2014 PokerStars EPT Grand Final Super High Roller Day 2: Macau Players Dominate
The final table has been set in the 2014 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller, and it is one dominated by the Asian players that made the trip to Monaco from Macau. One of those players, Lo Shing Fung, finished on top and will hold the chip lead heading into the third and final day of action.
€100,000 Super High Roller Final Table
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Cates | United States | 2,341,000 |
| 2 | Richard Yong | China | 1,301,000 |
| 3 | Olivier Busquet | United States | 1,038,000 |
| 4 | Lo Shing Fung | China | 4,558,000 |
| 5 | Daniel Colman | United States | 1,398,000 |
| 6 | Igor Kurganov | Russia | 261,000 |
| 7 | Ole Schemion | Germany | 2,818,000 |
| 9 | Paul Phua | Malaysia | 1,785,000 |
Before play started, three more entries joined the mix as Mike Watson bought back in, and David Peters and Gus Hansen entered for the first time. The goal for Day 2 was to play down to a final table of eight. Not entirely coincidental that was also the amount of players being paid from the €6,015,240 prize pool, which was generated from the record-breaking field of 62 entries. The bubble would be a big one as the ninth-place finisher would go home empty handed, while the other eight would receive a minimum of €241,000.
Before the tournament organization would be handing out cheques worth big sums of money, lots of people had to go home disappointed. The first one to make his exit was Paul Newey. Around the same time, Hansen made a splash.
The Full Tilt Poker Professional, who lives in Monaco, didn't play on Day 1, but took advantage of late registration and bought in for 40 big blinds on Day 2. He doubled up through Isaac Haxton early on when he flopped a straight holding queen-jack. The PokerStars Team Online member couldn't get away from his aces and "The Great Dane" scored an early double. Minutes later, Hansen eliminated Tobias Reinkemeier to boost his stack up to 750,000, well over average at the time.
It wouldn't last, though, as Hansen departed a short time later against Daniel Colman.
Meanwhile, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst lost her last chips with sevens to Antonio Esfandiari's king-jack suited. Esfandiari wouldn't hold on to those chips, though, after losing back-to-back hands against McDonald.
From there, John Juanda lost to Kurganov, Haxton to Richard Yong, and Talal Shakerchi was one of Schemion's many victims. Not that Schemion busted a lot of players per se, but he did rob a lot of players of their chips.
With Shakerchi's exit, the tournament was down to two tables of eight. One of them was Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu, who was looking for his fourth cash out of the 10 EPT super high rollers played. Interestingly, he and McDonald are the only two players to play all the EPT super high rollers. However, he would fall short of the money.
After Chun Lei Zhou's bust and Sorel Mizzi's exit, it was time for a three-way all-in pot again. This time it was Philipp Gruissem's time to go. Gruissem, who had started the day leading the pack, took fives to battle against Kurganov's ace-king and Olivier Busquet's ace-queen. After five community cards, the big pot was shipped to Busquet who had made a flush.
“Every time I was all in pre, I just won. I really ran absurd in all-in [preflop pots],” Busquet told PokerNews after he went on to make the final table. He then went on to acknowledge that his role as a commentator for super high roller events on the World Poker Tour Alpha8 gives him an advantage. “I get to see a lot of hands that they play, and it gives me a sense for their styles. I don't want to say what they're capable of because I think at this level players are mostly capable of making just good plays and big bluffs in most spots, but it does give me a sense for their ranges. What I don’t really know is how they perceive me necessarily, but I feel pretty comfortable.”
Listen to Busquet's full interview here:
Not long after the players returned from a 75-minute dinner break it was Phil Ivey who got crippled by Schemion. Busquet took care of the rest.
A cooler between Fung and Ping San Chan made for a pot worth 1.4 million. Chan's top-two was no match to Fung's set of tens, and just like that the tournament was down to 10 players. Only one more player needed to go before the unofficial final table of nine would be set. It wouldn't take long.
Fabian Quoss would depart in 10th, and it was Fung who was again responsible. The remaining nine players merged tables and were set in under the bright lights of the TV stage. With two short stacks, McDonald and Kurganov, there would be action soon, and the €241,000 bubble would burst.
From the hijack position, it was online super star Colman who raised it up to 50,000, just over the minimum at the 12,000/24,000/3,000 level. Two positions down on the button, McDonald, second to last in chips at the time, shoved his remaining 261,000 to the middle. After both blinds had folded, the decision was on Colman. The American player thought about it for a little bit, before calling with a not-too-happy face. As soon as Colman called, McDonald's face changed a bit, as he also wasn't too excited about this big showdown.
McDonald had 52% with his 6♣6♦, as Colman tabled the A♠Q♠. The flop changed that percentage dramatically as the A♦5♦3♣ gave Colman top pair.
"OK, we need a wheel card," said McDonald with a smile.
"No, we don't," joked Colman back.
McDonald would get the 4♣ on the turn and still had some hopes for recovery. The Q♣ on the river wasn't the card he hoped for though, and the Canadian player made his exit from the stage.
With the departure of McDonald, the remaining eight players were guaranteed €241,000. Just Colman, who's in for three €100,000 bullets, isn't making any money yet. He'll need to finish at least seventh to be ahead.
The eight finalists will start at 1 p.m. local time on Saturday. The tournament coverage will be on a one-hour delay as the live stream will be cards up, and they will battle it out for the €1,804,000 top prize. PokerNews will see you on Saturday for the conclusion of this amazing event.
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