Cary Katz Wins ARIA High Roller For $137,340

Cary Katz surpassed $34 million in career poker tournament earnings in the early morning hours of Friday, Feb. 25. Katz achieved this milestone thanks to a win in the first of three high-stakes events being held this week at the February ARIA High Roller Series. The 52-year-old defeated a field of 41 total entries in the $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament to earn $137,340 and his 26th recorded title.

Katz currently sits in 10th place on poker’s all-time money list with $34,133,141, and is less than $240,000 behind ninth-ranked Fedor Holz ($34,373,043).

In addition to the title and the money, Katz also secured plenty of rankings points for this latest victory. He earned 300 Card Player Player of the Year points for his fourth POY-qualified final-table finish of 2022. He now sits in 14th place on the POY leaderboard as a result. He also took home 137 PokerGO Tour points for the win. With 483 total points, he now sits in sixth place in the PGT race.

The tournament attracted a total of 41 entries, building a prize pool of $410,000 that was paid out among the top six finishers. Ed Sebesta was knocked out on the bubble to ensure the remaining players all earned at least $20,500. That sum was ultimately paid out to Alex Foxen, who finished sixth when his A-7 failed to beat out the K-Q of Michael Lang in a preflop showdown.

Sean Perry was the next to fall when his A-10 suited clashed with the pocket jacks of five-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Brian Rast. Perry, who was fresh off of a pair of victories during the recent PokerGO Cup, took home $32,800 as the fifth-place finisher.

2018 POY award winner Jake Schindler was left on fumes when his 99 raced against the K10 of Katz. Kings up gave Katz the key pot, while Schindler was eliminated moments later (4th – $45,100).

Katz scored his first knockout in the money when his AK held up against the A9 of Lang. Both players paired their kickers on the flop, and Katz’s kings remained best through the river.

With that Katz’s stack grew to 3,245,000 while Rast sat with 855,000. The two decided to make a deal to redistribute the remaining prize pool, with Katz securing $137,340 and the title while Rast earned $108,660 as the runner-up finisher.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded in this event:

Photo credit: PokeGO / Antonio Abrego.

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