It was a win-win for the final two players in the $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller Event at the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). Eugene Katchalov came away with the win and collected a grand prize of $1.5 million, while Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu earned $1 million for second place and passed Phil Ivey on poker’s all-time money list. The seven-handed final table was filmed for television and will air on ESPN2 later this year.
It took all of 15 minutes for the first elimination to occur, as Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger, who entered the final table as the short stack, departed in seventh place. Lichtenberger moved all-in over the top of a raise and a call pre-flop holding A-10. Negreanu looked him up and showed pocket kings. The flop held a ten to given “luckychewy” hope, but no additional help came when the board filled out 10-4-J-9-K to give Negreanu a set. Only the top five players took home cash.
The money bubble burst when Sandor Demjan was eliminated in sixth place from the PCA Super High Roller Event. Demjan committed his chips with pocket tens on a flop of 8-8-2 and Katchalov made the call with pocket jacks. No ten came on the turn or river, which were a three and a nine, respectively. After starting with 38 players, we finally had our five in the money finishers.
About ten minutes after Demjan’s exit, PokerStars pro Humberto Brenes was eliminated after coming out on the short end of a race with A-Q of hearts against Bryn Kenney’s pocket nines. Brenes had asked for a caller pre-flop to set himself up for the race and got his wish, but couldn’t draw out when the board came 6-2-J-2-J. Kenney, holding jacks and nines, scooped the pot and Brenes walked away with $200,000, or double his buy-in.
Nick Schulman, who entered the final table as the chip leader, could only muster a fourth place finish. Schulman shoved all-in on the river on a board of 3-J-10-7-3 with four clubs and Negreanu seemingly reluctantly made the call with A-Q, including the queen of clubs, for a queen-high flush. Schulman tabled a red K-9 for a stone cold bluff after his inside straight draw failed to hit and was ousted in fourth for $400,000.
Fresh off a deep run in the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, Kenney landed in third place in the Super High Roller Event after running pocket eights into Katchalov’s pocket queens. The hand left Negreanu and Katchalov virtually even in chips for the start of heads-up play at the Atlantis Hotel and Casino in the Bahamas.
Ultimately, Katchalov, a former World Poker Tour (WPT) champion, came away with the win and earned $1.5 million. In the final hand, Negreanu called all-in pre-flop with pocket fives and was set for a double up against Katchalov’s pocket fours. The flop was a benign A-8-10, but a four on the turn gave Katchalov a set and a near-death grip on the PCA Super High Roller Event title. The river was a deuce and that was all she wrote for Negreanu, whose second place finish earned him into the top spot on poker’s all-time money list.
Here were the in the money finishers in the $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller Event at the 2011 PCA:
1. Eugene Katchalov – $1500,000
2. Daniel Negreanu – $1,000,000
3. Bryn Kenney – $643,000
4. Nick Schulman – $400,000
5. Humberto Brenes – $200,000
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