Schindler Defeats Superstars in PCA 2014 High Roller Tournament

Jake Schindler won the PCA 2014 High Roller event for $1,192,624. He bested the likes of Greg Merson (2nd) and Vanessa Selbst (3rd).

The final day of the PCA 2014 $25,000 High Roller event saw 14 players return, led by championship title holder Vanessa Selbst with 1,633,000 in chips. She was followed by a selection of the most renowned pros; ultimately, Daniel Negreanu finished in 14th, Dan Smith in 13th, Dani Stern in 12th, Paul Newey in 11th and Myro Garcia in 10th position.

The seat draw of the nine-handed Final Table was as follows:

Seat 1: Rob Mizrachi – 860,000
Seat 2: Vanessa Selbst – 2,700,000
Seat 3: Jake Schindler – 1,580,000
Seat 4: Aleksandr Denisov – 675,000
Seat 5: Marvin Rettenmaier – 1,160,000
Seat 6: Joao Vieira – 1,700,000
Seat 7: Greg Merson – 1,780,000
Seat 8: Ole Schemion – 551,000
Seat 9: Mustapha Kanit – 1,350,000

On Level 22 (4,000/12,000/24,000), Marvin Rettenmaier opened to 52,000, Merson 3-bet to 105,000 from the CO and Rettenmaier shoved. Merson seemed to snap call, but just before his chips left his zone, he changed his mind, had his opponent’s stack counted, and then called the 623,000.

Rettenmaier: 8 8
Merson: A T

Board: A 9 4 Q 9

Merson won the flip and increased his stack to 2,030,000. Rettenmaier was out in 9th.

Joao Vieira followed next, losing with nines to Rob Mizrachi’s kings, who repeated the exact same thing against Ole Schemion a couple of hands later, doubling up to 3,000,000 and leaving Schemion with 770,000.

By Level 26 (5,000/30,000/60,000), the latter managed to come back but got into trouble again soon enough; his open was called by Schindler and the flop came 7 6 4. Schindler checked, Schemion bet 115,000 and Schindler called. On the K turn, Schindler check-raised to 1,130,00 on Schemion’s 225,000 bet and he called with K J. Schindler’s 9 8 hand improved to a straight with the T on the river. Schemion was left with only 15,000 in chips and he was out in the next hand.

In 6th place finished Aleksandr Denisov, followed by Mizrachi, who lost a flip to Selbst. She then moved on to eliminate Mustapha Kanit as well, her pocket aces holding out against Kanit’s jacks and her stack growing to 5,500,000.

Merson soon doubled up through Selbst with A-8 against threes, and then she moved preflop all-in against Schindler. Selbst had A-9 and Schindler played with A-T on a neutral board. After her 3rd finish in the Super High Roller event for $760,640, she reached the same place this time, too, for $607,580.

Jake Schindler – 6,900,000
Greg Merson – 4,930,000

In the heads-up, Schindler managed to increase his lead, pushing back 2012 WSOP Main Event champion Merson gradually. On Level 27 (10,000/40,000/80,000), Merson moved all-in in four consecutive hands before Schindler called in the last.

Schindler: K T
Merson: 4 9

Board: 8 3 T A 4

Schindler won with a second pair.

Schindler booked a personal record of a live tournament victory after his previous top score in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open 2013, a 3rd finish in the $2,200 NLHE event for $59,500.

The end results are as follows:

1st: Jake Schindler – $1,192,624
2nd: Greg Merson – $948,996
3rd: Vanessa Selbst – $607,580
4th: Mustapha Kanit – $492,600
5th: Robert Mizrachi – $389,720
6th: Aleksandr Denisov – $295,920
7th: Ole Schemion – $216,040
8th: Joao Vieira – $157,940
9th: Marvin Rettenmaier – $130,720