WSOPE Super High Roller: Nitsche chipleader, Ivey privé de finale
The largest high roller tournament of the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe is down to just seven players. After another nine levels of poker on Day 2 of Event #4: €250,000 Super High Roller, Dominik Nitsche will lead the final seven players heading into the final day in search of a gold bracelet. Nitsche bagged up a sizeable chip lead with 42,500,000 chips to put some distance between him and his counterparts.
Nitsche has a knack for winning high roller events, especially at King's Resort in the town of Rozvadov. Just two years ago, the German collected his fourth WSOP bracelet in the $111,111 High Roller for One Drop at the WSOP Europe for a whopping payday of nearly €3.5 million. He backed that up with three cashes in high-roller tournaments last year to top the all-time King's Resort winnings list with over $5.6 million.
While Nitsche will be the odds-on favorite to claim another title when the action resumes, the path to victory won't be set in stone with six other very talented players still in the mix. Chin Wei Lim sits in second place with a stack of 23,900,000 followed by Cary Katz with 20,000,000 as the only three players with over 20 big blinds. Tony G (18,600,000), Christoph Vogelsang (16,300,000), Ryan Riess (15,600,000), and James Chen (13,100,000) round out the remaining players. Chen, who held the chip lead for 90% of the day, had a disastrous last couple of levels and will need to turn things around tomorrow if he hopes to reach the money.
Seat Assignments for the Final Day
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dominik Nitsche | Germany | 42,500,000 | 42 |
| 2 | James Chen | Taiwan | 13,100,000 | 13 |
| 3 | Christoph Vogelsang | Germany | 16,300,000 | 16 |
| 4 | Chin Wei Lim | Malysia | 23,900,000 | 24 |
| 5 | Cary Katz | United States | 20,000,000 | 20 |
| 6 | Ryan Riess | United States | 15,600,000 | 15 |
| 7 | Tony G | Lithuania | 18,600,000 | 18 |
There were 15 players who returned from Day 1 and they were joined by five re-entries along with one new entry before late registration closed. That one new entry belonged to the one and only Phil Ivey who everyone on the rail had their eyes on. Fittingly so, Ivey drew the seat with the sign "Play Like a King" plastered on the wall directly behind him. Unfortunately for one of the greatest to play the game, his time was limited at the table as he eventually hit the rail in 13th place.
It was a rough time at the felt for many others as well, especially Adrian Mateos and Kahle Burns who both put up three buy-ins but were unable to spin up a stack for a shot at the money. A couple of key bust-outs involved Orpen Kisacikoglu and Matthias Eibinger who both took brutal beats before the final table could be reached.
For Kisacikoglu, he three-bet Vogelsang and then shoved all in for 2x pot with the nut flush draw. Vogelsang made a surprising call with a jack-high flush draw but managed to spike a jack on the river which left Kisacikoglu shaking his head. Eibinger also found himself on the wrong side of a cooler after flopping middle set against Katz's top set. Eibinger also stormed out of the tournament in disbelief as their hopes of a big payday were diminished.
Once the final table was reached, it was two of the Malaysian high-rollers who were the first to exit. Richard Yong couldn't keep his short stack afloat as he bowed out in ninth place and Paul Phua was the next to hit the rail in eighth place. Amidst the two eliminations, there were many double-ups in the last three levels that will result in seven players returning for Day 3 with the average stack just slightly over 20 big blinds.
Only five players will make it into the money which means two of them will still be leaving empty-handed. It's a massive money bubble with a min-cash being worth over $500,000. The lion's share of the money is weighted at the top of the payouts but just making it into the money will be an award in itself.
Payouts
| Place | Prize (in EUR) | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | €2,844,215 | $3,157,079 |
| 2 | €1,757,857 | $1,951,221 |
| 3 | €1,185,161 | $1,315,529 |
| 4 | €799,045 | $886,940 |
| 5 | €538,722 | $597,981 |
The cards will go back in the air at 2 p.m. local time with the blinds resuming at 500,000/1,000,000 and a 1,000,000 big blind ante. Each player will be refreshed with a new set of six time extensions. Again, the PokerNews updates will be posted on a delay to remain in sync with the live stream that will be aired on a 30-minute delay. Continue to follow along with all of the updates to find out who will make the money and who will be awarded a WSOP gold bracelet by the day's end.