The 2016 World Series of Poker starts this week, but before things really get rolling, there was still one big tournament left to complete: the Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB). Hosted by the ARIA Resort & Casino, this is the second year the SHRB has run.
The SHRB debuted last year, created by the upstart Poker Central, a fledgling 24/7 poker television network. The buy was $500,000 in 2015 and the tournament attracted 43 players. The final seven players cashed, with Brian Rast taking the top prize of $7.525 million.
This year, the buy-in has been reduced to $300,000, which helped the event sell out its 49 seats in February. As a sponsor has contributed another $300,000 to the prize pool, the total prize pool for the event is $15 million. The winner will receive $5 million, while the lowest cash – for seventh place – will bank $600,000, double the buy-in. There is no rake in this tournament.
After the first two days of the event, Matt Berkey has a tremendous chip lead over the other remaining 15 competitors. His 2.816 million chip stack is more than twice that of the second place player, Erik Seidel (1.299 million chips), who finished seventh in the Super High Roller Bowl last year.
One of the hands that was most responsible for Berkey’s massive stack came in Level 13, the second-to-last level of the night. Pre-flop, Berkey raised to 27,000 chips (blinds were 6,000/12,000 with a 1,000 chip ante) and Tom Marchese, last year’s sixth place finisher, raised to 70,000. Berkey called and the two men headed to the flop of J♥-5♣-4♦. Berkey check-called another 70,000 bet by Marchese. On the turn of A♠, Berkey checked again, Marchese bet 150,000, and Berkey called. Same pattern when the T♠ was dealt on the river: Berkey checked, Marchese bet 384,000, and Berkey called.
Marchese was trying to force Berkey out of the hand the entire time, flipping over 7♦-6♦ for nothing but air. Berkey had A♣-K♦ for just a pair of Aces, but that was enough to take down the giant pot and lord over the field.
Matt Berkey has earned over $1.7 million on the live tournament circuit in his career. His largest cash was this past December, when he won the $25,000 High Roller Event at the ARIA High Roller 20, good for $315,180. He has never won a major live tournament, though he did have a fantastic 2013 WSOP, making three final tables and cashing six times.
Day 3 of the Super High Roller Bowl will begin at 1:00pm PT and will continue until seven levels are completed or eight players remain, whichever comes first. The action will also be aired on the CBS Sports Network tonight starting at 8:00pm ET.
2016 Super High Roller Bowl – Day 2 Chip Counts
1. Matt Berkey – 2,816,000
2. Erik Seidel – 1,299,000
3. Dan Shak – 1,243,000
4. Jason Mercier – 1,208,000
5. Dan Smith – 1,152,000
6. Bryn Kenney – 1,097,000
7. Andrew Robl – 1,075,000
8. Phil Hellmuth – 936,000
9. Fedor Holz – 751,000
10. Rainer Kempe – 740,000
11. Phil Laak – 509,000
12. Phil Galfond – 436,000
13. Ben Lamb – 415,000
14. Bill Perkins – 367,000
15. Dan Perper – 344,000
16. Tom Marchese – 321,000
