Congratulations to Jake Schindler, Winner of The $25,000 High Roller ($1,192,624)
After an epic final table, it was Jake Schindler who took down the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller. Schindler topped a field of 247 entries and walked away $1,192,624 richer after eliminating former World Series of Poker Main Event champion Greg Merson in second place.
The third and final day started with 14 hopefuls all looking for that seven-figure score. Among those, there were two Team PokerStars Pros, one of which held the chip lead and was also the defending champion looking for an amazing back-to-back performance. Vanessa Selbst started at the top, while Daniel Negreanu sat in the middle of the pack. However, Negreanu was eliminated during the first few minutes of play.
Negreanu ended up all in holding kings against Merson��s aces., and the Global Poker Index Player of the Decade was knocked out in 14th place. The next player to go was Dan Smith, just minutes later. Smith was all in with pocket fours against Schindler��s aces and the board brought him no help.
Dani Stern, the 12th-place finisher, was very unlucky as he had his kings beat by Mustapha Kanit��s ace-eight. Stern took home $98,560, and on the very next hand we were down to 10 as Paul Newey ran king-ten into Aleksandr Denisov��s ace-king. Newey did record his biggest cash to date, though, walking away with $110,740.
Myro Garcia from Brazil finished on the final table bubble when he lost a big coinflip against Selbst. Garcia got it in holding ace-king versus Selbst��s pocket tens and he did not find a way to stay alive. At the final table, it was Selbst who held a million-chip lead over Merson who was in second place.
At the beginning of the final table, Ole Schemion doubled through his fellow countryman Marvin Rettenmaier. Schemion turned a straight on Rettenmaier, who held aces. Rettenmaier busted a few hands later when he lost a race with pocket eights versus Merson��s ace-ten.
After a very long and quiet period in which Schindler grabbed the chip lead, it was Joao Vieira who was knocked out in eighth place. Vieira held the chip lead on Day 2 for a long time, but the final day wasn��t his. The Portuguese pro ran pocket nines into Rob Mizrachi��s pocket kings. This hand started a brief moment in which Mizrachi took control of the table, but his chip lead did not last long.
The next player to go was Schemion. The young, rising German star made the $100,000 Super High Roller final table earlier this week and added another $216,040 to his impressive list of results in this event. Schemion played his usual aggressive style and was knocked out when he ran ace-jack suited into Kanit��s ace-king.
Denisov waited, and waited, and waited while all of this was going on. The Russian player was extremely short and he busted shortly after Schemion in sixth place. Then, Mizrachi was next to go in fifth place as he ran king-jack into Selbst��s pair of eights. Mizrachi put up a tough fight and walked away with $389,720.
Italian pro Mustapha Kanit was knocked out in fourth place for $492,600. Kanit lost a huge pot to Schindler where he rivered a straight, but his opponent had made a flush. On Kanit��s last hand, he ran pocket jacks into Selbst��s aces and then there were just three players remaining.
In a shocking turn of events, Selbst was the next player to go. The defending champion lost two big pots within hands of each other and that caused her hit the rail in third place. Selbst collected $607,580, and in total she cashed for over $1.4 million over three tournaments this week. On Selbst��s final hand, she ran ace-nine into Schindler��s ace-ten.
On the very last hand of the tournament both Merson and Schindler agreed to go all in blind. Merson showed nine-four off suit against Schindler��s king-ten. The board brought no help for Merson, and he was knocked out in second place, making Schindler the new PCA $25,000 High Roller champion. Merson took home $948,996 after a heads-up deal, while Schindler won $1,192,624 in first-place prize money.