Brian Rast Leads Final 14 in Poker Masters $100k Finale; Sontheimer and Negreanu Still Alive
Welcome back to the ARIA Resort & Casino, and the inaugural Poker Masters for Day 2 of Event #5: $100,000 No-Limit Hold'em.
Monday saw the kick-off to the Poker Masters finale as 35 players all put up the $100,000 buy-in to be part of this prestigious event. It wouldn't just be the expected million dollar plus first prize on offer that had players licking their lips, but also the chance of topping the Poker Masters leaderboard to capture the Poker Masters Purple Jacket. Germany's Steffen Sontheimer was leading all players heading into the finale with $1,221,000 in winnings from his three cashes and one win over the first week. However, depending on results, a win in the $100,000 buy-in event could seal the deal for any player in their quest for claiming the Poker Masters Purple Jacket.
As players fell to the rail throughout the day, eventually it would be just 14 players remaining once play was halted early for the night, and although there is word that one player was going to take advantage of late registration, due to the halt in play, he would not be allowed to take his seat until the start of level eleven; the true start for Day 2.
Sontheimer is still alive in this tournament with the fourth highest chip stack of 696,500, however it would be inaugural Super High Roller Bowl Champion Brian Rast bagging the chip lead at night's end with 959,000. Two players that were in the seven figures club for a good chunk of play were Justin Bonomo and Daniel Negreanu; and they both ended play with 780,500 and 745,500 respectively. Also in contention, and placed the highest on the winnings leaderboard include German's Fedor Holz (662,500) and Stefan Schillhabel (539,000), while Jake Schindler (507,000) and Dan Smith (476,500) still have a puncher's chance.
Today is expected to see the tournament play down until a final table of nine, and with the prize pool and payouts expected to be released once cards hit the air, it is expected that the final six players will be in-the-money with a first prize of $1,512,000 will be announced if that late registrant does indeed take his seat (taking the field size to 36 means 6 places will be paid with a 42% first prize as stated by ARIA in their Poker Masters payouts and structure sheet).
The PokerNews?Live Reporting Team will be?providing continuous live updates?from the tournament floor once play begins at 2:00 p.m. (PDT). Once the PokerGO live stream begins, our updates will coincide with the live stream, and will not include any spoilers for those watching along on PokerGO. So stay tuned right here to PokerNews.com for updates from Event #5 as we play down to the final table before crowning a champion and the Poker Masters Purple Jacket recipient on Wednesday.