PCA 2019: Rainer Kempe Wins $50K Single-Day High Roller For $908,100

Action, dramatic hands and thrilling moments, the 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) currently underway at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas has brought it all! If Thursday saw Rainer Kempe falling out of the final table in the first $25K Single-Day High Roller at the 2019 PCA in fourth place, the German high stakes regular more than made up for it by taking down a title the very next day. Kempe took down the $50,000 Single-Day High Roller at the ongoing series, adding a massive $908,100 to his bankroll.

Kempe found a tough heads-up opponent in 2018 Global Poker Index (GPI) Player of the Year Alex Foxen but maintained his dominance right till the final hand. With the win, Kemper has already picked up over $1,000,000 at the ongoing series alone, certainly a fabulous start to the year!

The event allowed unlimited re-entry during the first eight levels and registered 64 entries in all, including 29 re-entries. A prize pool of $3,104,640 was generated and nine players earned at least $90,040.

The event saw many poker bigwigs in attendance including the likes of Dominik Nitsche, Timothy Adams, Jean-Noel Thorel, Nick Petrangelo, and Isaac Haxton but many of them fell out fairly early.

David Peters fired two bullets but failed to make much headway each time. Defending champion, Steve O’Dwyer, Andras Nemeth, and Christopher Kruk were also railed out before the field was whittled down to the final two tables.

PokerStars Team pro Igor Kurganov was sent packing by Christoph Vogelsang with the latter’s ace-nine that improved to a wheel on the river proving dominant over Kurganov’s pocket fours.

Adrian Mateos who had eliminated Peters out of the event eventually ended up bubbling the final table when he moved all in with nine big blinds holding ace-nine and was called by Steffen Sontheimer who held pocket aces. Sontheimer not only scooped the pot, he also stormed his way into the nine-handed final table.

The nine finalists included names drawing awe in the poker fraternity, with the likes of Stephen Chidwick, Daniel Dvoress, Evan Mathis, Vogelsang, Bill Perkins and Jason Koon all making it through to the finale.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Alex Foxen – 1,570,000
2. Christoph Vogelsang – 1,520,000
3. Rainer Kempe – 720,000
4. Stephen Chidwick – 680,000
5. Steffen Sontheimer – 640,000
6. Jason Koon – 440,000
7. Daniel Dvoress – 230,000
8. Evan Mathis – 210,000
9. Bill Perkins – 140,000

Final Table Recap

When action kicked off on the final table, three of the players were short stacked, holding less than ten big blinds. Between themselves, Vogelsang and Foxen held nearly half the chips in play.

Early action saw a number of all-ins and calls but it was Jason Koon who was eliminated first, in ninth place, after he moved all in with pocket aces on an eight-three-ten flop. Koon was looking in good shape against Vogelsang who held pocket jacks but a jack on the turn changed the tide in Vogelsang’s favor as he then hit a set of jacks that kept him ahead through the five on the river.

Just a few hands later, Foxen sent Bill Perkins to the rail in eighth place with his ace-nine pipped Perkins’ queen-nine. Perkins had managed to pair his queen on the flop but the turn brought an ace, helping Foxen surge ahead.

Steffen Sontheimer was then eliminated in seventh place after he moved his entire stack of 405,000 in from the cutoff and found a caller in Foxen from the button. The blinds quickly folded and the cards were tabled. Sontheimer showed against Foxen’s . The flop fell giving Foxen a pair of sixes. Sontheimer now needed a seven to stay in the game but the turn was the and the river brought , ending Sontheimer`s deep run.

Next up, Evan Mathis saw his tournament run end in sixth place in a hand where the flop fell and Foxen bet from the small blind. Mathis raised from the big blind prompting Foxen to 3-bet immediately. Mathis responded by moving all in and Foxen wasted no time in making the call.

Mathis:

Foxen:

Mathis was hoping to outdo Foxen’s flopped flush but the rest of the board completed with the on the turn and the on the river and Mathis’s chances to the title were squashed.

In the next hand Christoph Vogelsang lost most of his chips to Daniel Dvoress and soon found his tournament life at risk when Foxen raised to 125,000 from under the gun and Vogelsang moved the last of his chips i.e. 45,000 in the middle on the button. The blinds decided to fold and it was Vogelsang against Foxen. Vogelsang tabled against Foxen’s . The board ran out and Foxen collected the pot with his pair of sevens while Vogelsang was eliminated in fifth place.

The chips exchanged hands before Daniel Dvoress found himself in trouble after Foxen raised the button and Dvoress moved all in for 455,000 from the big blind. Foxen made the call and Dvoress tabled while Foxen showed . Dvoress was leading but the runout saw Foxen flopping a winning two pair and Dvoress was shown the door in fourth place.

Stephen Chidwick then opened the pot from the small blind and saw Kempe moving all in from the big blind. Chidwick called for his remaining 640,000. He held versus Kempe’s . The board saw Kempe improving to two pairs eliminating Chidwick in third place.

The heads-up finale was a short affair and the final hand saw Kempe call from the button and Alex Foxen making it 415,000 to call. Kempe looked at Foxen and decided to move all in, with each of the heads-up opponent having a near-even stack. Foxen snap called and the duo tabled their cards. Foxen turned over the against Kempe’s . The flop came down and Foxen picked up the backdoor flush draw. “Eight of diamonds!” exclaimed Foxen. The on the turn gave him a flush draw indeed but the on the river missed his flush draw The dealer meticulously counted Foxen and Kempe’s stacks and announced that Kempe had 3,190,000 behind but Foxen held 3,110,000. Since Foxen was covered, Kemper eliminated Foxen in second place to win the title!

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Rainer Kempe – $908,100
2. Alex Foxen – $651,980
3. Stephen Chidwick – $423,780
4. Daniel Dvoress – $319,780
5. Christoph Vogelsang – $248,380
6. Evan Mathis – $192,480
7. Steffen Sontheimer – $152,120
8. Bill Perkins – $117,980
9. Jason Koon – $90,040

Content & Images courtesy: PokerStars, PokerNews

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