Carrel Carries PCB Super High Roller Final Table Lead

While Day 1 of the PokerStars Championship Bahamas $100,000 Super High Roller was headlined by Hollywood star Kevin Hart, Day 2 was headlined by an up and coming star in the High Roller world. The United Kingdom’s Charlie Carrel returned for the restart near the middle of the pack but didn’t announce himself to the leader board until after the dinner break.

After the field was frozen at 54 entrants, 41 unique players and 13 re-entries, the shuffling began. A handful of players controlled the chip lead through the first half of the day, including Connor Drinan. He took control of the top spot by virtue of his mid-day knockout of Day 1 chip leader Nick Petrangello. Jason Koon then held the lead heading to recess, only to see Carrel leave no doubt through the final few levels of the night.

Petrangello wasn’t the only top Day 1 stack to falter 24 hours later, as former PCA Super High Roller champion Steve O’Dwyer and Jason Mercier failed to get much going. Isaac Haxton and PokerStars Team Pro Daniel Negreanu were two of the big names to hit the rail early, with Bill Perkins and his three bullets following close behind.

Dan Shak, who has had two close calls in past Bahamas-based Super High Rollers, didn’t last much longer. 2015 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe McKeehen, who finished runner-up in last year’s $100,000 Super High Roller event, couldn’t make it work this time around. Reigning GPI Player of the Year David Peters and Cary Katz each made the final two tables but couldn’t progress any further.

When the final table did come together, the field was still two from the money, as only seven would cash. The first player down, was Leo Cheng. Carrel clipped his pocket aces and then two short stacks collided. Byron Kaverman left Sam Greenwood in the danger zone and he was then dispatched by, you guessed it, Charlie Carrel. The field was in the money and Day 2 was in the books.  

After scoring the final two knockouts, Charlie Carrel will head into tomorrow’s final table with just over a 1,000,000 chip advantage over his nearest competitor. The player closest to Carrel, former One Drop winner Dan Colman. Jason Koon rounds out the top half of the leader board, with some big names behind him. Canada’s Daniel Dvoress is back at the Super High Roller final table for a second straight year, with Connor Drinan upping the stakes in 2017, after taking silver in last year’s PCA $50,000 High Roller.

Byron Kaverman and Bryn Kenney will come back as the short stacks but each are some of the most respected High Roller players in the world. Kenney is also looking for back-to-back titles, after winning last year for a career best $1,687,000 score.

This year’s victor will earn just shy of that amount, with a complete rundown of the final table chip counts and payouts listed below: 

PokerStars Championship Bahamas $100,000 Super High Roller Final Table:

1. Charlie Carrel – 3,710,000
2. Dan Colman – 2,600,000
3. Jason Koon – 2,305,000
4. Daniel Dvoress – 1,640,000
5. Connor Drinan – 1,455,000
6. Byron Kaverman – 970,000
7. Bryn Kenney – 740,000

Official Final Table Payouts: 

1. $1,650,300
2. $1,191,900
3. $759,660
4. $576,300
5. $445,320
6. $340,540
7. $275,060