The High Rollers are back from the second break of the day, with 39 left from the starting field of 159 entries. Just 23 of them will be getting paid, and as my esteemed colleague Jack Stanton shared a short while ago, there’s a huge reward of $905,760 waiting for the winner of this one.
The big “Twenty-Five-Kay” premiered in the Bahamas back in 2009 when the first $25K High Roller was added to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure schedule. Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier won that one, following up his big PCA Main Event win from the year before.
Here’s a look at the past champions in this event and what they won:
| Year | Winner | Prize | Entries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Nick Maimone | $996,480 | 173 |
| 2015 | Ilkin Garibli | $1,105,040 | 200 |
| 2014 | Jake Schindler | $1,192,624 | 198 |
| 2013 | Vanessa Selbst | $1,424,420 | 161 |
| 2012 | Alex Bilokur | $1,134,930 | 141 |
| 2011 | Will Molson | $1,072,850 | 151 |
| 2010 | William Reynolds | $576,240 | 84 |
| 2009 | Bertrand Grospellier | $433,500 | 48 |
Will Molson took second in that very first $25K High Roller here on Paradise Island, then he turned around and finished runner-up again in the same event the very next year when William Reynolds took the trophy.
That made it all the more sweet for Molson in 2011 when he finally broke through to win, capping an impressive — and unequalled — three-year sequence in the event.
In 2012, Alex Bilokur followed Molson to earn a seven-figure score in the event, then Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst won what remains the biggest first prize for her victory in 2013. Selbst nearly repeated her performance the following year, finishing third in 2014 when Jake Schindler took the title.
Ilkin Garibli then won in 2015 following a memorably long heads-up battle with Joe Kuether. And last year Nick Maimone just barely missed making seven figures thanks to the terms of a heads-up deal struck with eventual second-place finisher Sean Winter.
Looking at the counts as this one careens towards the money, only the first of this group — “ElkY” — remains with chips and a chance at capturing a second $25K High Roller title at the Atlantis.Â
Grospellier currently sits in the middle of the pack with stack just below the average (185,000). Meanwhile Sergio Aido (578,000), Sam Greenwood (550,000), and Nick Petrangelo (401,000) are the pace-setters, and Andrew Chen, Ami Barer, Koray Aldemir, and Nacho Barbero among the group of short stacks in danger of missing out on the cash.
For live updates from the $25K High Roller, visit PokerNews.
Take a look at the official website of PokerStars LIVE, with tournament schedule, news, results and accommodation details for the PokerStars Championship Bahamas and all other Festival and Championship events.
Also all the information is on the PokerStars LIVE App, which is available on both Android or IOS.
Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.
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