Jake Schindler Wins The 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller

Jake Schindler has won the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 no-limit hold’em high roller, earning the first-place prize of $1,192,624 after overcoming Greg Merson to secure the title. The two made a deal once heads-up play began, setting aside $200,000 from the prize pool and splitting the remainder to assure Schindler at least $992,624 and Merson $948,996 based on their chip counts, leaving the trophy, a swiss watch from Slyde worth $17,500 and the extra money to play for.

On the final four hands of play Merson moved all-in preflop without looking at his cards, and on the final hand Schindler agreed to also shove blind. “That was his idea,” said Schindler after play ended. “At first I was going to wait for a good hand to call with, Q-7 or better, but I didn’t feel like waiting anymore.”

Schindler’s K10 held up against Merson’s 94, with both players making one pair on a board of 1083A4. With that Schindler sent Merson to the rail with as the runner-up, falling just short of his fourth live career title and his third seven-figure live score. With that Schindler secured his largest career score, taking home a total of $1,192,624.

“I’m pretty numb right now,” said the former Pennsylvanian who now lives in Florida. “I don’t know to think. I’m kind of speechless.”

Early on the third and final day of play the record-setting field of 247 was narrowed down to just eight players, with a number of tournament poker’s top professionals looking to add the next huge score. From rising superstar Ole Schemion to Robert Mizrachi to Merson, there was plenty of heavy-hitting talent at this final table. The storyline that drew the most attention, however, was Vanessa Selbst’s run at defending her win in this event in 2013. Last year she topped a field of 204 to win over $1.4 million.

Selbst had already had an impressive run at the 2014 PCA, finishing third in the $100,000 super high roller for $760,640 and then making a deep run in the $10,300 main event, ultimately busting in 42nd place. She entered the final day as the chip leader, and made it to three handed play with the lead before losing a few big hands to become the shortest stack.

On her final hand she got all-in with A-9 versus Schindler’s A10. The board ran out AQ35K to send Selbst to the rail in third place, earning $607,580 for her impressive run at a title defense.

When asked what his thoughts were on his final table competition, Schindler said, " I thought it was going to be pretty tough, which it definitely was. It was really hard to put them on hands and assess their ranges and what not. It was definitely a really tough experience but a really awesome one."

When asked who he had the most trouble against he admitted, “Vanessa. She just doesn’t give up. She’s super resilient. She keeps battling.”

Here is a look at the payouts awarded at this final table:

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