage in banter. He could certainly help stoke the flames a bit between Mercier and Polk, and this should make for some really, really fun poker.
All players will receive 300,000 in tournament chips to start with, and levels will be 75 minutes each with a 10-minute break after each. There is a timer of 40 seconds on each player's actions, with five 60-second time banks per person per day. On Day 1, the field will work its way through seven levels, and 100% of the prize money will be put in the prize pool. To make it an even $15 million, sponsors are adding $300,000.
The top seven spots are set to pay out, with $5 million going to the winner. The other paid places will receive $3.5 million for second, $2.4 million for third, $1.6 million for fourth, $1.1 million for fifth, $800,000 for sixth, and $600,000 for seventh.
The cards are scheduled to be in the air at 1 p.m. PT in Las Vegas, and you'll be able to find coverage from start to finish right here on PokerNews.com.
Starting Table and Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country |
|---|
| 1 | 1 | Timofey Kuznetsov | Russia |
| | 2 | Dan Perper | USA |
| | 3 | Matt Berkey | USA |
| | 4 | Cary Katz | USA |
| | 5 | Keith Gipson | USA |
| | 6 | Rainer Kempe | Germany |
| | 7 | David Einhorn | USA |
| | | | |
| 2 | 1 | Fedor Holz | Germany |
| | 2 | Bill Perkins | USA |
| | 3 | Scott Seiver | USA |
| | 4 | Brandon Steven | USA |
| | 5 | Nick Petrangelo | USA |
| | 6 | Dan Shak | USA |
| | 7 | Byron Kaverman | USA |
| | | | |
| 3 | 1 | Sam Soverel | USA |
| | 2 | Tom Marchese | USA |
| | 3 | Bobby Baldwin | USA |
| | 4 | Jason Les | USA |
| | 5 | Phil Hellmuth | USA |
| | 6 | Justin Bonomo | USA |
| | 7 | Isaac Haxton | USA |
| | | | |
| 4 | 1 | Dominik Nitsche | Germany |
| | 2 | Daniel Colman | USA |
| | 3 | Kathy Lehne | USA |
| | 4 | Igor Kurganov | Russia |
| | 5 | Bryn Kenney | USA |
| | 6 | Stephen Chidwick | UK |
| | 7 | Dan Smith | USA |
| | | | |
| 5 | 1 | Jason Mercier | USA |
| | 2 | Doug Polk | USA |
| | 3 | Andrew Robl | USA |
| | 4 | Antonio Esfandiari | USA |
| | 5 | Jake Schindler | USA |
| | 6 | Brian Rast | USA |
| | 7 | Ben Tollerene | USA |
| | | | |
| 6 | 1 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada |
| | 2 | Ben Lamb | USA |
| | 3 | Christoph Vogelsang | Germany |
| | 4 | Pratyush Buddiga | USA |
| | 5 | Haralabos Voulgaris | Canada |
| | 6 | Tony Gregg | USA |
| | 7 | Vitaliy Rizhkov | USA |
| | | | |
| 7 | 1 | David Peters | USA |
| | 2 | Erik Seidel | USA |
| | 3 | Phil Laak | USA |
| | 4 | Talal Shakerchi | UK |
| | 5 | Phil Galfond | USA |
| | 6 | Connor Drinan | USA |
| | 7 | John Morgan | USA |
board with roughly 110,000 in the pot, Antonio Esfandiari checked from the big blind. Jason Mercier bet 43,000 from the cutoff, Esfandiari called, and the 
river completed the board. Both players checked.
for kings and threes, but Mercier had him beat with 
for aces and threes to win the pot.
