PCA High Roller Championship -- Day 3Tobias Reinkemeier Leads Final Eight |
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A total of 24 players returned to the Imperial Ballroom at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure High Roller Championship, but only a third of them would survive the day and make the EPT Live final table of eight. Furthermore, a third of them would walk away from the tournament with nothing at all, as only 16 players made the money.
The day started off fast, as has been the case with the entire tournament, and we quickly saw the likes of Christian Kruel, Nick Schulman, Brett Richey, and Bill Edler hit the rail. Then a hand went down that had the whole room talking and it led to one of the next eliminations. Here it is, as it appeared on the Card Player live updates page.
What’s Going On Here?
Team PokerStars pro Sandra Naujoks raised preflop, and Vivek Rajkumar made the call from the big blind. The flop came down 9
7
2, and Rajkumar bet 18,500.
Naujoks called, and the turn was the 3
. Rajkumar checked, and Naujoks bet 28,000. Rajkumar called, and the river was the 3.
Rajkumar checked, and Naujoks moved all in for 89,500. Rajkumar tanked for a few minutes, calling out hands he could beat that fit Naujok’s line, such as 6-5 and J-10. Eventually, he said, “I don’t think I can fold,” and made the call.
Naujoks tapped the table, gathered her things, and said, “nice hand,” as she flipped up A J.
“What is going on here?” said Rajkumar. “So stupid, so stupid,” as he revealed a worse ace high with A 8. Naujoks, who had left the table, had to be told that she had the best hand and didn’t seem to process the information even after she saw the cards.
She eventually sat back down to 294,000 in chips, while Rajkumar took a dip to 81,000. We don’t want to speculate on Rajkumar’s line of thought, but it appeared as though he felt Naujoks would check behind any better aces than his, simply because she had showdown value and that the only thing she could be shoving was air.
Rajkumar was eliminated a short time thereafter, and then it was just a matter of determining who would be given the unfortunate title of “bubble boy.” The answer came from an unlikely source in Team PokerStars pro Dario Minieri, who had been spent the better part of two days as the chip leader. After giving most of his chips to Uruguay’s Adolfo Vaeza, Minieri made his move. Once again, as it appeared in the live updates.
Dario Minieri Bubbles The Money
Dario Minieri raised all in from under the gun for his last 109,000, and Alex Brenes went into the tank. Not only did he go into the tank, but he also got up and checked out the action on the other tables before returning to his chair.
Brenes counted out the call and realized that he’d still have 45,000 or so left if he were to lose. He stood up again, saying several times that his decision was a close one, but the table wasn’t really buying it. A few hands earlier, Isaac Baron had commented that Brenes was taking an exaggerated amount of time with even the simplest of decisions.
William Reynolds then asked the floor if he was allowed to get up and walk around while making a decision. Minieri, confident that he was witnessing an acting job, pulled out a $5 bill, stating that he bet Brenes would fold. Then, when Brenes didn’t respond, Minieri pulled out five more $1 bills and doubled his bet.
Apparently that triggered something, and Brenes announced a call, revealing 9 9
. Reynolds then folded his big blind, saying he folded A-Q. That was bad news for Minieri, who held A Q. The board fell Q 9 6 3 J, and Minieri was eliminated by a set of nines.
With everyone safely in the money and guaranteed a payday of $41,160, play loosened up a bit, and we steadily lost players en route to the final table. The mounting blinds and antes claimed players at a steady pace right up until the final-table bubble itself. Here’s who finished in the money along the way.
16. James Calderaro — $41,160
15. Shawn Buchanan — $41,160
14. Isaac Baron — $46,304
13. Greg Raymer — $46,304
12. Carter Phillips — $51,450
11. Joe Cada — $51,450
10. Alex Brenes — $56,595
9. Sandra Naujoks — $56,595
When play reached the final table of nine, it was 7 p.m. It took another four and a half hours before we would lose Team PokerStars pro Sandra Naujoks and complete the EPT Live final table.
Here’s a look at the chip counts.
Seat 1: Adolfo Vaeza — 758,000
Seat 2: William Reynolds — 482,000
Seat 3: Michiel Brummelhuis — 394,000
Seat 4: Dmitry Stelmak — 150,000
Seat 5: Will Molson — 669,000
Seat 6: Tobias Reinkemeier — 1,072,000
Seat 7: Lisa Hamilton — 440,000
Seat 8: Matt Marafioti — 236,000
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