Pure Poker Tour Series #6 – Event #10: $2,000 Highroller

Sebastian Lampreau is the leader after Day 1 of the High Roller. He has 218k to lead the final 13, but Seniors winner and runner-up in the Main from Series #5 Kim Graham also has more than 200k for second place.

The entry desk is still open at the poker room cage tonight and players can buy in until the start of Level 12 on Day 2. Just a reminder that players who buy in before cards go in the air on Day 2 will get the discounted price of $1,900, but it jumps back to $2,000 once day 2 play begins.

High Roller Chips After Day 1

They are playing the final three hands of the night now with 14 players left in the game. Stay tuned for a look at the stacks and players moving on to Day 2 in a few minutes.

Level 9 has just begun and this will be the final level of play today. The bags will come out once this level is complete and they’ll return on Wednesday at 1 PM to finish it out. Entries are still open for 2 levels on Day 2, and any entries between 11PM this evening and the start of play tomorrow will be at the discounted $1,900 buy-in.

Level 7 is about half complete and they field is at 27 entries now and 20 players still alive. That puts the prizes at $46,170. Players have the rest of Day 1 to buy in and can still get a seat as later as the end of Level 11 on Day 2 so the numbers will likely still grow some.

At the moment, the buy-in is $2,000, but once they bag up tonight, the price will drop again to $1,900 until the start of Day 2 when it returns to $2,000 for entries during the opening levels of play tomorrow.

They are up to 25 entries with the recent entry of Michael Khan, who is in from Ontario for his first event of the series so far.

The High Rollers are on their first break of Day 1 and it looks like Steve Chung is the current leader with 78,600 while DJ Sharma is doing better with bullet #2 and is up to 72k after sending Taran Parmar to the rail.

There are now 21 entries in the field with 20 players alive at the felt after DJ Sharma was the first to bust from the High Roller action today. He got in early for the $100 discount, but just hit the rail and immediately hit the registration desk to rebuy at full price.

The High Roller action is underway with 20 players in action for the reduced rake. The rake is now back to $200 for a total buy-in of $2,000, but it’ll be back to $1,900 after 11 PM tonight, until cards go in the air for tomorrow.

There are still a bit less than 15 minutes until cards go in the air on the High Roller but there are already 10 players waiting for the action. They’ve all benefited from the rake reduction for early reg and are in the game for $1,900. That price goes up in a bit more than ten minutes, but it comes back again after 11 PM tonight (until the start of play tomorrow).

Daniel Lefebvre is the unquestioned High Roller champion here on the PPT with four trophies in the event in the last couple of years. Of course, he couldn’t miss the chance to get a cheaper entry for his main game, so even though he is still in action on the 6-Max final table, his $1,900 is in the till for the High Roller as well.

The High Roller is still an hour away from the start but two players have already taken advantage of the discounted registration fee for early entry. DJ Sharma and Mike Malm both busted early from the 6-Max table and both have decided to jump into the HR action early for $1,900.

The discounted reg-fee will be in place until 4 pm today when the action kicks off, but another discount has been added for players who register for the game between 11 PM this evening (after Day 1 bags) but before the start of play on Wednesday (1 PM). During Day 1 play and after cards go in the air for Day 2 play, the reg-fee will go back to the normal $200.

The High Roller has a new schedule for this series, running mid-week instead of on the final days of the series. And that’s not the only new feature this time around — players who get into the game before 4 PM on Tuesday will get a 50% discount on the entry fee for a total of $1,900. Late entries after 4 PM on Tuesday will pay the regular entry fee of $200 for a total of $2,000 for the buy-in.

Day 1 will play 9 levels starting at 4 PM on Tuesday with entries open throughout the day and the bags coming out around 10:30 PM. Entries will remain open for two more levels on Day 2 to allow the Day 2 entrants a bit of time for rebuys.

Players get 50k in chips for their $2k (or $1,900 if they get in before the game starts) to play 40-minute levels throughout the event. While I won’t be watching Day 1 of this game very closely, at least not until after Day 2 of the 6-Max hands out its trophy, Day 2 will be my main focus on Wednesday.

Jump in early before Day 1 begins and save some money!

The final two players decided to make an ICM deal when they got heads up. Andy Truong had the lead and secured himself $22,810 to Michael Khan’s $21,640. That left $2k on the table to play for, along with the trophy.

It was the Andy Truong show for most of heads-up with Khan on his heels nearly the whole way. Truong was relentless with his aggression, forcing Khan to make decisions for his tournament life on most hands. Khan finally decided to call one off with king-deuce, but ran into the king-nine for Truong. There was a nine on the flop to send Truong to a big lead, and the deuce on the river was too little, too late for Khan.

Michael Khan started heads-up with a slight chip deficit and they decided to make an ICM chop. That guaranteed Khan $21,640 and left $2k on the table to play for.

From there, it was pretty much all the Andy Truong show, however. He was picking up hands and shoving against Khan relentlessly, forcing folds and chipping Khan down. he finally called off one of the shoves but ended up dominated with king-deuce against king-nine.

Khan found a deuce on the river of Q♦5♦9♥Q♠2♠ but it wasn’t enough as Truong had already flopped his nine.

They limped to the flop of 9♦2♠7♣ but things got a bit more spicy from there. Michael Khan check-raised from 25k to 80k and Andy Truong made the call.

Khan checked again on the J♦ turn before Truong bet 140k and Khan elected for the check-fold line this time.

The final two players are pretty close in chips so they decided to cut a deal. Andy Truong is ahead so he secured $23,810 from the deal while Michael Khan is guaranteed $22,640. That leaves $2k and the trophy on the table to play for

Andy Truong shoved the small blind and Alex Liu snap-called in the big.Liu was way ahead with queens against threes, but by the time the board of A♣J♣K♦7♥3♥ was complete, Truong had a set of threes and Liu was headed to the cgae for 3rd place.

They are down to three left shortly after the break after Michael “Berny” Bernstein couldn’t keep his spin-up going and ended his run in 4th place.

Michael “Berny” Bernstein is making sure everyone knows he’s still in the game. Alex Liu raised the cutoff to 30k and Berny called from the big blind. He check-called for 23k on the 7♣A♣3♥ flop and again for 55k on the A♥ turn. The 4♦ river went check-check and Berny’s ace-five was good for another chip-up.

The final four are on a break now — full stacks are below.

Final Four HR Stacks

Before the hand, the three big stacks of Alex Liu, Michael Khan, and Andy Truong were comparing stacks to figure out how they compared when Michael Bernstein piped up “I’m still in here too Guys.”

He made sure they were aware of that when he called a cutoff raise from big stack Alex Liu for 30k. They both checked it all the way to the river on a board of Q♣5♠6♥10♠J♦ where Berny bet 40k and took it down for a bit of a chip-up. He’s still the short stack, but he’s still in the game, too.

They are down to 4 left in the High Roller now after Sebastian Lampreau followed Mike Malm to the cage today. I missed the action while I was writing the previous update.

They are down to five left in the high roller now after Mike Malm couldn’t find his overcards to win a race against Sebastian Lampreau. Lampreau shoved the cutoff for 123k and Malm called from the big blind after checking the other stacks and deciding he had no ladder opportunities.

Malm had ace-six against the pocket threes for Lampreau and the board of J♥7♠10♠2♦4♦ didn’t help Malm stay alive. I’ll grab full chip counts at the break following this level, but approximate counts for the final five are below.

They are now in the money as Level 19 begins. Ryan Smith was the money bubble tonight and all remaining players are now guaranteed at least $4,000.

Taran Parmar hit the rail shortly after Mike Kim to bring the game to 7 left, on the bubble to the 6 money spots.

They are down to 8 players left now after Mike Kim lost a race. His pair of threes was all in from the big blind against Michael Kahn in the small with overs of nine-five. Khan spiked a five on the flop of Q♣5♦4♥K♦8♠ and Kim was unable to improve.

They are down to 9 players left shortly after the end of the dinner break with the exist of Sunny Lubana. The average stack right now is 25 big blinds and they are three off the money. I’ll grab pictures shortly and I except they’ll be in the money before the next break.

Final Table Players

Michael is the leader on break and the only player with more than 500k in front of him. Alex Liu is on the other table with just over 400k for second place right now.

Dinner Stacks from High Roller

They are down to 10 players left with less than 15 minutes to play in Level 17. They have a break following this level and it looks likely that they will hit the final table sometime in this level or the next with the average stack right now at about 28 big blinds, dropping to 22 after the break if the field is still at 10.

Stephen Dauphinais and Mal Hagan were the most recent busts from the High Roller game to bring the field down to 12 left. That puts them three off the final table and six off the money.

There are 14 players left in the High Roller now, 8 off the money. Sebastian Lampreau is the leader right now with 273k but three other players at the same table have 200k or more.

Final 14 Stacks

The High Roller is down to 15 players remaining now as Level 14 begins. That puts them nine away from the money spots later tonight. The average stack right now is just shy of 40 big blinds, so they are still pretty deep.