Jake Schindler Scoops PCA's High Roller Crown

Jake Schindler Scoops PCA's High Roller Crown

Tuesday, 14 January 2014

Despite starting with more players left in contention, this year's PCA $25,000 High Roller came to a conclusion a lot sooner than the festival's Main Event.

Featuring a slew of world-class pros, including Vanessa Selbst who was going for her second title in consecutive years, the elite event captured a total of 247 entrants late last week but yesterday's final session saw 14 players return for a shot at the title.

Knowing they were already set to receive a return on their investment, the surviving cohort quickly set about shooting for the fences and that swell of action eventually led to the demise of Daniel Negreanu. Despite having an average stack at the start of play, Negreanu committed his stack within a few orbits with pocket kings but after watching Greg Merson call with pocket aces there was nothing he could do except watch as the pot was pushed towards his opponent.

With the elimination floodgates now open it was a case of spot the star as the likes of Dan Smith, Dani Stern and Paul Newey fell by the wayside just short of the eight-handed final table.

By the time the tournament was down to its finale few it was Vanessa Selbst who looked the most likely to capture the title. However, an impressive surge by Jake Schindler as the field thinned set-up an intriguing three-handed battle that including Selbst and Merson.
Unfortunately for Vanessa the poker gods weren't keen on her scooping back-to-back titles and after hitting the rail in third it was time for some brief negotiations before Schindler and Merson struck a deal. After agreeing to take over $948,000 each, both players decided to move all-in blind and let fate decide the new champion.

With that Merson tabled 4c 9s while Schindler showed Kh Ts to hold the lead as the action passed to the dealer. With smiles on their faces the two players watched as the board rolled out: 8s 3s Tc Ac 4s to give the final pot to Schindler as well as an extra $200,000 and the PCA High Roller title.

PCA $25,000 High Roller Final Result:
1. Jake Schindler - $1,192,624
2. Greg Merson - $948,996
3. Vanessa Selbst - $607,580
4. Mustapha Kanit - $492,600
5. Robert Mizrachi - $389,720
6. Aleksandr Denisov - $295,920
7. Ole Schemion - $216,040
8. Joao Viera - $157,960

Image courtesy of Thomas Keeling @bluff.com.



Tags: PCA 2014 High Roller, Jake Schindler, Greg Merson, Vanessa Selbst