SHRB Bubble Bursts, Christoph Vogelsang Seeks Back-to-Back $5 Million Titles

3 min read

Christoph Vogelsang could be one day away from going back-to-back in the Super High Roller Bowl, but with the smallest stack of six remaining players, he’ll have his work cut out for him on Wednesday if he plans on taking home the $5 million prize for the second straight year.

Christoph Vogelsang 2018 SHRB
Christoph Vogelsang made the final table in the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl and looks to make it back-to-back titles in this prestigious $300,000 buy-in event. (Image: YouTube)

Vogelsang has just 445,000 chips, less than 20 big blinds, and barely more than 10 percent of what chip leader Mikita Badziakouski’s stack (4.2 million). But the leaderboard has shifted back and forth repeatedly during the first three days of this $300,000 buy-in event, and he’s only a few double-ups away from getting back into contention to repeat as champion, a remarkable accomplishment considering the quality of competition.

The pressure was on at the new PokerGo Studio in Las Vegas on Tuesday as the bubble approached early in the session. Short stacks faced the possibility of going home a $300,000 loser.

Justin Bonomo, the chip leader heading into Day Three, was the first short stack at risk when he got his money in pre-flop with A-10 against Vogelsang’s pocket kings. A lucky ace on the river kept the Super High Roller Bowl China champion alive.

Hand of the Day

Badziakouski quickly built a large stack on Day Three and did a masterful job taking advantage of players who feared the bubble. The Belarus native who won the Triton Super High Roller Main Event in Montenegro earlier this month for $2.5 million used the power of the big stack to his advantage against Stephen Chidwick on the bubble.

Chidwick, who some consider the best player in the world right now, is probably still wondering what may have been after losing the following hand even though he ended up with $600,000 for 7thplace.

Hands:

Stephen Chidwick (1.8 million) K♦K♣
Mikita Badziakouski(3.8 million) 9♦8♥

Flop: J♠5♣10♥

Chidwick, the pre-flop raiser, checks and then calls when his opponent bets 125,000.

Turn: 5♥

Again, Chidwick checks and then calls a bet, this time 350,000.

River: 8♣

Badziakouski bet 1.31 million and Chidwick, who had the best hand, didn’t want to risk most of his remaining stack so he folded.

Chidwick wouldn’t have folded that hand in other spot, but the pressure of the bubble in a $300,000 buy-in event can affect decisions made by even the best players in the world. Badziakouski, a rising star in poker, knew his opponent couldn’t call his river bet with anything but trips or better.

Had Chidwick made that call, he likely would have made it through Day Three with a big chip stack.

Negreanu Headlines Final Table

Daniel Negreanu is guaranteed to extend his lead over Erik Seidel, who busted on Day One, as the winningest tournament player in history. Kid Poker, who is second in chips heading into the fourth and final day of the SHRB, has $36.5 million in lifetime tournament cashes (Seidel is at $34.5 million).

Super High Roller Bowl Final Table

1 Mikita Badziakouski (Belarus) 4,205,000
2 Daniel Negreanu (Canada) 4,000,000
3 Justin Bonomo (United States) 3,965,000
4 Jason Koon (United States) 1,185,000
5 Nick Petrangelo (United States) 600,000
6 Christoph Vogelsang (Germany) 445,000

These six players have won a combined $118.3 million lifetime in live poker tournaments. You can add another $13.7 million to that figure after the SHRB wraps up on Wednesday.

You can catch the final table in its entirety on a 30-minute delay beginning at 1 pm on the PokerGo app. How far will Negreanu extend his lead over Seidel? Will Vogelsang go back-to-back? We’ll answer these questions tomorrow.



Related Posts

Did you know about our poker forum? Discuss all the latest poker news in the CardsChat forum

Popular Stories