Cary Katz Wins Super High Roller Bowl London

Cary Katz triumphed in the Super High Roller Bowl London event after a 10-hour battle at the final table. The founder of Poker Central got his hands on £2,100,000 ($2,610,317) after outlasting 11 opponents in the £250,000 buy-in event.

Super High Roller Bowl London Result

Place	Player	Country	Prize (GBP)	Prize (USD)
1	Cary Katz	United States	£2,100,000	$2,610,317
2	Ali Imsirovic	Bosnia & Herzegovina	£900,000	$1,118,707

Only 12 players bought into the Super High Roller Bowl London, creating a £3,000,000 prize pool. This compact but stellar field had to finish in the top two places to receive any prize money.

Australia’s Michael Addamo busted at the hands of Katz in 12th place. Addamo cannot complain as he recently won more than $250,000 online in a PokerStars WCOOP event. Bryn Kenney joined Addamo on the rail before Matthias Eibinger crashed out in 10th place.

High Roller specialist Timothy Adams saw his tournament end in ninth-place. Adams made an ill-timed move with pocket nines only to run into the aces of Stephen Chidwick. This left Adams with only four big blinds and he busted on the next hand, setting the final table.

Super High Roller Bowl London Final Table

Seat	Player	Country	Chips
1	Christoph Vogelsang	Germany	596,000
2	Cary Katz	United States	644,500
3	Darren Elias	United States	186,000
4	Stephen Chidwick	United Kingdom	452,000
5	Mikita Badziakouski	Belarus	429,000
6	Ali Imsirovic	Bosnia & Herzegovina	432,000
7	David Peters	United States	113,500
8	Sam Greenwood	Canada	147,000

Darren Elias’ time at the final table was cut short by Christoph Vogelsang. Elias’ ace-king failed to melt the snowmen in Vogelsang’s hand. No more eliminations occurred and Day 1 ended with seven players in the hunt for the £2,100,000 top prize.

Day 2 started with the excitement of a double elimination. Ali Imsirovic opened to 12,000 with a pair of black aces in the hole. David Peters moved all in for 146,000 with black fives. Sam Greenwood asked for a count before calling all in for 96,000 with black eights. Imsirovic stayed ahead on the queen-high flop before locking up the hand by improving to a set on the turn. The river gifted Imsirovic an unnecessary full house and busted both Peters and Greenwood.

Imsirovic then busted partypoker-sponsored pro Mikita Badziakouski. All the chips went in preflop, Badziakouski holding ace-jack and Imsirovic pocket kings. Badziakouski improved to a pair of jacks on the river, but it was a case of too little too late.

Four-Handed Play Lasts Five Hours

Almost five hours passed before another player lost their stack, that player being Chidwick. Chidwick was left nursing a tiny stack when his ace-queen lost to the pocket tens of Imsirovic. Those chips went into the middle holding king-eight. Catz called with nine-three and Chidwick doubled-up.

The next hand saw Chidwick all-in with seven-five. Imsirovic called with seven-six and Katz with king-queen. Katz made a straight on the river to bust Chidwick in fourth-place.

Vogelsang burst the money bubble and it was Imsirovic who did the damage once gain. Vogelsang, who has a Super High Roller Bowl title to his name, was all in with red sixes. Imsirovic called with king-seven. The flop brought two sevens, leaving Vogelsang drawing thin. A deuce on the turn gave Imsirovic a full house, with the inconsequential queen of spades completing the board.

Heads-Up Set

This gave Imsirovic a 1,810,000 to 1,190,000 chip lead over Katz. The Bosnian was a big favorite as the poker pro has dozens of superb results. Katz still considers himself an amateur despite more than $21 million in cashes.

First blood went to Katz and he took a two-to-one chip lead. Imsirovic drew level before soaring ahead only for Catz t return to the summit. The final hand saw Katz limp with queen-three of spade and Imsirovic raise to 150,000 with pocket tens. Katz called and the dealer fanned a king-ace-six flop with two spades. Imsirovic lead for 35,000 and Katz called.

The ten of clubs turn saw Imsirovic bet 250,000 and Katz call again. The five of spades river completed Katz’s flush. Imsirovic jammed all in with his set of tens and Katz snap-called. A count of the chip revealed Katz had more in his stack and was, therefore, the Super High Roller Bowl London champion.

Bosnia’s Imsirovic now has $7,209,851 in live poker tournament cashes, with this addition being his largest. Katz climbs to an impressive $24,323,606 in winnings with this being his largest cash too. Katz climbs to 20th in the all-time money listings on the back of this impressive victory.

Was the British Poker Open a Success?

Those players who won massive sums of cash will say the British Poker Open and Super High Roller Bowl London events were a roaring success. The organizers, however, may look at matters differently. None of the tournaments were particularly well-attended and only 12 players bought into the £250,000. Compare this to the 36 who played in the previous edition in Las Vegas.

Many factors come into play. Travel to the United Kingdom is often expensive, as are hotels in the British capital. Also, the Aspers Casino in Stratford is a pain in the neck to get to, plus the pound is weak against the dollar. Whatever the reasons for the low turnouts, we would be surprised if the BPO returns in the near future.

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

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