Yesterday, it was Matt Berkey who went into the day’s action at the 2016 Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) with a prohibitive chip lead. A day later, it is Rainer Kempe in a similar position, though this time it is only with seven players remaining. With 5.545 million chips, Kempe enters the final table on Wednesday with more chips than the next two players combined. Or, if you would prefer a different comparison, he has 700,000 more chips than the third through seventh players put together. Either way, Kempe is the big stack by a mile and would have to be considered the favorite to nab the $5 million first prize.
After Kempe are two Global Poker League competitors, Fedor Holz and Bryn Kenney, with 2.190 million and 2.085 million chips, respectively. Dan Shak follows them in fourth place with 1.650 million. Berkey is still in the competition in fifth place, though at 1.205 million chips, he has fewer than half the chips with which he started the day. Two legends rounds out the final table: last year’s seventh place finisher Erik Seidel (1.120 million chips) and Phil Hellmuth (905,000 chips).
Much of Kempe’s chip stack was built close to the end of the night. In Level 19, the second-to-last level of Day 3, he found himself in a tussle with Dan Smith with just eight players remaining. Kempe raised pre-flop and Smith called to bring on a flop of T-6-8. Smith just checked that flop, but when Kempe bet 140,000, Smith check-raised it up to 475,000. Kempe then proceeded to move all-in, a bet which Smith decided to call. Smith looked to be in good shape, revealed pocket Sixes for bottom set, but Kempe had him dead to rights, holding pocket Eights for middle pair. Smith couldn’t get lucky on the turn or river and was crippled, down to just 175,000 chips. That hand gave Kempe the chip lead at 4.25 million chips.
Kempe has been doing great on the live tournament circuit in the last year and a half. In August 2015, he finished fifth in the European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event to earn €320,400 ($364,716) and then finished fifth again in the EPT Malta Main Event for €161,340 ($177,724). In November 2015, he placed third in the WPT Montreal Main Event for CAD$195,940 ($147,599), but finally broke through in December with a victory in the EPT Prague High Roller Event, a score of €539,000 ($591,722). Kempe also finished second in the ARIA High Roller 26 High Roller Event this year, earning $321,790. All told, Kempe has won nearly $2 million in live tournaments, a number soon to be increased by at least $600,000.
The final table of the Super High Roller Bowl will begin at 3:00pm PT. It will also be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network starting at 7:00pm ET.
2016 Super High Roller Bowl –Final Table Chip Counts
1. Rainer Kempe – 5,545,000
2. Fedor Holz – 2,190,000
3. Bryn Kenney – 2,085,000
4. Dan Shak – 1,650,000
5. Matt Berkey – 1,205,000
6. Erik Seidel – 1,120,000
7. Phil Hellmuth – 905,000