Rainer Kempe Wins $5 Million in the 2016 Super High Roller Bowl

Rainer Kempe Wins $5 Million in the 2016 Super High Roller Bowl
A total of 49 players from around the world and various professions forked up the $300,000 buy in to play one of the choice events in 2016 – The Super High Roller Bowl. There was a lot of anticipation and hype surrounding the event this year. With the announcement of additional prizes, and the rake free buy in, players were looking forward to this event like they would a WSOP bracelet event. It took 3 days of superior play to grind the field from 49 to 7. If you were lucky enough to catch any of the live stream on CBS, you were witness some fantastic poker. Surprisingly, one of the favorites – Antonio Esfandiari would be one of the first players eliminated. Still in the field were Hellmuth, Negranue, Laak, Shak, Seidel and others. The title was up for grabs. By Wednesday, it was down to the final 7 players, and where the money started being paid out. If you made the money, you were guaranteed a double up. Dan Shak would be the recipient of that $600,000 cash prize for finishing in 7th place. While the field was mainly Americans, the Germans were story of the day. Heading in to the final 7, German pro, Rainer Kempe had a large chip lead over the rest of the field. It appeared the remaining players were playing for 2nd. They didn't get that memo however. The German pro would hold his ground, playing a conservative game and picking his spots. He would knock out Matt Berkey in 5th place and increase his chip lead slightly. When play was down to four, it was Hellmuth, Seidel, and fellow German Fedor Holz. Seidel and Hellmuth swapped short stacks for some time, with Erik holding out and finishing in 3rd. What Seidel accomplished was a perfect display of how to play the short stack. He was patient, made the correct all ins, and never looked worried. His mountain was too high to climb as he needed about 10 more double ups to have a shot at winning and would eventually bust out in 3rd place for $2.4 million. During three handed play, Holz managed to chip away at Kempe's lead. He got it down to just 2-1 at one point. By the time it was heads up, Kempe still had over a 2-1 chip lead and looked like he was going to run away with it. Holz had other plans when he doubled up and actually took the lead at one point. But by 1 AM Las Vegas time, Kempe managed to wear down his fellow German and would take home a $5 million prize along with a new car and other prizes added to this year's pool.
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