Keith Tilston Leads Final Six in Event #83: $100,000 High Roller
Keith Tilston was staring down the barrel of a short stack heading into the final day of Event #83: $100,000 High Roller after getting in kings against the aces of Sergi Reixach in the last hand of Day 2.
However, a king on the turn - followed by another on the river - saw him come from behind and eliminate his opponent to bag the chip lead with six left in the biggest buy-in event of the summer.
Tilston is coming off the back of a sixth-place finish in the Final Fifty for $275,874 but has already guaranteed himself $457,772 for a sixth-place finish in this event! However, with an eye-watering $2,792,406 awaiting the winner he may be in line for a whole lot more!
Play resumes on July 13th at 12 p.m. with 15 minutes left at 125,000/250,000/250,000 and will be live-streamed on PokerGO.
Final Six Players
| Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keith Tilston | United States | 14,475,000 | 58 |
| 2 | Nick Schulman | United States | 11,650,000 | 47 |
| 3 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 3,150,000 | 13 |
| 4 | Brandon Adams | United States | 11,775,000 | 47 |
| 5 | Dominik Nitsche | Germany | 9,850,000 | 39 |
| 6 | Igor Kurganov | Russia | 8,500,000 | 34 |
Day 2 Recap
After six players jumped in at the start of the day, including Main Event 40th place finisher Alex Foxen, that brought the total number of entrants to 99 with 56 seated at the start of Day 2.
It didn't take much time for players to start filtering out towards the exits, with short stacks Brian Rast and Jake Schindler exiting before a double elimination boosted Byron Kaverman as early as the second level of the day, with Adrian Mateos and Mike Lim being sent on their way.
Defending championn Nick Petrangelo was also eliminated before play was down to three tables with Igor Kurganov in the lead. The money bubble was at 15, so the pace slowed by the time the tournament reached two tables. Kurganov still lead and boosted his stack to around 25% of the chips in play.
Thomas Boivin was eliminated on the bubble after getting ace-queen in against ace-king of Kurganov and the remaining 15 players were guaranteed $156,316.
Eliminations in the Money
| Position | Name | Payout | Position | Name | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | $353,202 | Sergi Reixach | 12 | $195,862 | Kainalu McCue-Unciano |
| 8 | $281,025 | Christoph Vogelsang | 13 | $171,936 | Sam Grafton |
| 9 | $195,862 | James Chen | 14 | $171,936 | Jeremy Ausmus |
| 10 | $195,862 | Danny Tang | 15 | $156,316 | Steven Miranda |
| 11 | $195,862 | Steffen Sontheimer |
Steven Miranda and Jeremy Ausmus were eliminated before Tilston doubled through Kurganov to trim his chip lead. Sam Grafton lost a flip with jacks to bust to Brandon Adams who held ace-king, before Monster Stack champion Kainalu McCue-Unciano exited in 12th place.
He got it in with king-queen against the jacks of Nick Schulman, with the fellow 2019 bracelet winner's pocket pair holding. McCue-Unciano added $195,862 to the $1,008,850 he won just over two weeks ago.
Kurganov still lead on dinner break, just five eliminations away from the end of the day. When they returned, Steffen Sontheimer and Danny Tang hit the rail in quick succession to bring play down to a table of nine.
With Kurganov still in the lead, James Chen was eliminated in ninth before Tilston doubled through Kurganov again to reign in his chip lead. And although Adams and Schulman both moved into the chip lead briefly, the latter after sending Christoph Vogelsang to the rail, it was Tilston who grabbed it in the very last hand of the night after eliminating Sergi Reixach.
The final six players will return for a streamed final table from 12 p.m. on July 13th. PokerNews will bring you every hand of the action when play resumes!