The final table has been determined at the 2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas $100,000 Super High Roller event and, with seven men left, Charlie Carrel is the leader over a stacked final table. Just who is going up against the Brit at the Atlantis Resort and Casino? None other than a group that includes 2105 Player of the Year Byron Kaverman, former “Big One for One Drop” champion Dan Colman, the Global Poker League’s New York Rounders manager Bryn Kenney and 2016 European Poker Tour Barcelona High Roller champion Connor Drinan, just to name a few.
Four more players – Timothy Adams, Pascal Lefrancois, Anton Astapau and Kenney (who was also the defending champion of the tournament) – jumped into the fray before the start of Day 2 action, setting the final field for the event. A total of 54 entries were received from 41 different players, with Adams and the deep-pocketed businessman Bill Perkins taking care of six of entries between each other. Of the $5,239,080 prize pool generated by the field, only seven players would get something back for their efforts, but the big prize of $1,650,300 is what everyone had their eyes on.
The day would not be kind to several of the players who started the day atop the standings. Steve O’Dwyer, who doesn’t often visit this hemisphere to take part in poker tournaments (it will be interesting to see what he does now since the demise of the EPT), was one of the early casualties. After starting the day second in chips, O’Dwyer idled in position as he saw other contenders arise. His day would end as one of those contenders, Daniel Dvoress, pushed all in in front of O’Dwyer and O’Dwyer made the call. O’Dwyer’s A-10 failed to connect on the board, giving the hand and the knockout to Dvoress in mid-afternoon.
Another player who was rapidly dismissed from the tournament was actor/comedian Kevin Hart. The effervescent Hart, who kept a stream of commentary flowing on Friday to entertain the field while contributing two buy-ins in his own right, came into Day 2 on the short stack with only 130,000 in chips. There wasn’t enough juice in the batteries for Hart to move up any further, despite his boastful claims at the close of Day 1, as he would be eliminated by Dan Colman when Colman’s pocket threes held up over Hart’s A-6.
On the money bubble in the wee hours of Sunday, the players were looking at setting the final table for the tournament. It took some time to get to the point but, when Kaverman went to battle against Sam Greenwood, one of the men wouldn’t emerge for the better on the other side.
Both sitting with short stacks, Greenwood decided to push from the small blind with a K-J and Kaverman woke up with pocket Jacks in the big blind. After Kaverman naturally made the call, Greenwood needed a King to come to his rescue but, once the five-card board rolled off without royalty, Greenwood was left with a singular blind. That would eventually go to Carrel, who will have a good advantage at the final table this afternoon.
1. Charlie Carrel, 3.71 million
2. Dan Colman, 2.69 million
3. Jason Koon, 2.305 million
4. Daniel Dvoress, 1.64 million
5. Connor Drinan, 1.455 million
6. Byron Kaverman, 970,000
7. Bryn Kenney, 740,000
Along with the finale of the $100,000 Super High Roller event, the $5000 Main Event opens the first of two-Day Ones on Sunday, while the $2000 PokerStars National Championship enters its second day of competition. It is going to be a busy day around Paradise Island on Sunday as the PokerStars Championship Bahamas continues its run.
