The Final Table in Montenegro is Set; Sontheimer Holds Commanding Lead
The money bubble has burst and the unofficial final table of the 2018 Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro HKD1,000,000 Main Event at the Maestral Resort & Casino in Budva, Montenegro is set. German High Roller regular Steffen Sontheimer holds a commanding lead at the top of the counts after shooting towards the top of the leader board in the penultimate level of the night.
After 39 entries on Day 1 sent the tournament off to a promising start, the number was guaranteed to grow further thanks to four levels of late registration on Day 2. Ultimately, a field of 63 entries emerged, consisting of 41 unique players and 22 re-entries, and the top nine spots were guaranteed to take home a portion of the HKD59,270,400 (~$7,550,129) prize pool.
In the last scheduled level of the day, a frantic bubble period with several double ups came to an end with the elimination of Stephen Chidwick, who bubbled the second tournament of the high stakes festival in a row after falling short by one spot in the 6-Max Event two days prior. Chidwick got it in good with ace-queen against the ace-jack of Rui Cao, however a jack on the flop sealed the fate for the Brit and that set up the unofficial final table.
Sontheimer holds more than two times the chips of his nearest followers after bagging up 3,980,000, while Canada's Peter Jetten (1,960,000) and Mikita Badziakouski (1,945,000) are separated by just three antes. The other finalists include Ivan Leow (1,655,000), aforementioned Rui Cao (1,610,000), defending Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro Main Event champion Manig Loeser (1,590,000), Day 1 chip leader Wai Leong Chan (1,305,000), Steve O'Dwyer (1,155,000) and Dietrich Fast (350,000).
Seat Assignments for the Final Day
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivan Leow | Malaysia | 1,655,000 | 41 |
| 2 | Peter Jetten | Canada | 1,960,000 | 49 |
| 3 | Steve O'Dwyer | Ireland | 1,155,000 | 29 |
| 4 | Manig Loeser | Germany | 1,590,000 | 40 |
| 5 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 1,945,000 | 49 |
| 6 | Steffen Sontheimer | Germany | 3,980,000 | 100 |
| 7 | Dietrich Fast | Germany | 350,000 | 9 |
| 8 | Rui Cao | France | 1,610,000 | 40 |
| 9 | Wai Leong Chan | Malaysia | 1,305,000 | 33 |
Action of Day 2
The first level of the day started with a set-over-set debacle for Steve O'Dwyer, who ended up on the wrong end with pocket treys against the pocket nines of Patrik Antonius. Paul Phua busted and re-entered only to bow out from the very seat once more, while other notables such as Koray Aldemir and Jason Koon also had to head to the registration desk.
Within one hour from each other, Bryn Kenney scored two double eliminations, but the American High Roller wizard also missed out on the money after running with ace-queen suited into pocket aces. Both winners of the two previous events at the Maestral Resort & Casino during the seven-day festival were among those to bust on Day 2 in Richard Yong and Phil Ivey. Yong's three barrels with king-jack high were no good against the rivered flush of Orpen Kisacikoglu and Ivey jammed queen-jack into the pocket aces of eventual chip leader Steffen Sontheimer.
The redraw of the last two tables took place with just 15 hopefuls, as Yaqi Sun and Christian Christner busted at the same time on different tables. As soon as the action resumed, defending Main Event champion Manig Loeser doubled through Isaac Haxton and Andrew Robl busted on the feature table. Dominik Nitsche's bid for the High Roller title came to an end when his top pair and nut flush draw ended up second best to the queen-ten of Ivan Leow, who got there with two pair on the river.
What followed was the sudden rise of Sontheimer, who first doubled with queens against the eights of Marius Torbergsen and then knocked out Orpen Kisacikoglu with ace-king versus ace-jack in a matter of 20 minutes. Haxton lost most of his chips with ace-jack against the pocket kings of Rui Cao and Torbergsen bowed out to set up a dramatic bubble time. After several double ups, Dietrich Fast was on the brink of elimination, being reduced to two and a half big blinds only, but instead it was Chidwick that was sent to the ropes without anything to show for.
The action will resume at 1 p.m. local time on Thursday, May 17th, 2018, with 20 minutes left in level 17 at blinds of 20,000/40,000 and a running ante of 5,000. A live stream with hole cards displayed and English commentary by Kane Kalas and Randy Lew will be available on a security delay of 30 minutes.
And that's what all the nine finalists are playing for with the equivalent in USD and Euros:
| Place | Prize (in HKD) | Prize in (USD) | Prize (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19,618,400 | 2,499,090 | 2,123,164 |
| 2 | 13,217,000 | 1,683,648 | 1,430,385 |
| 3 | 8,002,000 | 1,019,335 | 866,001 |
| 4 | 5,512,000 | 702,146 | 596,526 |
| 5 | 3,793,000 | 483,171 | 410,490 |
| 6 | 2,845,000 | 362,410 | 307,895 |
| 7 | 2,312,000 | 294,514 | 250,212 |
| 8 | 2,015,000 | 256,681 | 218,070 |
| 9 | 1,956,000 | 249,165 | 211,684 |
The PokerNews live reporting team will be there until a champion is crowned and also deliver all the action from the floor as the highly anticipated final event of the high stakes festival, the HKD1,000,000 Short Deck Ante-Only, kicks off at 4 p.m. local time.