$100,000 Super High Roller
Day 3 Completed
2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
$100,000 Super High Roller
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
Buy-in
$100,000
Prize Pool
$4,737,600
Entries
48
Level
22
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
20,000
Level 22
: 60,000/120,000, 20,000 ante
The eighth edition of the 2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) $100,000 Super High Roller concluded on Monday night, and self-proclaimed recreational player Cary Katz prevailed over a 48-entry field to win the $1,492,340 first-place prize.
Prior to the win, Katz had $12,205,909 in live tournament earnings including a career-best $1,929,203 for finishing fifth in the 2016 Big One for One Drop. While he’s taken down plenty of ARIA Super High Rollers, a series he started, this win marked his first major victory outside Las Vegas.
Katz’s win was an epic come-from-behind affair. He didn’t even play Day 1 of the tournament, instead opting to late register right before the start of play on Day 2, and spent much of the final table as the short stack.
Meanwhile, all eyes were on Bryn Kenney on becoming a two-time champ. At one point, Kenney, who in 2016 topped a field of 58 entries to win the same event for $1,687,800, held a massive chip lead four-handed.
Surprisingly, he busted in third place for $686,960, which marked his fifth PCA $100K SHR cash in eight events. That now includes three third-place finishes. The $4,166,700 Kenney has won throughout the history of this tournament marks approximately 20% of his now $21,100,543 in lifetime earnings.
Kenney is coming off the best year of his career where he won $8,505,897 million playing tournaments, more than any other player in the world. That included winning $1.75 million in last year’s PokerStars Championship Bahamas. If there’s such a thing as home-field advantage in poker, Kenney has certainly seemed to find it here on Paradise Island.
| Place | Player | County | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Cary Katz | USA | $1,492,340 |
| 2nd | Justin Bonomo | USA | $1,077,800 |
| 3rd | Bryn Kenney | USA | $686,960 |
| 4th | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | $521,140 |
| 5th | Ivan Luca | Argentina | $402,700 |
| 6th | Ike Haxton | USA | $307,940 |
| 7th | Sam Greenwood | Canada | $248,720 |
Kenney got to work on just Hand #10 of the final table when he raised with two red aces. The short-stacked Sam Greenwood woke up with two black kings in the big blind, moved all in, and busted after Kenney called.
Not long after, Kenney claimed the chip lead, which he would swap back and forth with Argentina’s Ivan Luca. On Hand #45, Luca was in the small blind and moved all in with the ace-four and got Ike Haxton to call off for 1.41 million in the big with the queen-jack suited. The board ran brought neither player a pair and Luca’s ace-high was good enough to send Haxton to the rail.
There was a break after that hand, and Luca went into it with the chip lead. Two hands back from break, he was out in fifth place.
In the first hand, he lost nearly a million in chips to Kenney in a failed bluff. In the next hand, he got it in with ace-jack to the ace-king of Kenney in a four-bet pot and he wouldn't find a suck out on the flop, turn, or river.
From there, Daniel Negreanu was knocked down to just two big blinds after getting rivered by Bonomo. Amazingly, he spun that up to 33 bbs in three hands – the result of first tripling up and then hitting back-to-back doubles. Unfortunately, momentum soon escaped “Kid Poker.”
Negreanu was cut back down to size after losing a race with ace-queen to Justin Bonomo’s sixes, and he fell a short time later. It happened when he got it in with pocket kings against Bonomo’s ace-jack. An ace hit the flop and that was all she wrote for Negreanu.
Kenney held the chip lead for most of three-handed play, but eventually, the blinds got big. That is when his fortune flipped. It was also this point that Katz came on strong, going from the short stack to even things up.
Kenney eventually fell to the short stack and opted to call off from the big blind with the king-nine after Bonomo had shoved the small with the queen-ten. Bonomo paired his ten on the flop, and it held to send Kenney home in third place.
Katz and Bonomo began heads-up play fairly even in chips, and it didn’t take long for things to heat up. Long story short, Katz held the seven-four and Bonomo ace-nine on a board reading three sevens and an ace and five. A 5.11 million pot went to Katz with quads, and he pulled out to a more than 2-1 chip lead.
Three hands later, it was all over. Bonomo shoved with Big Slick and Katz called with pocket eights. The snowmen held in the race and Bonomo had to settle for second place. The silver lining was that he earned seven figures to help ease the pain.
“I feel good, it's a great way to start the year,” Bonomo said after his elimination. “I think I made one or two very small mistakes, so otherwise I'm really happy with how I played. It's gonna be a really big year with lots of high buy-ins.”
The 2018 PCA is far from over, and right now you can follow live updates from several other events including the $50K High Roller and $1,650 PCA National. We’ll also be back tomorrow with updates from Day 1B of the 2018 PCA Main Event.
PCA Super High Roller History
| Year | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 38 entries | $3,743,000 | Eugene Katchalov | Ukraine | $1,500,000 |
| 2012 | 32 entries | $3,136,000 | Viktor Blom | Sweden | $1,254,400 |
| 2013 | 59 entries | $5,724,180 | Scott Seiver | USA | $2,003,480 |
| 2014 | 56 entries | $5,433,120 | Fabian Quoss | Germany | $1,629,940 |
| 2015 | 66 entries | $6,402,000 | Steve O'Dwyer | Ireland | $1,872,580 |
| 2016 | 58 entries | $5,626,000 | Bryn Kenney | USA | $1,687,800 |
| 2017 | 54 entries | $5,239,080 | Jason Koon | USA | $1,650,300 |
| 2018 | 48 entries | $14,737,600 | Cary Katz | USA | $1,492,340 |
Level 22
: 60,000/120,000, 20,000 ante
Hand 129: Justin Bonomo raised to 250,000 with the 
and Cary Katz three-bet to 820,000 with the 
in the big blind. Bonomo folded.
Hand 130: Katz limped with the 
and Bonomo checked his option with the 
. The 
flop saw Katz lead out for 300,000 and Bonomo folded.
Hand 131: Bonomo moved all in for 3.3 million holding the 
and Katz quickly called with the 
. It was a flip, and Katz was looking to hold for the win.
The 
flop made Katz a 74% favorite, and that increased to 86% on the turn. Bonomo was looking for an ace or king, but it was not meant to be as the blanked on the river.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
12,000,000
3,460,000
|
3,460,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level 22
: 60,000/120,000, 20,000 ante
Hand 125: Justin Bonomo opened the button with for 250,000. Big blind Cary Katz woke up with 
and three-bet 820,000 and Bonomo folded right away.
Hand 126: Katz raised to 260,000 with 
and Bonomo called with 
. They took a flop of 
and Bonomo checked. Katz bet 460,000 into 560,000 and Bonomo folded right away.
Hand 127: Bonomo on the button found and raised to 250,000. Katz folded 
.
Hand 128: Katz was first to act and made it 260,000 with 
. Bonomo called with 
and checked on 
. Katz checked behind.
The 
hit the turn and Bonomo bet 275,000 into 560,000. Katz called.
The completed the board, making Katz quads. Bonomo bet 400,000 into 1,110,000 and Katz tanked for a bit before raising to 2,000,000. Bonomo called and soon got the bad news.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,540,000
1,845,000
|
1,845,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
3,460,000
-1,845,000
|
-1,845,000 |
|
|
||
Level 22
: 60,000/120,000, 20,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
6,695,000
2,765,000
|
2,765,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
5,305,000
1,305,000
|
1,305,000 |
|
|
||
Level 22
: 60,000/120,000, 20,000 ante
Hand 122: Bryn Kenney raised to 275,000 with the 
in the small blind and Cary Katz folded from the big.
Hand 123: Kenney raised to 275,000 with the 
on the button and Katz three-bet to 600,000 with the 
in the small blind. Kenney called, the flop came down 
, and Katz continued for 775,000.
Kenney, who flopped the best hand, made the call and the dealer burned and turned the . Katz moved all in for 2.395 million and Kenney thought long and hard before releasing his hand.
Hand 124: Justin Bonomo picked up the 
in the small blind and moved all in. Kenney, who had the in the big blind, took his time before calling off for 2.84 million.
Kenney was ahead, but even so was only a 55% favorite to win the hand. The flop gave Bonomo the lead, but Kenney did pick up a gutshot.
The turn took way his king, and the 
river sent Kenney out the door in third place.
Level 22
: 60,000/120,000, 20,000 ante
Hand 119: Bryn Kenney with 
and Cary Katz with 
took a flop of 
in a battle of the blinds. Kenney bet 245,000 and Katz called. The on the turn saw Kenney bet 535,000 into 1,100,000. Katz moved in with his two-pair and Kenney folded.
Hand 120: Kenney opened the button for 250,000 with 
. Justin Bonomo called with 
in the big blind. The flop came 
and both checked. The hit the turn pairing Bonomo but he checked. Kenney checked behind with the flush draw. The on the river saw both players check as well and Bonomo took it down.
Hand 121: Katz limped in with on the button and Justin Bonomo completed with 
. Kenney checked 
and they took a flop of . Bonomo bet 150,000 into 420,000 and Kenney called, Katz folded.
The hit the turn and Bonomo bet 300,000, Kenney called. The completed the board and Bonomo bet 300,000 once more. Kenney called but had to succumb the pot to Bonomo.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
4,070,000
-2,340,000
|
-2,340,000 |
|
||
|
|
4,000,000
880,000
|
880,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
3,930,000
1,460,000
|
1,460,000 |
|
|
||
Level 22
: 60,000/120,000, 20,000 ante
Hand 113: Cary Katz received a walk in the big blind.
Hand 114: Bryn Kenney opened the button for 250,000 with but he folded to Cary Katz's shove with .
Hand 115: From the small blind, Justin Bonomo limped in with 
. Big blind Bryn Kenney with shoved all in and Bonomo folded.
Hand 116: Justin Bonomo opened on the button for 240,000. Bryn Kenney in the small blind woke up with 
and moved in. Cary Katz in the big blind folded . Bonomo counted his stack and saw he had 2,560,000 behind but he folded.
Hand 117: Katz limped from the small blind with but he folded to Bonomo's shove with .
Hand 118: Katz found on the button and raised to 275,000. Bryn Kenney called in the big blind with . The flop came and Kenney checked. Katz bet 400,000 into 670,000 and Kenney folded.
Level: 22
Blinds: 60,000/120,000
Ante: 20,000
Level 21
: 50,000/100,000, 10,000 ante
The final three players are now on a 30-minute break.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
6,410,000 | |
|
|
||
|
|
3,120,000
-620,000
|
-620,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
2,470,000
620,000
|
620,000 |
|
|
||