After a brief holiday layoff, live tournament poker is back and kicking off a busy January is the European Poker Tour (EPT) PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) $100,000 Super High Roller event. Last year, the tournament drew 59 entries, creating a prize pool of nearly five and three-quarters million dollars. Scott Seiver won the first highlight event of the year, banking two million bucks. After Day 1 of the $100,000 High Roller in 2014, Martin Finger leads with 829,000 chips.
Despite the enormous entry fee, this tournament is actually a re-buy event and amazingly, some players did re-buy. 45 unique players paid the $100,000 to play and with seven re-buys on Day 1, a total of 52 entries were recorded. Anyone who busted (or has yet to play) can still buy back in before the start of play today.
37 players remain, including such notable names near the top of the leaderboard such as Isaac Haxton, Bryn Kenney, Jason Koon, and Justin Bonomo. Then again, at these stakes, most players will be recognizable. No amateur bar players in this group. There not many players who got knocked out and opted not to re-buy, but those who did fall into this category included 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Ryan Riess, John Juanda, and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier. Daniel Negreanu, who was just named the Global Poker Index’s “Player of the Decade,” busted twice on Day 1, but reportedly has plans to try again on Monday.
Because registration is allowed up until the start of play on Day 2, the final prize pool figure and payout structure are not known just yet. They should be announced fairly early today after registration officially closes.
The action will resume at noon local Bahamas time (Eastern time zone) as the remaining 37 players, plus any re-buys and late entrants, continue the trek towards what should be a huge payday. In the meantime, scores of poker players will be flowing into the Atlantis Paradise Island resort in anticipation of the PCA Main Event, one of the most popular live tournaments on the poker calendar.
2014 European Poker Tour PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 High Roller – Day 1 Chip Leaders
1. Martin Finger – 829,000
2. Max Altergott – 707,000
3. Isaac Haxton – 594,500
4. Bryn Kenney – 562,000
5. Jason Koon – 551,000
6. Lawerence Greenberg – 518,500
7. Justin Bonomo – 516,000
8. Daniel Colman – 512,500
9. Paul Newey – 477,000
10. Philipp Gruissem – 454,000