Welcome to Day 1 of Event #82: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold’em at the 2021 World Series of Poker. The poker world crowned Koray Aldemir as its new world champion yesterday, but there is still plenty of action remaining in the final week of the 2021 WSOP, starting with this first-time high roller event.
While the distinction of history’s largest buy-in still belongs to the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop, the $250,000 Super High Roller is making its maiden voyage in a year when stars like Ali Imsirovic, Michael Addamo, and David Peters have garnered a lot of attention with strong results on the growing high roller circuit.
A prestigious field is expected to compete for what should be one of the largest prize pools in WSOP history, along with the chance of winning a WSOP gold bracelet against the best players in high-stakes poker.
Cards go in the air at 3 p.m. PT and Day 1 will play 10 one-hour levels with a 15-minute break after every three. Players will start with 1,500,000 chips, with blinds starting at 2,000/4,000/4,000. Late registration is available until the start of Day 2 when blinds will be 15,000/30,000/30,000.
Be sure to keep it here all week long for live coverage of the Super High Roller and other closing events from the PokerNews team at the 2021 WSOP.
Christoph Vogelsang raised it up from the cutoff and Nick Petrangelo defended from the big blind. The flop came and Petrangelo check-called a bet of 27,000 from Petrangelo.
The turn brought the and Petrangelo checked again. Vogelsang announced a bet of 66,000 and Petrangelo folded but was forced to use a time bank.
On the next hand, Vogelsang made it 12,000 to go and Petrangelo called from the small blind. The flop of hit the felt and Petrangelo checked. Vogelsang continued for 12,000 and Petrangelo called.
The turn was the and both players checked to the on the river. Petrangelo led out with a bet of 35,000 and Vogelsang raised to 120,000 which got a snap-fold from Petrangelo.
Christoph Vogelsang raised from the hijack and was called by David Peters in the cutoff and Nick Petrangelo in the small blind. The flop came and the action checked to Peters who bet 20,000. Petrangelo folded but Vogelsang called.
The paired the board on the turn and Vogelsang check-called another bet of 88,000 from Peters. The completed the board and Vogelsang checked for the third time. Peters used a time bank and then announced a bet of 440,000. Vogelsang flung his cards to the muck and Peters collected the pot.
Jason Koon raised to 20,000 in the cutoff and was called by Sam Soverel in the small blind. Stephen Chidwick re-raised to 115,000 from the big blind and only Koon called.
The flop came and Chidwick continued with a bet of 80,000 which Koon called. The turn was the and Chidwick checked this time. Koon fired out a bet of 325,000 and Chidwick used a time bank before calling.
The hit the river and Chidwick instantly checked. Koon shoved all in for around 1,100,000 and Chidwick snapped him off. Koon showed for a flush but Chidwick held for the nut flush.
After the chips were counted, Chidwick had 1,139,000 left on the river which barely covered Koon's stack, sending him to the rail.
With around 300,000 in the middle preflop, Mikita Badziakouski and David Peters went heads-up to a flop of . They each stuck in 115,000 on the flop to see the on the turn.
Badziakouski checked to Peters who bet 75,000 and Badziakouski just called. The paired the board on the river and Badziakouski checked again. Peters dropped in a bet of 600,000 and Badziakouski instantly responded "Nuts," as he called off his stack of 175,000.
Peters turned over but Badziakouski actually had the second nuts with for a full house.
With 800,000 in the pot and the on the board, Jake Schindler bet 270,000 and Ben Heath called.
The completed the board on the river and Schindler used two time extensions before putting 800,000 in the middle. Heath called and turned over . Schindler had and tossed it in the muck while Heath dragged a big pot to double.
Fedor Holz raised to 60,000 on the button and was called by Timofey Kuznetsov in the small blind. The flop came and both players checked to the on the turn.
Kuznetsov led out with a bet of 135,000 and Holz called to see the on the river. Kuznetsov shoved all in and Holz called off his stack of 310,000. Kuznetsov showed for a pair of aces and Holz could not beat it.
The opening day of the inaugural Event #82: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em has drawn to an end after a full 10 levels were completed, leaving just 15 players bagging chips. A total of 25 entries were recorded throughout the day and Michael Addamo has bagged the overall chip lead with 4,965,000.
Addamo already won his third World Series of Poker bracelet earlier this year when he captured the title in Event #38: $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller for a first-place prize of over $1.1 million. The Australian poker pro has over $15.7 million in career earnings at the live felt and will be looking to add to that number in the coming days.
Imsirovic scooped a massive pot in the last 30 minutes of the night to eliminate Dan Smith to take over the chip lead from Addamo briefly and finished the night with 4,875,000 chips, just shy of Addamo's mark. The two players have been the hottest players in the last 12 months on the high roller circuit and they have finished one-two on the leaderboard after Day 1.
$250K Super High Roller Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
RANK
PLAYER
Country
Chips
Big Blinds
1
Michael Addamo
Australia
4,965,000
166
2
Ali Imsirovic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
4,875,000
163
3
Benjamin Heath
United Kingdom
3,545,000
118
4
Adrian Mateos
Spain
3,420,000
114
5
Timofey Kuznetsov
Russia
2,890,000
96
6
Christoph Vogelsang
Germany
2,860,000
95
7
Stephen Chidwick
United Kingdom
2,540,000
85
8
Daniel Negreanu
Canada
2,305,000
77
9
Justin Bonomo
United Kingdom
2,285,000
76
10
Sam Soverel
United States
2,190,000
73
Some other notables to bag chips after Day 1 include Adrian Mateos (3,420,000), Timofey 'Trueteller' Kuznetsov (2,890,000), Daniel Negreanu (2,305,000), and Justin Bonomo (2,285,000).
The tournament got off to a slow start with only a few players registered at the scheduled 3 p.m. start time. There was a slight delay until six players were at the table and ready to play but things eventually got rolling. With nearly 400 big blind starting stacks, the first couple levels were rather uneventful with just small chip-changed being passed around the table.
The first all-in occurred in level three when crypto businessman John Lilic shoved his stack in the middle against Addamo, who decided to lay his hand down. Unfortunately for Lilic, his luck didn't continue as he was eventually sent to the rail in the sixth level of the day.
GGPoker ambassador Jason Koon was the first player to be eliminated in level four when he ran a jack-high flush into Stephen Chidwick's ace-high flush. Koon used his one re-entry to hop back in the field but his second bullet went as well as his first one, eventually being eliminated from the tournament during Level 8.
Some others that were eliminated in the latter stages of the day include David Peters,Fedor Holz, Jake Schindler, Seth Davies, and Bonomo, with latter being the only one to use his re-entry before the day ended.
There will be 15 players returning to the felt tomorrow at 2 p.m. local time but late registration will remain open until the start of play. The blinds will resume at 15,000/30,000 and a 30,000 big blind ante. All new entries will receive a starting stack of 1,500,000 chips, good enough for 50 big blinds.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the tournament floor to bring you all of the updates throughout the day.