Bubble Day Awaits Last 14 Players in Super High Roller Bowl 2018
After two days and 21 hours of poker, the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl is down to last 14 players. They come back Tuesday, May 29 at noon to continue pursuing their hopes for bringing home the elusive title. A half of the remaining field will go home empty-handed and we are about to find out who is going to lock up slices of the mammoth $14.4 million prize pool.
The seventh place has a hefty $600,000 price tag, a sum already bigger than the top-prizes in many prestigious events. An intense action is ahead of the star-studded line-up as the final 14 players try to avoid the giant bubble. The plan is to play down to the six-handed final table but it's the bubble --the cornerstone of all poker tournaments-- that now gets the attention.
The bubble will certainly be a special one, not only because of the huge money swing but also the fact that there will be two four-handed tables on the stone bubble. That may let the poker fans watch an interesting dynamics, especially considering the slow structure and very deep stacks in play.
Day 3 kicks off with an 86-blind average and that creates a huge opportunity for everyone to utilize their strategy, whichever they prefer. The remaining field offers a mix of players who wanted to keep pulling the strings along with those who count on small ball poker.
Pacing the field is Justin Bonomo, the winningest player of the year so far. Bonomo has already racked up nearly $9 million and he's surely planning to extend his lead here in the Super High Roller Bowl. He had a fantastic day at the table yesterday, vaulting to the top after knocking out Fedor Holz in a massive clash.
Bonomo has 2,144,000 and the redraw didn't pair him with any of his nearest challengers as Stephen Chidwick (1,983,000) and defending champion Christoph Vogelsang (1,717,000) will be battling each other on a different table. Another table will see Seth Davies (1,774,000) and Daniel Negreanu (1,515,000) unbag their big stacks.
2017 champion Vogelsang is notoriously known for his precision and taking a lot of time before making his moves to figure out the best possible decisions. Vogelsang recently had to adjust to the instalment of typically a 30-second shot clock in high roller events. But he seemed to have no trouble maximizing the optimal lines on Day 2, mainly towards the end of the day when he significantly improved to finish third in chips.
Vogelsang, Bonomo and Byron Kaverman are the only three remaining players that previously played and survived the bubble in a Super High Roller Bowl. They met on the final table last year when Vogelsang closed it out while Kaverman finished fifth and Bonomo sneaked just inside the money to walk away in seventh place.
It will be a first-time experience for the others but it's hard to expect to see anyone getting scared by the intense moments. It's a stellar competition all around and all remaining runners are seasoned professionals with a high stakes background.
Sergio Aido and Sam Soverel will have a mountain to climb as they come into Day 3 with below 20-big blind stacks while Nick Petrangelo and Matt Hyman are in possession of 28 and 27 blinds, respectively.
So with all the drama ahead, make sure you tune to PokerNews at 12 p.m. PDT for live updates from the exceptional battles. The updates will be synched with the PokerGO cards-up stream which you can watch below. The action resumes in level 15 with the blinds of 6,000/12,000 and a 12,000 big blind ante.
Day 3 Seating Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Sam Soverel | United States | 230,000 | 19 |
| 1 | 2 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 1,983,000 | 165 |
| 1 | 3 | -- empty -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1 | 4 | -- empty -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1 | 5 | Christoph Vogelsang | Germany | 1,717,000 | 143 |
| 1 | 6 | Byron Kaverman | United States | 606,000 | 51 |
| 2 | 1 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 1,515,000 | 126 |
| 2 | 2 | Matt Hyman | United States | 328,000 | 27 |
| 2 | 3 | Seth Davies | United States | 1,754,000 | 146 |
| 2 | 4 | -- empty -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2 | 5 | Jason Koon | United States | 1,271,000 | 106 |
| 2 | 6 | Nick Petrangelo | United States | 330,000 | 28 |
| 3 | 1 | Sergio Aido | Spain | 198,000 | 17 |
| 3 | 2 | Steffen Sontheimer | Germany | 533,000 | 44 |
| 3 | 3 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 1,162,000 | 97 |
| 3 | 4 | -- empty -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 3 | 5 | Kahle Burns | Australia | 608,000 | 51 |
| 3 | 6 | Justin Bonomo | United States | 2,144,000 | 179 |