Jonathan Jaffe moved all in from middle position for his remaining 1,330,000 and was called by Ben Heath in late position.
However, Chance Kornuth would go into the tank on the button, using one of his remaining time banks before announcing a raise to 3,100,000. Heath folded and the cards were on their backs.
Jonathan Jaffe: A♦K♥
Chance Kornuth: K♦K♣
Jaffe would need to spike an ace or some broadway straight cards in order to improve, but Kornuth would get a clean runout in the form of a Q♥7♦5♦9♥2♦ final board to send Jaffe to the rail.
Chris Brewer raised to 360,000 from middle position and action folded around to Christoph Vogelsang in the small blind, who after a few moments of deliberation, decided to commit his remaining chips worth 3,095,000. Brewer made the quick call.
Christoph Vogelsang: A♦K♣
Chris Brewer: A♠Q♥
Vogelsang was in great shape to double-up, but the poker gods were not smiling down, as the dealer delivered the Q♠ right in the window on a flop of 8♦5♥Q♠.
No additional help was afforded Vogelsang after a final board of 8♦5♥Q♠2♦6♣, sending him to the rail.
After a three-bet from Martin Kabrhel in the small blind, Koray Aldemir four-bet all in for 4,650,000 on the button and Kabrhel would use a time bank before making the call.
Koray Aldemir: A♠Q♣
Martin Kabrhel: K♥7♥
The J♠9♠5♣5♠ board was looking good for Aldemir on both the flop and turn, but a river K♣ would give Kabrhel the best hand to send Aldemir to the rail in 14th place.
Martin Kabrhel raised to 400,000 from early position and Henrik Hecklen three-bet all-in for 3,050,000. Dan Smith requested a count from the small blind and would make the call. Kabrhel folded.
Henrik Hecklen: A♣J♥
Dan Smith: 9♣9♠
Smith's pair would hold on the 2♠6♦2♦10♦4♥ runout and Hecklen hit the rail.
The action folded to Phil Ivey on the button who shipped all in for around 4,200,000. Martin Kabrhel asked for a count in the big blind but then quickly called to put Ivey at risk. Once the action was finished at the other table, the cards were turned face up.
Phil Ivey: A♥3♥
Martin Kabrhel: Q♠Q♣
The flop came J♥7♠7♦ and Kabrhel was still well out front with his pair of queens. The 6♠ on the turn and the 3♠ on the river was not enough for Ivey to survive as he was eliminated on the money bubble.
Dan Smith raised in late position and Ben Heath three-bet all in for his remaining chips — roughly 1,500,000 — with Smith making the call shortly after.
Ben Heath: A♠10♠
Dan Smith: Q♣J♠
Heath was ahead but Smith would spike a queen on the 7♦6♣Q♠ flop to jump out front and would stay there on the 2♠ turn and the 7♥ river to eliminate the Brit in 11th place.
The action folded around to Chris Brewer in the small blind who shoved all in as the big stack. Alfred Decarolis was in the big blind with a stack of around 1,800,000 and called it off.
Alfred Decarolis: Q♠5♠
Chris Brewer: A♦9♣
The flop came J♠9♠9♥ and Brewer flopped three nines to take a stranglehold on the hand. Decarolis had a flush draw but the J♦ on the turn negated any hope of that. The river was the 8♣ and Decarolis was eliminated in 10th place.
It was rail heaven again today at the Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas, as dozens of spectators would make their way through the event center to get a glimpse of some of the best poker players in the world battling it out in Event #40: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold’em.
Play concluded at the end of Level 18 and the tournament was able to reach the final table with nine players bagging up for the night.
The ultra-high buy-in event drew a record field of 69 entries, topping last year's turnout of 56 and creating a total prize pool of $17,181,000, with $5,293,556 going to the eventual winner.
Event #40: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em - Day 3 Seat Draw
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Steven Veneziano
United States
6,775,000
23
2
Chris Brewer
United States
8,525,000
28
3
Martin Kabrhel
Czech Republic
18,400,000
61
4
Brandon Steven
United States
3,225,000
11
5
Chance Kornuth
United States
22,450,000
75
6
Artur Martirosian
Russia
18,225,000
61
7
Dan Smith
United States
7,800,000
26
8
Alex Kulev
Bulgaria
12,600,000
42
9
David Peters
United States
4,925,000
16
Leading the way is Chance Kornuth with 22,450,000 in chips. Kornuth entered the day as one of the Day 1 chip leaders and never looked back, winning a big pot off Phil Hellmuth and eliminating Jonathan Jaffe early in the day to remain atop the leaderboard.
Speaking of Day 1 chip leaders, the story of Dustin Bailey, the recreational player that entered the tournament on a dare from his friends while playing roulette, would come to a close. Bailey finished out Day 1 at the top of the chip counts but would ultimately hit the rail shortly before the dinner break when his A♠10♠ would stay unimproved against the J♠J♣ of Russian poker-pro Artur Martirosian.
Not far behind Kornuth is the polarizing, Martin Kabrhel, who outtalked and outplayed his opponents on the way to a chip stack of 18,400,000. One of the days biggest hands happened during the 100,000/200,000 blind level, which saw Kabrhel three-bet the button open of former Main Event champion Koray Aldemir from the small blind and then announce, "ok, let's go, bad beat," before calling Aldemir's four-bet all-in for around 4,600,000. Aldemir's A♠Q♣ was ahead of Kabrhel's K♥7♥ and maintained that lead on the J♠9♠5♣ flop and the 5♠ turn, but the K♣ river sent Aldemir to the rail in 14th place, just before the money-bubble broke.
Martirosian is nipping at both players' heels, bagging up 18,225,000 to round out the top three.
Another familiar face reached the final table for the second year in a row, last year’s runner-up, Brandon Steven, who was able to bag up 3,225,000. Steven had an up-and-down day but held tough and battled back from starting the day as one of the shortest stacks.
All-stars Chris Brewer, Dan Smith, and David Peters will also be back on the final day battling for one of poker's most coveted prizes. Perhaps not as well known, but still very much in contention, are Steven Veneziano and Alex Kulev, who round out the final nine.
Phil Ivey bubbled the $250,000 Super High Roller
Late registration was open until the start of Day 2 and saw the likes of Kabrhel, Daniel Negreanu, Bryn Kenney, Sean Winter, Alex Foxen, Sean Perry and Rick Solomon all enter, with only Kabrhel making a deep run.
