2014 PCA $100,000 Super High Roller Day 1: Martin Finger Leads the Way
The $100,000 Super High Roller kicked off the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) festival at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas on Sunday. Action on Day 1 was slow and steady, as poker's elite battled it out on the felt. Following the completion of the first eight levels of the tournament, Germany's Martin Finger led the way with 829,000 in chips. A total of 52 entries were generated, but that number could surely rise as registration and reentry will remain open until the start of Day 2.
The PCA is part of the European Poker Tour (EPT), and those events are something the chip leader knows a thing or two about. Finger has been to the winner's circle twice in major EPT events. He first broke through when he won the EPT Prague Main Event in 2011 for €720,000, and he made sure to solidify his name in the tour's record books when he captured first place of the EPT London £50,000 Super High Roller in 2013 for €821,000. Finger also has a World Series of Poker gold bracelet that he won last year in Event #21: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed for $506,764.
Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Finger is trailed closet by Max Altergott, another familiar name on the EPT, but a much newer name. Altergott won the 2013 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller for €1,746,400, and is quickly proving his merit in big buy-in events on the circuit.
Outside of the top 10, plenty of other top players in the game survived to make Day 2. Team PokerStars Pros Vanessa Selbst (401,000), Jonathan Duhamel (316,500), and Jason Mercier (253,000) all advanced, and the same can be said for Matt Glantz (382,500), Ole Schemion (344,500), and Tony Gregg (291,500).
The shortest stack returning for the second day of play will be Dani Stern. He was the only player to finish below 100,000 in chips, but he still has a bit of play left in his stack with 98,500.
Two players that had the most interesting starting day were Guy Laliberté and Daniel Negreanu. Both busted not once, but twice, and will be firing three bullets worth a total of $300,000 each into this event. Laliberté reentered twice on Day 1 before bagging up 270,000 in chips, but Negreanu only did so once and plans to buy in for the third time before the start of Day 2.
Also remaining is Scott Seiver, and his name is important because he is the defending champion of this event. Seiver was only able to bag up 131,500 in chips, and that's in the bottom half of the remaining field, but his chance at a back-to-back performance is still very much alive.
Only a couple names busted on Day 1 that opted not to reenter, although all still have the option to do so. Those were reigning WSOP Main Event champion Ryan Riess, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, John Juanda, Steven Silverman, and Mike Watson.
The Day 2 table draw will not be available until the start of play on Monday, which is also when the prize pool and payout information will be released following the tally of all entries. Last year's field drew 47 unique players and 12 reentries for a total of 59 buy-ins, so this year is well within striking distance of hitting the same mark.
Day 2 will begin at 12 p.m. local time, and you can be sure to catch all of the live coverage right here on PokerNews.com starting then.
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