2015 PCA $25,000 High Roller Day 2: Savard Leads Final 11; $1.3 Million for First
The penultimate day of the 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure came to a close with the end of Day 2 of the $25,000 High Roller. The day began with 117 returning players and registration remained open for new entries and re-entries up until the start of play. After ten full levels of play just 11 players remained with Jean-Pascal Savard leading the way.
The day kicked off with poker's elite hitting the felt with the hopes of winning a slice of this massive prize pool. By the time registration closed, the event earned a total of 269 entries for a record-setting PCA High Roller. Interestingly enough, this also became the seventh largest $25,000 buy-in event in poker history. The total prize pool amounted to $6,456,000 with the top 39 players making the money. Each player to make the money was guaranteed a payday of at least $44,540, while first place was guaranteed an astounding $1,294,460.
Play kicked off at a rapid pace with players flying toward the rail in elimination. Some of the players to exit before the money bubble was reached were Eugene Katchalov, Jason Koon, Aaron Massey, Mike McDonald, Shannon Shorr, Tony Gregg, Dan Shak, and reigning champion Jake Schindler.
The quick pace continued through the money bubble, as it burst before the field could even begin hand-for-hand play. A short-stacked Jeff Rossiter was eliminated at the hands of Zvi Stern. Simultaneously, Paul Volpe was eliminated from another player in the room to guarantee the top 39 players in the room a payday.
While the field of this event was stacked with some of the top poker players in the world, some of the more notable names to make the money include Igor Kurganov (30th), Darren Elias (29th), Davidi Kitai (25th), Jonathan Karamalikis (24th), Niall Farrell (21st), Garrett Greer (17th) and Taylor Paur (15th).
Team PokerStars Pro also had a fair showing in this event with three of their team members making the money. Those to cash include Jake Cody (32nd), Andre Akkari (16th), and Daniel Negreanu (14th). Negreanu had a spectacular clash with Dan Heimiller toward the end of the night that resulted in the former's elimination from play. On a flop of 5♦6♥7♠, Heimiller led out with a bet of 60,000. Negreanu came over the top for 175,000 and Heimiller thought a moment before announcing that he was all in. Negreanu called for his tournament life of roughly 250,000 more and rolled over 7♦6♠ for top two pair. Hemiller showed an open-ended straight draw with 4♦2♦. In the end, the 9♣ fell on the turn and the 3♠ spiked the river to give Heimiller a winning straight and eliminate Kid Poker from play. Heimiller rode that momentum to finish the night third in chips with 2.123 million.
Play resumes at 12 p.m. local time where the final 11 runners will play until a champion is crowned. As always, PokerNews will be on hand to provide all of the latest from this record-setting event!
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