Super High Roller Bowl Day 1 Recap
Superstar comedian Kevin Hart takes center stage in $300k buy-in poker tournament.
Doug Polk, Pratyush Buddiga and Jason Les among 44 remaining players.
The 2017 Super High Roller Bowl began Sunday at the ARIA Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, with roughly 25,000 fans tuning-in to the free PokerGO introductory cast on Twitch, according to TwoPlusTwo NVG contributor reports.
Day 1 coverage focused heavily on the Featured Table, which included 14-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, $17 million live event cash prize recipient Bryn Kenney, mainstream celebrity Kevin Hart, businessman Cary Katz and EPT Monte Carlo Season 8 champion Justin Bonomo.
However, it was Hart who successfully carried the table banter throughout Sunday’s show; impressing his fellow competitors, live viewing fans, along with PokerGO announcers Ali Nejad and Nick Schulman in the process.
Hellmuth late-showed Day 1 in typical Poker Brat fashion, which actually resulted in the big-name personality sitting out about as much of the tournament as he played. Two “cooler” hands against Bonomo and Hart ensured the Wisconsin native’s early exit — first getting his Set outflopped by Bonomo’s Straight and subsequently running into a Set-over-Set scenario against Hart. Fellow high profile players Haralabos Voulgaris and John Juanda were also eliminated on the opening day, leaving 44 players remaining to battle for an appearance at the May 31st final table.
Ohio poker tournament specialist Byron Kaverman is the chip leader heading into Day 2 action with a stack of approximately 1.25 million (Blinds: 1500/3000/BB Ante 3k). Fedor Holz has amassed an impressive 800k tower and enters Monday afternoon’s broadcast in third place. The eventual 2017 SHRB winner will receive $6,000,000 USD.
Doug Polk, Pratyush Buddiga & Jason Les Updates
Upswing Poker featured pro Doug Polk was unable to chip-up from his Day 1 starting stack, but still managed to have a great time and remain in the hunt for a seven-figure payday.
Bagged 244k. Had an awesome time playing today w/ @PlayPokerLkAMan @dpeterspoker17 @ByronKaverman @ZachAHyman @kurganovigor + Christoph V.
— gN Doug Polk (@DougPolkPoker) May 29, 2017
Libratus victim and last year’s WSOP Main Event 15th Place finisher Jason Les also heads into Day 2 with less than 100 Big Blinds and will be looking to increase his stack along with Upswing Tournament Master Class instructor Pratyush Buddiga, who enters Monday’s action with 387,500 chips.
We are headed to day 2 of the Aria #SHRB with 194,000 chips
— Jason Les (@heyitscheet) May 29, 2017
Upswing Poker Party Details Announced
In case you missed Doug’s Newsletter message early Monday, the Upswing Poker Party will take place Friday, July 7th, at the Surrender nightclub inside Wynn Las Vegas from 7-10pm local time (PST). The first 1,000 guests to RSVP their attendance will receive FREE ENTRY into Surrender along with 2 complimentary drinks.
Sign Up Here to confirm your reservation and receive free entrance plus 2 free drinks.
Exclusive PokerGO SHRB Coverage
Fans will need to subscribe directly to the premium PokerGO.com service to enjoy further live stream (30 minute delay) action of the 2017 SHRB, which continues Monday afternoon and lasts through June 1st. Our readers who would like to review feedback on the product ($10/mo, $99/yr) before deciding whether to subscribe are encouraged to visit the official TwoPlusTwo News, Views & Gossip forum thread.