Alex Foxen raised it up on the button and Seth Davies three-bet shoved all in for around 2,200,000 from the big blind. Foxen quickly called to put Davies at risk and the cards were face up.
Seth Davies:
Alex Foxen:
The flop came and Foxen took a commanding lead with a pair of queens. The on the turn gave Davies a flush draw but the on the river bricked and Davies was eliminated.
Aleksejs Ponakovs was down to just over six big blinds and he shoved all in for 980,000 in the cutoff. Sam Soverel was in the big blind and verified the count before calling.
Aleksejs Ponakovs:
Sam Soverel:
The flop came and Ponakovs held the lead with his pocket sixes but Soverel picked up some more outs. The on the turn was one of them as Soverel improved to a pair of aces. The on the river was not what Ponakovs needed and he headed to the exit.
Phil Ivey folded under the gun and Alex Foxen raised to 450,000 in the next position. On the button, Dan Zack three-bet to 1,100,000 and the blinds both folded.
Foxen then four-bet to 2,875,000 and Zack asked how much he was playing before five-betting all in. Foxen called for 10,200,000.
Alex Foxen:
Dan Zack:
The flop gave Zack a flush draw and a shot at bursting the Super High Roller bubble, but the , runout was safe and Foxen looked visibly relieved as he doubled into the chip lead.
Nick Petrangelo raised to 400,000 in the cutoff and Alex Foxen announced all in as the big stack from the small blind. Petrangelo made sure the other table was finished their hand before calling off his stack of just over 6,000,000 chips.
Nick Petrangelo:
Alex Foxen:
Petrangelo was hoping to be in a dominating position but they were simply just coin-flipping. The flop came and Petrangelo picked up some counterfeit outs. The on the turn was of no help and the on the river meant Petrangelo was eliminated on the money bubble.
Martin Kabrhel limped in from early position which invited Phil Ivey and Brandon Steven to come along as well. Adrian Mateos raised to 1,100,000 on the button and only Kabrhel called.
The flop came and Kabrhel checked to Mateos who bet 700,000. Kabrhel raised to 3,175,000, leaving just 25,000 chips behind. Mateos thought for a minute and then just called.
The turn was the and Kabrhel stuck in his last chip. Mateos called and the cards were tabled. "What do you have Adrian?" Kabrhel asked before the cards were shown.
"Hopefully pocket fives," Alex Foxen chimed in.
Kabrhel showed for a pair of tens and a flush draw. Mateos revealed for two over cards and a straight draw. The river was the and Kabrhel held on for a double up much to everyone's shigrin.
"Well I'm glad everyone here was cheering for me," Kabrhel piped up. "Thanks for the support. Even you Phil, cheering for me." Ivey just looked sideways and gave Kabrhel a stare but said nothing.
Martin Kabrhel opened to 525,000 on the button. Henrik Hecklen three-bet all in for 7,075,000 from the big blind. Kabrhel used a time bank before calling.
Henrik Hecklen:
Martin Kabrhel:
"You bluffing me Denmark!" said Kabrhel. "Such a big tournament. You must be very rich."
The flop gave Kabrhel a full house, but Hecklen still had outs to stay alive. The turn and river were bricks, and with Kabrhel covering his opponent Hecklen became the first elimination in the money.
It's a case of those with a bracelet against those without a bracelet as we head into the final day of Event #50: $250,000 Super High Roller on Saturday.
Three of the last eight players are without bracelets, and what a way it would be to get on the board by winning the biggest buy-in event of the summer. However, it will be a tough task against the remaining five who have a combined 20 WSOP bracelets between them.
$250,000 Super High Roller Final Table Chip Counts
Final Table
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Dan Zack
United States
4,375,000
15
2
Martin Kabrhel
Czech Republic
17,800,000
59
3
Phil Ivey
United States
7,300,000
24
4
Brandon Steven
United States
7,850,000
26
5
Adrian Mateos
Spain
6,950,000
23
6
Alex Foxen
United States
24,150,000
81
7
Chris Hunichen
United States
12,375,000
41
8
Sam Soverel
United States
3,200,000
11
Leading the way is Alex Foxen, who doubled on the direct money bubble and then burst it to soar up the counts, and he held on to that lead until the end of the day. Foxen is still without a bracelet, as is Chris Hunichen and Brandon Steven who also bagged at the end of Day 2.
The final table is rounded out by multiple bracelet winners Phil Ivey, Dan Zack and Adrian Mateos, with former bracelet winner Sam Soverel the short stack.
Remaining Payouts
PLACE
PAYOUT (USD)
1
$ 4,563,700
2
$ 2,820,581
3
$ 1,931,718
4
$ 1,367,206
5
$ 1,001,142
6
$ 759,362
7
$ 597,381
8
$ 488,095
Day 2 Recap
Four new entrants joined the field at the start of Day 2 — Brandon Steven, Stanley Tang, Cary Katz and Michael Moncek — with Moncek lasting less than 15 minutes before busting.
That was longer than Bryn Kenney lasted, running into the pocket queens of Daniel Negreanu in one of the first hands of the day.
Daniel Negreanu
Negreanu himself would go on to bust, getting it in good with pocket tens against the queen-ten suited of David Peters, only for his opponent to make a runner-runner flush. It would be a fiery exit, with Negreanu throwing his vlogging equipment at a wall after the river card was dealt, before leaving the tournament area.
Spaniard Adrian Mateos had started the day out as the chip leader, but it was none other than Phil Ivey who moved up the counts during the early stages to lead at the first break.
Martin Kabrhel
Meanwhile, Martin Kabrhel was his usual self; equal parts entertaining and tilting as he sparred with almost everyone at the table over the course of the day.
As the field dwindled, it was current WSOP Player of the Year leader Dan Zack who took over as chip leader with two tables remaining. Just nine places were paid, and with Tang and Katz both busting at the hands of Zack, strengthening his position at the top of the counts.
After the eliminations of Seth Davies, $100,000 High Roller champion Aleksejs Ponakovs and Jason Koon, the tournament was on the direct money bubble with plenty of healthy stacks pointing to a lengthy bubble period.
Alex Foxen could have found himself on the receiving end of one of the ugliest bubble eliminations after getting pocket aces in against the ace-king of Zack, but held to take the chip lead before Nick Petrangelo bust in tenth, losing a flip against Foxen.
Nick Petrangelo
This saw Foxen take the chip lead into the final table, with Henrik Hecklen becoming the first elimination in the money before the players bagged for the night.
The final table will resume on Saturday, June 25 at 3 p.m. with a PokerGO stream scheduled to start at 4 p.m.