Schindler Wins PCA High Roller, EPT’s Grand Plans, $50 Million Tournament

Schindler Tops PCA’s High Roller List

Despite the PCA’s Main Event hogging most of the limelight on Monday, it was the $25,000 High Roller which produced an impressive finale. Featuring a slew of world-class pros, including defending champion Vanessa Selbst, the elite event had managed to whittle its 247 entrants down to just 14 before the start of yesterday’s session.

With at least some return on their investment locked up the surviving cohort quickly set about moving their chips around and within a few hands it was Daniel Negreanu who fell victim to negative variance. Despite starting the day in the middle of pack, Negreanu found himself moving all-in with pocket kings early in the session. Unfortunately he was up against Greg Merson’s pocket aces and after the board blanked out he was sent to the rail just a few places short of the final table.

After breaking the tension and pushing open the elimination floodgates, a wave of high profile eliminations soon followed and by the time the likes of Dan Smith, Dani Stern and Paul Newey hit the rail it was Selbst who was amongst the leaders with just eight players left.

Looking to repeat her back-to-back in the Mohegan Sun’s High Roller, Vanessa remained patient in the early stages and gradually moved closer to her second PCA High Roller title. However, as the field thinned and the pressure mounted, she eventually had to give way to Jake Schindler. A late surge saw the tournament pro clinch the chip lead and eliminate Vanessa before cutting a deal with Greg Merson worth $990,000 each.

Leaving $200,000 on the table, as well as the winner’s trophy, the two players decided to bring things to an end quickly and move all-in blind pre-flop. Not knowing the cards both Merson and Schindler flipped over their hands to reveal 4c 9s and Kh Ts respectively.  With dealer now in charge the board rolled out: 8s 3s Tc Ac 4s to give Schindler the final pot as well as his first PCA High Roller title.

PCA $25,000 High Roller Final Result:

1.            Jake Schindler – $1,192,624

2.            Greg Merson – $948,996

3.            Vanessa Selbst – $607,580

4.            Mustapha Kanit – $492,600

5.            Robert Mizrachi – $389,720

6.            Aleksandr Denisov – $295,920

7.            Ole Schemion – $216,040

8.            Joao Viera – $157,960

EPT to Celebrate 100 in Style

The European Poker Tour will celebrate its 100th event later this year and to mark the occasion the organisers have promised that its Barcelona festival will be the tour’s largest ever.

Kicking off on August 16 and running through until the 27, EPT Barcelona will feature an extra 20 poker tables to accommodate the expected record-numbers and this will apparently be just the tip of the iceberg.

Indeed, despite staying tight-lipped about the organisation’s actual plans, EPT President, Edgar Stuchly, did say that the venue is a “very fitting” place to celebrate the 100th event.

Last year EPT Barcelona became the largest ever with more than 3,000 players taking part in two Main Events but this time around the organisers are predicting an even bigger turnout.

$50 Million Royal Tournament

According to a recent press release a new high stakes tournament will be taking place inside Sydney’s Star Hotel and Casino, and, in addition to a $1 million buy-in, a selection of royal representatives will be taking part.

Aptly dubbed the Royal Poker Challenge, the elite event has reportedly attracted 48 entrants, including members of the “British, Danish, and Monaco royal families” who will be on display when the action gets underway on March 30.

The event is apparently backed by the Rainbow Group and all the royal participants will receive “substantial appearance fees” the will be donated to charity.