Event #82: Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em

Only five players remain after the money bubble was burst late on Day 2 of Event #82: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em. Adrian Mateos will lead the way into the final day with 25,500,000 chips, a commanding lead over the rest of his competitors.

Mateos bagged up over half of the chips in play, most of which was accumulated while the short stacks navigated the money bubble late on Day 2. The three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner will be the odds on favorite to capture his fourth title and the $3,265,362 payday that comes along with it.

Entering the day near the top of the leaderboard, Mateos got off to a quick start by doubling up through Michael Addamo in the first orbit. From there, it was pretty smooth sailing for the Spanish poker pro who has over $21 million in career earnings. In the last hour of the night, Mateos clashed with Keith Tilston in what was the largest pot of the night. A four-bet pot quickly escalated between the two chip leaders and Mateos finally forced a fold from his opponent after barrelling three streets.

Tilston will also be joining Mateos tomorrow in the final five as the only other player to have won a WSOP gold bracelet. Tilston sits second in chips with 8,900,000 after cracking the money bubble and sending Christoph Vogelsang home in sixth place. Ben Heath (6,500,000), Seth Davies (4,550,000), and John Kincaid (3,925,000) round out the rest of the field who will battle for the title.

$250,000 Super High Roller Final Table

Day 2 Action

Late registration remained open until the start of play which attracted eight more entries, including four brand new players. That brought the total number of entries to 33 with 26 of them being unique entries and seven players choosing to put up $500,000 for this tournament. It created a total prize pool of $8,217,000 which would be spread out across five places.

One of the biggest headlines, and maybe a matchup that everyone wanted to see play out on day Day 3, were the two chip leaders Michael Addamo and Ali Imsirovic go toe-to-toe. However, it wasn't meant to be for either of them as they both bowed out early in the day well before the money.

Another talking point on the day had to do with COVID-19 and a contract that the majority of the players agreed to sign due to the high buy-in and another player recently testing positive. It was sanctioned by the players on Day 1 that the WSOP had nothing to do with. In short, the contract stated that any player who tested positive would receive 95% of their ICM value returned to them, which would come out of the payouts proportionally. Fortunately, that has not come into play as of yet.

Back to action on the felt, the path to the final table steamrolled through the first four levels with multiple three-bets, four-bets, and monster pots being played at all tables. Some others to take a backseat throughout the day included Justin Bonomo, Timofey Kuznetsov, Jake Schindler, and Dan Smith. Coming back from the dinner break, it was Daniel Negreanu who was the shortest stack and he ran into the pocket jacks of Vogelsang, leaving the final table of eight players.

From there, it turned into a stalemate with plenty of chips in play and a huge money bubble looming. Over two hours later, the blinds finally caught up with Stephen Chidwick who bowed out in eighth place. David Peters was next on the chopping block after he ran his pocket queens into the pocket aces of Davies. With just six remaining, the players were treading lightly on the money bubble of over $630,000.

After winning the big pot off Tilston near the end of the night, Mateos took full advantage of the bubble and the other short stacks. He chipped away and continued to grow his lead throughout. As the stacks became more shallow, the players began to push their chips into the middle more frequently. Multiple double-ups occurred on the bubble but it all came crashing down for Vogelsang.

In the last hand of the night, Tilston ripped all in from the small blind and Vogelsang called off his last eight big blinds in the big blind. Tilston was ahead with ace-jack against the king-nine of Vogelsang. The German poker pro was unable to find any help on the board and bowed out in sixth place, leaving the remaining five players with a guaranteed prize of over $600,000 and a chance to fight for the title tomorrow.

Final Table Payouts

The action is slated to get underway at 4 p.m. local time with around 35 minutes remaining in level 20. The blinds will be at 125,000/250,000 with a 250,000 big blind ante. The levels will continue to be 60 minutes in length and the action can be seen on the PokerGO stream on a delay. The PokerNews live reporting team will also be here to bring you the live updates as the action unfolds inside the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.

The action folded to Keith Tilston in the small blind who dropped in five 1,000,000 chips. Christoph Vogelsang was in the big blind with just over 1,500,000 and his tournament life potentially at risk. Vogelsang went through two time banks before calling off his stack.

Christoph Vogelsang:   
Keith Tilston:   

The flop came     to give both players a straight draw. The   on the turn and the   on the river missed everyone and Tilston's ace-high held on to eliminate Vogelsang on the bubble. The remaining five players will now bag up their chips and return at 4 p.m. local time tomorrow.

Christoph Vogelsang

0

-2,825,000

Keith Tilston raised to 500,000 and Christoph Vogelsang raised to 1,000,000 from the button, leaving just 100,000 behind.

The flop was     and both players checked.

The turn was   and Tilston bet 100,000 and Vogelsang called for the last of his stack. Tilston turned over    for a pair of queens and Vogelsang tabled    for the flush. The inconsequential   fell on the river and Vogelsang secured an important double.

Keith Tilston	3,025,000	-1,375,000
Christoph Vogelsang	2,825,000	1,125,000

The action folded to Adrian Mateos in the small blind who raised to 3,000,000 and Keith Tilston called off his last 2,100,000 from the big blind.

Keith Tilston:   
Adrian Mateos:   

The flop came     to give Tilston a stranglehold on the hand with a pair of queens. The   on the turn gave Mateos a few outs but the   on the river ensured a double up for Tilston. Christoph Vogelsang is now the shortest stack at the table as he has blinded out to 1,700,000.

Adrian Mateos	21,200,000	1,400,000
Keith Tilston	4,400,000	200,000
Christoph Vogelsang	1,700,000	-1,525,000

Seth Davies raised to 450,000 in the hijack and David Peters three-bet to 1,200,000 in the small blind. The action was back on Davies who four-bet shoved all in for 4,250,000 and Peters quickly called.

Seth Davies:   
David Peters:   

Not only did Davies have the better of the two pairs, but he also had both suits covered. The board ran out       and Davies doubled through Peters, leaving him with around five big blinds.

Seth Davies	8,800,000	4,600,000
David Peters	1,100,000	-5,220,000

The action folded to Keith Tilston on the button who made it 400,000 to go. Christoph Vogelsang three-bet shoved all in from the small blind and Tilston instantly called for his remaining 5,950,000 chips.

Keith Tilston:   
Christoph Vogelsang:   

The flop of     gave nothing but a straight draw to Vogelsang. The   on the turn and the   on the river kept it clean for Tilston who doubled into the chip lead.

Keith Tilston	12,300,000	6,350,000
Christoph Vogelsang	3,225,000	-5,200,000

Ben Heath raised to 320,000 in early position and was called by Keith Tilston in the big blind. The flop came     and Tilston check-called a bet of 360,000 from Heath.

The turn brought the   and both players checked to the   on the river. Tilston led out with a bet of 1,200,000 which forced Heath to use two of his time banks. Heath eventually made the call and Tilston showed    for a missed straight draw while Heath held    for a pair of tens.

Ben Heath	7,100,000	1,835,000
Keith Tilston	2,040,000	-2,120,000

David Peters raised to 320,000 from middle position and Adrian Mateos raised to 950,000 from the next seat over. Peters called and the flop was    .

Peters checked the flop and Mateos bet 550,000. Peters check-called and the turn was  .

The turn was checked by Peters once again and Mateos continued for 1,700,000, sending Peters into the tank.

After thinking over his options, Peters tossed his hand in the muck and gave the pot to Mateos.

Adrian Mateos	10,075,000	1,975,000
David Peters	7,620,000	-1,020,000

David Peters raised to 320,000 from under the gun and was called by Keith Tilston in the hijack and John Kincaid in the big blind. The flop came     and the action checked through to the   turn and the   river.

Kincaid finally threw in a bet of 550,000 and Peters folded but Tilston called. Kincaid showed    for a set of deuces and scooped the pot.

A couple of hands later, Peters made it 620,000 from the small blind and Adrian Mateos called from the big blind. The flop fell     and once again the action was checked to the   turn and the   river.

Peters bombed a bet of 1,050,000 and Mateos quickly flicked in a chip to call. Peters showed    for just nine-high and Mateos tabled his    to win the pot.

David Peters	8,640,000	-2,010,000
Adrian Mateos	8,100,000	995,000
John Kincaid	7,550,000	550,000
Keith Tilston	4,160,000	-465,000