James Chen Tops Day 1 of Event #4: €250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em
The most expensive tournament of the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe has kicked off at the King's Casino and Resort in Rozvadov and Event #4: €250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em drew a total of 24 entries thus far. The late registration remains open until the end of level 10 as Day 1 was shortened by one level.
Leading the field of 16 survivors after Day 1 is Taiwan's James Chen, who already came close to winning a coveted gold bracelet earlier this year in Las Vegas. Chen finished second to Stephen Chidwick in Event #45 $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller for a payday of $1,000,253 and he is on track to score an even bigger payday in Europe's biggest poker arena.
"I fought hard when it was deep-stacked and at the end, you just gotta win flips," Chen said after bagging and tagging.
Indeed, he scored three crucial flips in the final level of the night to become the chip leader with 16,405,000 as he first doubled through Alex Foxen with ace-king versus tens, then busted Adrian Mateos with ace-king versus tens before holding with queens against the ace-king of Kahle Burns.
For Burns and Mateos it was a bad day at the office as both fired two bullets without success. Cary Katz, Koray Aldemir and Sam Trickett were also among those to enter and leave empty-handed for now. However, with the late registration open for another level on Day 2, they might be back for more Super High Roller action.
Behind Chen, Malaysian High Roller Chin Wei "Webster" Lim follows in second place with 12,265,000 and Mikita Badziakouski is close behind with a stack of 11,935,000. The only other player to more than double his stack in the nine hour-levels was Orpen Kisacikoglu, who claimed 11,155,000 to his name.
The German-speaking High Roller experts are also in the running for the title in Rozvadov as Matthias Eibinger (8,635,000), Christoph Vogelsang (7,680,000), Rainer Kempe (6,350,000) and Dominik Nitsche (4,020,000) all advanced. Nitsche had to fire a second bullet in the event after losing with kings against the ace-seven suited of Richard Yong.
Triton Poker founders Paul Phua (7,130,000) and Richard Yong (5,540,000) made it through Day 1, as did Anatoly Filatov (6,850,000), Ryan Riess (6,150,000), Danny Tang (5,200,000), Alex Foxen (5,165,000), Timothy Adams (4,170,000) and Tony G (1,815,000).
Tang was the early frontrunner and quickly more than doubled his stack after scooping several big pots. Adrian Mateos became the first casualty of the day when his queens lost a race against the ace-king of Paul Phua and Sam Trickett ran with tens into the queens of Matthias Eibinger.
Cary Katz then hit the rail when his kings ended up second-best against the ace-king suited of Rainer Kempe and the very same hand was also responsible for the elimination of Kahle Burns, as his aces were rivered by an ace-high straight of Tony G. In the final levels of the night, the double-ups kept coming frequently and that turned the leaderboard upside down.
All new entries for Day 2 will receive 5,000,000 in chips and the blinds recommence at 60,000-120,000 with a big blind ante of 120,000. The six time-bank extensions will be replenished for all participants and the PokerGo live stream will start after the first break of Day 2. You can follow all the action right here on PokerNews from start-to-finish.
Day 2 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 1 | Alex Foxen | United States | 5,165,000 | 43 |
| 38 | 2 | James Chen | Taiwan | 16,405,000 | 137 |
| 38 | 3 | Tony G | Lithuania | 1,815,000 | 15 |
| 38 | 6 | Matthias Eibinger | Austria | 8,635,000 | 72 |
| 38 | 7 | Chin Wei Lim | Malaysia | 12,265,000 | 102 |
| 38 | 8 | Rainer Kempe | Germany | 6,350,000 | 53 |
| 40 | 4 | Orpen Kisacikoglu | Turkey | 11,155,000 | 93 |
| 40 | 5 | Richard Yong | Malaysia | 5,540,000 | 46 |
| 40 | 6 | Christoph Vogelsang | Germany | 7,680,000 | 64 |
| 40 | 7 | Anatoly Filatov | Russia | 6,850,000 | 57 |
| 40 | 8 | Timothy Adams | Canada | 4,170,000 | 35 |
| 42 | 1 | Paul Phua | Malaysia | 7,130,000 | 59 |
| 42 | 3 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | 5,200,000 | 43 |
| 42 | 5 | Ryan Riess | United States | 6,150,000 | 51 |
| 42 | 6 | Dominik Nitsche | Germany | 4,020,000 | 34 |
| 42 | 8 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 11,435,000 | 95 |
to send Burns out for the second time.
flop improved Chen to trips aces and he locked up the elimination of Mateos with the 
turn, the 
river was a mere formality. For Mateos, it was already the second bullet of the day and he can re-enter until the start of level 11.
flop and added a flushdraw with the 
turn. For good measure, he even improved to a flush with the 
river to send Katz to the rail on his first bullet.
river dealt the blow to Burns.
and the action checked to Yong who bet 300,000. Vogelsang called and Nitsche jammed all in for 1,450,000. Yong called and Vogelsang got out of the way.
on the turn quickly spelled disaster. Nitsche was drawing dead to the 
on the river and Yong collected his chips.
and Adams check-called a bet of 315,000 from Foxen.
and both players checked to the 
for just ace-high while Foxen had 
and 
